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| A Woman's Directory For Travel and Life. WAVE Journey is your one stop online resource for women oriented businesses and services around the world. WAVE Journey is for every woman to enjoy. If you love to travel, cook, read or revel in outdoor activities this website is for you. If you are looking to connect with other like-minded women or if you are interested in finding businesses or services that cater to women, WAVE Journey is your number one online resource. South Korea: Pilgrimage to Jeoldusan ~ A Fall Day’s Journey Along the Han River in Seoul - continued Article by Tamara |
| WAVE Journey |
| Women's Adventures, Vacations & Experiences ~ Your Journey Starts Here! |
BIO: Tamara is an elementary school teacher in Seoul with a BA in Anthropology from
Pomona College in Claremont, California. She studied in Nepal as part of the Anthropology
degree. In addition, she has an Ed.M. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
and there she worked on a learning intervention involving Chinese characters in Korean:
“Hanja via Cartoons.” She lived in Korea for nearly 4 years total, the first year with a Korean
family. Her writing appeared in the Korea Herald and was selected in the Seoul Metro Writing
Contest.
Pomona College in Claremont, California. She studied in Nepal as part of the Anthropology
degree. In addition, she has an Ed.M. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
and there she worked on a learning intervention involving Chinese characters in Korean:
“Hanja via Cartoons.” She lived in Korea for nearly 4 years total, the first year with a Korean
family. Her writing appeared in the Korea Herald and was selected in the Seoul Metro Writing
Contest.
King Gojang was the ruler of Korea in 1866, and his father’s regent, Sir Daewon, declared
an invasion by barbarians when a French warship arrived on Kangwha Island in retaliation
for the martyrdom of nine priests. Countless followers of the Church soon found their
death through martyrdom at Jeoldusan, most with no written records of their passing. This
was after Sir Daewon declared that the blood of Korean Catholics would halt the invading
warship. Due process of law and a trial were not part of the persecution. Outside of the
museum a torture stone by which beheadings took place with the tightening of a rope
illustrates the beheading procedure.
Inside of the museum relics and historical documents put the event in context. The arrival
of the Church in Korea is unique in that the Koreans themselves, officials and scholars
from Korea working in China and Japan, brought the faith back to their home country as
an extension of their research in Western religion and scholarship. Relics of the early
years of the church in Korea, include a “Catholic Truth” booklet written by a Jesuit
missionary, Fr. Matteo Ricci, and a world map made by another Jesuit missionary, Fr.
Verbiest, which they used in China and later brought to Korea. Outside in the garden
beside the martyr’s museum, the commemorative monuments include both abstract, non-
representational memorials and realistic statues. There are also a grotto to the Virgin
Mary and further martyr’s memorials.
After the period of the introduction of Catholic ideas Kim Tae-Gon (1821-1846) became the
first Korean priest, a difficult accomplishment due to increasing persecution of the Church
and socio-political conflict. The 1866 incident is an example of these incidents of
persecution, a notable one in that it opened the Church’s modern era in Korea. Not until
1886 did a treaty with France result in a situation where missionaries could freely
proselytize. It was another 20 years before citizens gained religious freedom.
It was in 1956 that the lands of “Silkworm Head Rock” came to be owned by the Catholic
Church. Officially around 1950 the people in the area still called the site Jeoldusan,
however, and thus that name is now used. The name Jeoldusan literally means “the place
where heads were cut off,” coming from the Chinese characters jeol (to cut, mince, slice),
du (head), san (mountain.)
On the way back waiting at a traffic light at the intersection with a larger thoroughfare,
Sister Modesta sees a large banner advertising belly-dancing lessons.
“Did you ever try that?” she asks.
“No.”
“I think women who do that kind of cheapen themselves.”
“Maybe, but isn’t it alright it you just want to try it. My sister did belly-dancing lessons
before, I think. She’s done just about everything. She did ballet as a kid.”
“Ballet, now there is something.”
The drive back to Hwagok is over quickly. Then it is up the elevator from the garage in the
nun’s residence, past the parakeet cage, by the reception desk, across the courtyard and
back to the dining room in the residents’ building.
an invasion by barbarians when a French warship arrived on Kangwha Island in retaliation
for the martyrdom of nine priests. Countless followers of the Church soon found their
death through martyrdom at Jeoldusan, most with no written records of their passing. This
was after Sir Daewon declared that the blood of Korean Catholics would halt the invading
warship. Due process of law and a trial were not part of the persecution. Outside of the
museum a torture stone by which beheadings took place with the tightening of a rope
illustrates the beheading procedure.
Inside of the museum relics and historical documents put the event in context. The arrival
of the Church in Korea is unique in that the Koreans themselves, officials and scholars
from Korea working in China and Japan, brought the faith back to their home country as
an extension of their research in Western religion and scholarship. Relics of the early
years of the church in Korea, include a “Catholic Truth” booklet written by a Jesuit
missionary, Fr. Matteo Ricci, and a world map made by another Jesuit missionary, Fr.
Verbiest, which they used in China and later brought to Korea. Outside in the garden
beside the martyr’s museum, the commemorative monuments include both abstract, non-
representational memorials and realistic statues. There are also a grotto to the Virgin
Mary and further martyr’s memorials.
After the period of the introduction of Catholic ideas Kim Tae-Gon (1821-1846) became the
first Korean priest, a difficult accomplishment due to increasing persecution of the Church
and socio-political conflict. The 1866 incident is an example of these incidents of
persecution, a notable one in that it opened the Church’s modern era in Korea. Not until
1886 did a treaty with France result in a situation where missionaries could freely
proselytize. It was another 20 years before citizens gained religious freedom.
It was in 1956 that the lands of “Silkworm Head Rock” came to be owned by the Catholic
Church. Officially around 1950 the people in the area still called the site Jeoldusan,
however, and thus that name is now used. The name Jeoldusan literally means “the place
where heads were cut off,” coming from the Chinese characters jeol (to cut, mince, slice),
du (head), san (mountain.)
On the way back waiting at a traffic light at the intersection with a larger thoroughfare,
Sister Modesta sees a large banner advertising belly-dancing lessons.
“Did you ever try that?” she asks.
“No.”
“I think women who do that kind of cheapen themselves.”
“Maybe, but isn’t it alright it you just want to try it. My sister did belly-dancing lessons
before, I think. She’s done just about everything. She did ballet as a kid.”
“Ballet, now there is something.”
The drive back to Hwagok is over quickly. Then it is up the elevator from the garage in the
nun’s residence, past the parakeet cage, by the reception desk, across the courtyard and
back to the dining room in the residents’ building.