Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61. Seoul has 4 mountains north of the River Han: 2 to the north (Bugaksan, 북악산, 342m & Naksan, 낙산 ,125m); 1 to the west (Inwangsan, 인왕산, 338m) & 1 to the south (Namsan,남산, 262 m). Namsan has the 236 m tall N Seoul Tower.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 7/7. Finally this 1348 ten storey pagoda, the first one known to be made from marble, from Gyeongcheonsa, a Buddhist Temple which was in present day North Korea.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 6/7. Buncheong ware, 분청사기, orginated in the 14th century and continues to inspire some Korean artists today. This vessel is from the 15th century and decorated with inlaid designs of lotus flowers.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 5/7. After printing technology I looked at some of the ceramics. This white porcelain Moon Jar is late 17th century.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 4/7. The Museum has Hangeul metal print blocks from c 1455: the ones I saw are from the 17-18th c. Earlier this year Hanguel printing blocks were excavated in Seoul possibly dating back to 1434. (Korea Times article: http://www2.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2021/06/145_311325.html)

Metal Hanguel printing blocks from the National Museum of Korea

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 3/7, But 70 years before Gutenberg’s Bible of around 1455 a 14th century Korean book, the ‘Jikji’, was printed from moveable cast-metal type in Cheongju (청주시), the earliest such book still in existence & now in Paris.

The Jikji from the Bibliotheque National de France.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 2/7. I focused first on printing technology, in which Korea led the world. Ever since I first browsed the web in 1994 & realised it would change the world, I’ve been interested in the impact of the printing press on European society.

The earliest depiction (France, 1499-1500) of a print workshop, from the ‘Danse Macabre’ in the British Library.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, Day 30/61, 1/7. A few hours at Korea’s National Museum. The team of architects designing the building was led by the American Robert Siegel, dates from 2005 & is in Yongsan Family Park, formerly occupied by the American military.

Photo of the National Museum of Korea

Tue 11 Oct 2022, Day 29/61, 5/5. An observatory on Mt Dora gave us views of the DMZ south & north of the Demarcation Line & beyond. In the distance is the North Korean city, Gaeseong, 개성시.

Photo looking into the DMZ & beyond.