Temple History

Gaesimsa Temple is located in eastern Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do. Gaesimsa Temple is joined to the south by Mt. Illaksan (521.4 m). Rather confusedly, it’s written about the temple’s history that Gaesimsa Temple was built by the monk Hyegam in the 5th year of Queen Jindeok of Silla’s reign (r. 647-654 A.D.) and the 14th year of King Uija of Baekje’s reign (r. 641-660 A.D.). The only problem with this is that that would make it the year 651 A.D. during Queen Jindeok of Silla’s reign, while it would make it 654 A.D. during King Uija of Baekje’s reign. Generally, however, it’s believed that Gaesimsa Temple was first constructed in 654 A.D.

When the temple was first built, it was known as Gaewonsa Temple. However, when the temple was repaired by the monk Cheoneung in 1350, the temple had its name changed to its current name of Gaesimsa Temple. The temple was then reconstructed in 1475, which included the rebuilding of the Daeung-jeon Hall that was constructed in 1484, due to a fire that broke out on the temple grounds. Gaesimsa Temple would further be repaired in 1740 and 1955.

In total, Gaesimsa Temple is home to five Korean Treasures. They are the Daeung-jeon Hall, which is Korean Treasure #143; the Hanging Painting of Gaesimsa Temple (The Vulture Peak Assembly); the Wooden Seated Amitabha Buddha, which is Korean Treasure #1619; the Buddhist Paintings of Gaesimsa Temple, Seosan (Five Emperors of the Five Cardinal Directions and Four Underworld Messengers), and the Buddhist Paintings of Gaesimsa Temple, Seosan (Indra, Brahma, Eight Vajras, and Four Bodhisattvas). The latter of these two are off-limits to the general public and stored in a building at the temple.

Temple Layout

As you first approach Gaesimsa Temple, you’ll find a rectangular pond with a narrow stone bridge spanning its depths. Depending on when you visit the temple, you’ll see beautiful lotus flowers, pink flowers having fallen from the neighbouring trees, or a whole host of toads.

Having crossed over this pond, you’ll now be greeted by an empty space where the former Jong-gak (Bell Pavilion) once stood. The Jong-gak Pavilion was beautiful in its non-linear pillars that supported the weight of the structure. It was beautiful in its simplicity, as it housed a large Brahma Bell. However, it now appears as though the temple will move the Jong-gak Pavilion and build an entry gate, perhaps a Sacheonwangmun Gate, that is more in-line with the traditional layout of a Korean Buddhist temple.

Framing the empty lot where the Jong-gak Pavilion is located is the rather large Anyang-ru Pavilion, which was used for larger dharma talks. Now, however, it appears to be used for visitors to relax. The exterior walls are adorned with images of the Nahan (The Historical Disciples of the Buddha). And the interior is adorned with images of Wonhyo-daesa, Uisang-daesa, and various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Straight in front of the Anyang-ru Pavilion, and past the slender five-story pagoda in the temple courtyard, is the Daeung-jeon Hall. This Daeung-jeon Hall dates back to 1484; and as was previously mentioned, is Korean Treasure #143. The exterior walls to the main hall are largely unadorned all but for the traditional dancheong colours. Stepping inside the Daeung-jeon Hall, you’ll find a beautiful triad resting on the main altar. It’s centred by the Wooden Seated Amitabha Buddha of Gaesimsa Temple, which was recently refurbished and returned to the temple in 2022. The Amita-bul (The Buddha of the Western Paradise) statue, at least according to a scroll found inside the statue during its repair in 2004, was first repaired back in 1280. The repair was overseen by a government institution in charge of Buddhist affairs known as a “Seungjaesaek” in Korean. The official in charge of this repair had the surname of Song. With all this in mind, the statue of Amita-bul was created no later than 1280, which was the year it was repaired probably as a result of the Mongol Invasions of Korea from 1231 to 1270. As for the statue itself, it’s a beautiful example of Late Goryeo (918-1392) Buddhist artistry with its clean lines and dignified appearance. Overall, the statue is beautifully proportioned with refined sophistication. And while the overall expression of the statue appears solemn, the facial expression is quite exotic. The short bell-shaped lines of Amita-bul’s robe are reminiscent of the Dry-Lacquered Seated Amitabha Buddha of Simhyangsa Temple in Naju, Jeollanam-do. Arguably, this Amita-bul statue at Gaesimsa Temple is the finest example of this form of artwork from the Late Goryeo Dynasty.

Book-ending this central image of Amita-bul are images of Gwanseeum-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Compassion) and Jijang-bosal (The Bodhisattva of the Afterlife). While not as old or as masterful as the central image of Amita-bul, these two accompanying main altar statues have a spirit of their own. Rather interestingly, there’s no canopy hanging over top of the main altar. To the left of the main altar is a painting dedicated to Amita-bul, and to the right of the main altar is a Shinjung Taenghwa (Guardian Mural). And tucked away behind the main altar, between the space afforded by the backside of the main altar and the rear wall of the Daeung-jeon Hall, is the box that houses the Hanging Painting of Gaesimsa Temple (The Vulture Peak Assembly) and is typically displayed on special occasions like the Buddha’s Birthday.

To the left of the Daeung-jeon Hall is an older structure that acts as both the monks’ dorms and a storage area. It was discovered during repair work conducted at the temple in 1962 that the Simgeom-dang Hall was rebuilt in 1477, which makes it the oldest structure at Gaesimsa Temple. And much like the former Jong-gak Pavilion, the pillars to this temple structure are twisted and turning.

To the right of the Daeung-jeon Hall, on the other hand, is the temple’s administrative office. I was fortunate enough to be invited in for a cup of tea; and while there, I was told about a statue and painting housed inside this office. According to the administrative office worker, the statue of Gwanseeum-bosal, which is backed by a Yeongsan hoesang-do (The Sermon on Vulture Peak Mural), is about two hundred and fifty years old. According to this same worker, the statue and painting were commissioned by the king to commemorate the death of his illegitimate daughter, who couldn’t be recognized as a princess. And when her husband died, the daughter of the king killed herself. And as a result, the king had the two pieces of artwork commissioned to honour his beloved daughter two hundred and fifty years ago.

To the front right of the administrative office, and through a pathway, you’ll find three additional temple shrine halls. The first is the Myeongbu-jeon Hall, which has a large image of a green haired statue dedicated to Jijang-bosal on the main altar. This rather large image is then joined by equally large images of the Siwang (The Ten Kings of the Underworld), who have a ghost-like appearance in their facial expressions and composition.

To the right of the Myeongbu-jeon Hall is the Palsang-jeon Hall. There are eight beautiful Palsang-do (The Eight Scenes from the Buddha’s Life Murals) housed inside this temple shrine hall, including a solitary image of Seokgamoni-bul (The Historical Buddha) on the main altar.

And the final temple shrine hall that visitors can enjoy at Gaesimsa Temple is the Sanshin-gak Hall, which is situated up near the tree-line to the right rear of the temple grounds. Housed inside this shaman shrine hall is a simplistic painting dedicated to Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit).

The one other structure at Gaesimsa Temple, which is off-limits to visitors, is a storage hall that is believed to house the remaining Korean Treasures at Gaesimsa Temple; namely, the Buddhist Paintings of Gaesimsa Temple, Seosan (Five Emperors of the Five Cardinal Directions and Four Underworld Messengers) and the Buddhist Paintings of Gaesimsa Temple, Seosan (Indra, Brahma, Eight Vajras, and Four Bodhisattvas).

How To Get There

The easiest way to get to Gaesimsa Temple, especially if you’re travelling in a group, is by taxi. You can catch a taxi from the Seosan Intercity Bus Terminal to Gaesimsa Temple. The ride will take about 25 minutes and cost you 18,000 won (one way).

Overall Rating: 8/10

It’s not everyday that you get to explore a temple so compact in size that houses five Korean Treasures. And the Korean Treasures are some of the finest of their kind in each of their distinct categories like the 15th century Daeung-jeon Hall, the Amita-bul statue housed inside the Daeung-jeon Hall, as well as the Gwaebul (Large Buddhist Banner Painting) housed inside the main hall. In addition to these treasures is the historic Simgeom-dang Hall, the artwork inside the Myeongbu-jeon Hall, and the pieces of artwork housed inside the administrative office. And while the Gaesimsa Temple is missing its iconic Jong-gak Pavilion, the entire temple grounds are still beautifully located in this part of Chungcheongnam-do.

Is there such a thing as “LOL” in Korean? Laughing is similarly present in Korean text messaging as well. But can you actually use this phrase in Korean? Well, not exactly, or at least it will be extremely uncommon to see a Korean use “LOL” when texting – even if they’re texting you using English.

Ever since we were first born into this world, one of our favorite things to do has been to laugh. And since the moment we learned to write, we’ve been finding ways to include laughter into writing as well. After the revolution of the internet and mobile phones, we took upon new ways to express laughter, including the worldwide famous phrase “LOL.”

Thus, to add a more natural flavor to your Korean written text, let’s go over some ways Koreans laugh in their text messages!

How to say “lol” in the Korean language

As we mentioned above, the word “lol” itself is not used in the Korean language or texting. However, multiple different ways to laugh in Korean texting do exist. Hopefully, you’ll find them easy and fun to use!

How to use each Korean laugh symbol

As there are different kinds of laughs that you’ll hear from people, the same goes for their written version. In this section, we’ll show you the different ways to express a Korean laugh through text.

ㅋㅋ (kk)

Even if you’ve never had a text message conversation with a Korean person, if you’ve seen just one episode of a Korean reality show, you’ve probably seen ㅋㅋ in use. It’s the most common way for Koreans to express laughter over text.

How many ㅋ should I use?

You don’t have to limit this Korean laugh symbol to just two ㅋs. You can use as many as you feel is appropriate in each situation, be that ㅋㅋㅋ or ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ, for example.

You can think of ㅋㅋ as the Korean version of lol. And if it’s funnier than that, something that in English would reward the use of capitalized LOL? Then more ㅋs are added! And what if it’s so funny, you are probably actually laughing over the text and would otherwise respond with LMAO or ROFL? Then add many ㅋs!

On the other hand, if you only use one ㅋ, you often aren’t actually laughing but being more sarcastic or displeased than anything.

How to pronounce ㅋㅋ (kk)

The pronunciation of this is seen as 크크크 (keukeukeu). And in fact, you can also, on occasion, see someone typing 크크크 instead of ㅋㅋㅋ. You can also type it as 키키키 (kikiki) if you want to look cute.

ㅎㅎ (hh)

While ㅋㅋ (kk) is best used for extreme laughter, ㅎㅎ (hh) is the best when you want to express the word “haha.” ㅎㅎ (hh) is also used quite commonly, and you can also use as many ㅎs as you find appropriate to match how funny you found something.

It is pronounced as 하하하 (hahaha), just as you would expect based on its meaning. Therefore, some people may also use 하하하 (hahaha) rather than ㅎㅎㅎ (hhh) when expressing “hahaha.” You can also write it out as 헤헤헤 (hehehe).

ㅍㅎㅎ (phh)

Pronounced as 푸하하 (puhaha), this is the equivalent of when you want to write out “bwahaha” in English. This is not used as commonly and thus may initially seem like an unintentional typo.

However, it is appropriate to use in situations when you want to express a big burst of laughter.

Other ways you can express strong emotions in Korean texting

Now, above, we went over the main ways in which Koreans utilize “lol” in their texting habits. However, there are a few more fun initialisms you may want to learn to use in daily text conversations going forward.

ㄷㄷ (dd)

Standing for 덜덜 (deoldeol), is something you can use to express that you are scared of something. For example, a big upcoming exam or a horror movie you just saw.

ㅁㄹ (ml)

This is the shortened version of 몰라 (molla), which means “I don’t know.” In other words, when you want to type out IDK, you can use ㅁㄹ (ml).

잼게/잼께 (jaemge/jaemkke)

These are both shortened from 재미있게 (jaemiitge), which means “in a fun way.” You can use it to say you’re having fun.

웃겨 죽겠다 (utgyeo jukgetda)

Finally, this is one amazing way to describe that something is making you laugh a lot. It translates as “dying from laughing,” so you can use it whenever something is really funny. You can use it instead of multiple ㅋs, for example.

Yay! Now you know how to laugh right while texting in the Korean language! Although it may seem like a silly lesson, it’s quite relevant information to know if you want to communicate naturally with your friends. How is laughter expressed in your country? Let us know in the comments below!

Next up, why not learn some more Korean emoticons to use next time you text?

The post LOL in Korean – Ways to express laughter appeared first on 90 Day Korean®.

Hermitage History

Anmyeonam Hermitage is located in Taean, Chungcheongnam-do on Anmyeon-do Island; from which, the hermitage gets its name. Anmyeonam Hermitage is a new hermitage first constructed in 1998. The hermitage belongs to the Jogye-jong Order, and it falls under the administration of Geumsansa Temple. Anmyeonam Hermitage was first built by the followers of the monk Jimyeong, who was the head monk at Beopjusa Temple. Anmyeonam Hermitage is a coastal hermitage that overlooks Cheonsuman Bay. There are numerous shrine halls stacked and gathered together on the hermitage grounds. Unfortunately, they’re all concrete. But while newer and concrete in composition, the coastal views are stunning.

Hermitage Layout

You first approach Anmyeonam Hermitage up a collection of back country roads, until you eventually arrive at the hermitage parking lot and a modern Iljumun Gate. Immediately to your right, and up an embankment, you’ll find a pair of simplistically built concrete pagodas. The thinly built, golden pagoda further up the hillside is decorative, while the larger, and more ornate pagoda, is the Myeongbu-jeon Hall. Only the first floor of this concrete structure has a shrine inside it. Additionally, you can look up through the centre of the pagoda to the top of its ceiling. As for the main altar inside the Myeongbu-jeon Hall, you’ll find a solitary image of a golden Jijang-bosal (The Bodhisattva of the Afterlife). Surrounding the interior of the squarish confines are murals dedicated to the Siwang (The Ten Kings of the Underworld) that are painted directly unto the structure’s surface.

To the left of the Myeongbu-jeon Hall, and standing on top of the two-story structure, is the hermitage’s Nahan-jeon Hall. Unfortunately, this hall was locked when I visited, but you can see a beautiful collection of Palsang-do (The Eight Scenes from the Buddha’s Life Murals) adorning the exterior walls.

Across the gravel courtyard, you’ll find a wall of temple shrine halls one stacked on top of the other for three stories in total. There is the wider shrine hall to the right and the more slender one to the left. The first story of the slender structure is occupied by the Samseong-gak Hall. This shaman shrine hall is populated by three of the largest shaman murals in Korea. The far left mural is dedicated to Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit), while the central mural is dedicated to Chilseong (The Seven Stars), and the far right mural is dedicated to Dokseong (The Lonely Saint). And standing out in front of the shrine hall is a statue dedicated to Mireuk-bul (The Future Buddha).

Above the Samseong-gak Hall, and up a set of stairs, is the Gwaneum-jeon Hall. There is a large wooden relief dedicated to Gwanseeum-bosal (The Bodhisattva of Compassion) on the main altar of this temple shrine hall. To the left of the serene image of Gwanseeum-bosal stands a nervously pointing image of Yongwang (The Dragon King).

Across a metal bridge, and up a flight of stairs, you’ll come to the second floor main hall at Anmyeonam Hermitage. The first story of this structure acts as the administrative office and kitchen, while the third floor seems unoccupied. However, the second floor houses the Geukrak-jeon Hall at Anmyeonam Hermitage. It’s also from this vantage point that you get a beautiful view of the bay off in the distance, which also just so happens to be your future destination. Housed inside the low-ceilinged shrine hall, and resting on the main altar, are five statues. The central seated image is dedicated to Amita-bul (The Buddha of the Western Paradise). On either side are two seated images: one dedicated to Jijang-bosal and the other to Gwanseeum-bosal. And these two seated images are then joined by standing images of themselves book-ending the main altar set of five statues. And these five statues are then backed by a beautiful golden relief centred by Amita-bul. To the right of the main altar is a vibrant relief of the Shinjung Taenghwa (Guardian Mural).

Now back on the ground level, and heading down towards the sea, you’ll pass by a row of Geumgang-yeoksa (Vajra Warrior) stone statues. Keep heading this way down the pathway, as it slowly descends towards the coastline. Once you do reach the coastline, you’ll notice a 100 metre long floating bridge that leads out towards a floating seven-story pagoda. The pagoda lies between two islands with the northern island known as Fox Island, or “Yeoduseom – 여우섬” in Korean. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to visit the hermitage during high-tide with both the bridge and pagoda floating. However, if the tide is low, and the bridge and the pagoda are lying on the floor of the tidal basin, it’s still a pretty magical place seeing all the aquatic life like crabs crawling around the mud flats. And looking back from the floating bridge, you get a pretty nice view of the hermitage grounds which appear even more impressive at a distance.

How To Get There

There are a few buses that go out to Anmyeonam Hermitage from the Taean Intercity Bus Terminal. However, all are long and even longer. The shortest and simplest bus ride is Bus #705. You’ll need to ride this bus for 56 stops, or one hour and forty minutes, until you get to the “Jeongdang-4ri/Maeul-hoegwan/Yeosu-hae – 정당4리/마을회관/여수해.” From where this bus drops you off, you’ll need to make your way east through the country roads for an additional 1.6 km, or 25 minutes.

There are other buses that go to Anmyeonam Hermitage from the Taean Intercity Bus Terminal, but you either have to walk further once you’re finally dropped off, or you need to catch a connecting bus like Bus #1001 connecting to Bus #707. Or for longer walks, you can catch Bus #701 or Bus #703 and walk for 2.7 km.

Or you could simply take a taxi, but it’ll cost you 50,000 won (one way), and the ride will take about 30 minutes.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Much like Ganwolam Hermitage, Anmyeonam Hermitage is beautifully situated along the coastline in Chungcheongnam-do. And while all the buildings are made of concrete at this hermitage, there are a few beautiful artistic accomplishments at Anmyeonam Hermitage like the main altar statues and golden relief, as well as the relief dedicated to Gwanseeum-bosal and the large shaman murals housed inside the Samseong-gak Hall. But again, if you’re travelling all the way to Anmyeonam Hermitage, it’s for the view and the one hundred metre long bridge that takes you out towards Fox Island and the floating pagoda.

The final three politeness levels we've yet to talk about are 하소서체, 하오체, and 하게체. These forms are still commonly found, but not in modern-day speech. Instead, you can find them in older materials, as well as Korean historical dramas. So they're really useful to know, but are also large topics on their own so we only have time to briefly introduce them. Be aware of them, but knowing how to create grammar for them is less important (unless you're trying to write a historical drama).

This is lesson 23 out of 24, so next week will be the final episode and will conclude this series.

What series would you like to see next on my channel?

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #23: Additional Politeness Levels appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.