In the past, wild animals, including bears, were occasionally raised for entertainment and sport within the Korean palace grounds. In 1394, King Taejo received a small bear cub and.
In the late 19th century, Korea was a land filled with danger. Banditry was common, disease was prevalent, demons and ghosts haunted people’s imaginations and beliefs (Korean and foreigners alike), and fierce wild beasts roamed the desolate mountains and forests. Tigers (and their smaller cousins, the leopards) were probably the most feared but they were not the only dangers to the Korean population and, by the first part of the 20th century, they became more legend than reality.
Unique pagoda with memorable history
Posted : 2021-01-19 16:40 By Choe Chong-dae
I am in awe of the unique 10-story marble pagoda of Gyeongcheon Temple (National Treasure No. 86) on display in the lobby of the National Museum in Seoul. Most ancient Korean pagodas were made of granite, brick or wood. They are distinctive monuments designed to enshrine sacred relics at Buddhist temples.
Unlike typical pagodas that have an odd number of stories ― three, five or seven ― the Gyeongcheon pagoda has 10 stories which represent the 10 Perfections in Mahayana Buddhist teaching.
The pagoda was originally erected during Goryeo Dynasty in 1348 at Gyeongcheon Temple in modern-day Gaeseong City, North Korea. It is a distinctive architectural structure in terms of shape and style. The lower three stories are polygonal like the Chinese ideograph 亞 depicting the influence of Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhism. However, the upper seven stories are rectangular like traditional Korean stone