Gabjinnyeon or The Year of the Blue Dragon as celebrated in Lanterns in the main plaza in front of the central palace (Gyeongbokgung Palace). The lantern festival ran from January 6-21. I went to see it with Nimmi, and Ally and her kids, on the 13th of January.
This Lunar New Year will be the beginning of the Year of the Blue Dragon (in Korea). In Korean lore and art, the Blue Dragon is the guardian of the East. There is also a Black Tortoise and Serpent that guard the North, a Red Phoenix that guards the South, and a White Tiger that guards the West. These deities also represent seasons (the Blue Dragon is also Spring). While the symbolism came from China in the 5th century AD, it has been used in many burial sites in Korea, and the lore has taken on its own Korean flavor. A dragon year is expected to bring lots of change and prosperity anywhere in Asia. I hope the Blue Dragon really can protect the East this year.
This vase is very well-known in Korea. It is a treasure, although not designated as a National Treasure. There are cranes, clouds, peonies, and chrysanthemums. It is from the 13th Century (Goryeo Dynasty). I have been wanting to see it since my visit to the National Museum, where I saw its likeness in the gift shop, but the original was not in that museum. Turns out, the Samsung family has their own art museum and this impressive beauty is immaculately displayed there.
It is intriguing to me what qualifies as a National Treasure in Korea. The treasures I have been admiring in the National Museum and the Leeum were actually cataloogued by the Japanese during the Japanese Occupation. There are over 500 of them, and they are in both North and South Korea. At the Leeum there is an amazing set of paintings that attempts to put them all into one space. Here is the link to the information about that set of paintings by Gala Porras-Kim: https://www.leeumhoam.org/leeum/exhibition/75
In the 6-minute video for these two weeks there are a number of other lovely artifacts shown in the Leeum Art Museum. My video link: https://youtu.be/03DYHO3Q-LA
One of my favorites is this moon vase, from the Joseon Dynasty, which was made during the blue and white pottery years (after the celadon kilns were all destroyed by the Mongolians). The lovely thing about the moon vase is that it has no decoration on it. The form is the thing. The Leeum accents this focus on form by lighting the vases so that the shadow takes on many penumbrae.
After a couple of hours of feasting my eyes on fabulous antiquities at the Leeum, I spent a good half hour feasting on Johnson Tang at Bada Sikdang in Itaewon (really close to the museum). This restaurant was opened in the 1960s when people were able to get food allowances from the US Military. They made their stew here with hotdogs and American cheese (and gochugaru pepper sauce and bone broth soup). It was quite tasty. And yes, it was named after Lyndon B Johnson. I don't know if he visited but I guess he was president when they made the stew recipe.
Fortified by this heartiness I was able to cross several other "Must See" places in Itaewon off of my list. One was Eden Pottery. I had been hearing about this place for months, but decided to go AFTER seeing the pottery village in Icheon. I am glad I waited. I knew exactly where many of the items came from on display in Eden Pottery. It was a very friendly shop with a lovely shopkeeper, and I was able to finally purchase something akin to dancheong (which is my favorite cultural thing on display in Korea, but of course, you cannot take a piece of it home). There are artists that make tiles that serve as endcaps on the roofs. I have seen the tiles many times. And now I have one.
Eden pottery is close to the Itaewon subway stop and near to the stop after that (Nogsapyeong) is a foreign bookstore that sells a LOT of English books. I have been craving the feel and smell of a paper book, so that was the next stop. And Seoul Foreign Bookstore did not disappoint!
You can see that it was raining so the displays were covered in plastic, but what you cannot see is that the walls were covered, floor to ceiling, with books in English. And the walls could slide, opening up MORE shelves of books. It was the most clever thing. I went a bit overboard and bought 3 books, but the effort to get there was encouragement to buy now.
After reading for awhile at a coffee shop next door, I wandered along the Antique Shop lane (near Plant, the first place I ever visited in Itaewon, the restaurant with all of the vegan dishes). It was nice to see the beautiful antiques, but many of them were British or from the USA, so it was not as inspiring as I had hoped. But still, I feel like I have finally "done" Itaewon. It was fun and interesting and I am satisfied with the experiences I had there.
Now, getting to and from these outings is a bit of a journey. The bus ride or the subway (with transfers) usually takes about 90 minutes (either direction) and on the subway, there is a very good possibility that I will be standing for most of that time. So I always have to budget my energy for the trip home. But a miracle happened on the trip from the Lantern Festival with Nimmi. After spending a bit more than hour in crowded Seoul streets admiring the festive displays, we got on a subway car that was completely empty. I took a photo just because I had never seen this before.
You can see that these cars are extremely clean and well-lit. Riding the subway can be quite pleasant and efficient. But rarely do they look like this! Nimmi and I very happily sat through our 45 minute ride to the transfer station. It got crowded pretty quickly (within there stops) but at least we had seats almost the entire ride home!
It has been really cold in Seoul the past week or so. And snowing. I actually enjoy watching the snow fall, but being outside in it is a challenge! Fortunately, my walk home is quite brief. I have excellent ondol heating in the floor of my apartment, and I have not yet (knock wood) been ill this school year, so I am feeling lucky and safe.
I hope the Blue Dragon brings protection to all of us this year, and keeps us all lucky and safe.
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