Blog News

1. Comments are still disabled though I am thinking of enabling them again.

2. There are now several extra pages - Poetry Index, Travel, Education, Childish Things - accessible at the top of the page. They index entires before October 2013.

3. I will, in the next few weeks, be adding new pages with other indexes.

Tuesday 26 May 2009

DPRK: Kongmin Tombs


The other site that we had to get in wasn't very far away and a few minutes later we arrived there: the tombs of King Kongmin and his wife. These are a genuine ancient monument dating to 1372. They are located in a quite charming area and a short stroll up the stone steps brings you to the twin mounds of the tombs. Here there are a number of excellent statues, virtually free of restoration and a view of the strangely named "Oh My" Mountain.
The legend of the name is that King Kongmin had been seeking for some time the perfect site for the tombs to be constructed. He had consulted all the best geomancers in the land but didn't like any of the suggestions. In despair he said that the next geomancer to provide a location would be richly rewarded if he liked it and executed if he didn't. The site was selected and Kongmin went to inspect it. He told his soldiers that if he didn't like it he would wave a handkerchief from the top of the hill as a signal to kill the geomancer. When he reached the top of the hill he found that it was a perfect site. However it was a hot day and he unthinkingly took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow. At the bottom of the hill they mistook this as the signal and killed the geomancer. When the king reached the bottom again they told him what had happened and he said "Oh My!". Since then, this has been the name of the mountain.




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