South Koreans trek to China to see their sacred mountain

[beijingwalker]

South Koreans trek to China to see their sacred mountain
06 Jan 2014 12:20

The spiritual birthplace of the Korean people is a volcano steeped in myth and legend. But with the peninsula divided for decades, South Koreans longing to see it must first travel to China.

CHANGBAI: The spiritual birthplace of the Korean people is a volcano steeped in myth and legend.

However, with the peninsula divided for decades, South Koreans longing to see it must first travel to China.

The peak, known as Changbai in Chinese and Paektu in Korean and its spectacular crater lake, straddle the China-North Korea border.

Small tour buses screech around hairpin curves before unloading South Korean tourists for a short walk to the rim to catch sight of the forbidden North as they dream of a future as one.

"Unification!" shouted a South Korean man at the site, one of the tens of thousands who make the pilgrimage every year.

According to Korean myth – Dangun, who founded the nation's first kingdom in 2333 BC, was born on the mountain to a mother who was transformed from a bear into a woman.

The local tourism bureau says there were about 137,000 overseas visitors in 2013, with more than half said to be South Koreans.

"This place is so sacred," said Choi Byung-eui, who had journeyed with his father from the South Korean city of Gyeongju.

He paused among the heavy, sustained gusts of wind at the crater's edge that occasionally opened up the thick cloud to allow glimpses of the crater.

"I'm so disappointed and so sad because a lot of people are divided because of the (Korean) war," he said. "Our Korea must be one."

More than just a mountain

The peak which stands roughly 2,750 metres (9,022 feet) high, is the highest peak on both the Korean peninsula and in China's northeast. It is also the source of the Yalu and Tumen rivers, which mark most of the border between China and North Korea.

The body of water in the crater is known in Chinese as Tianchi, or Heaven Lake, while a few endangered Amur tigers still prowl the slopes and hills of the broader Changbai range.

South Korea spells the name as Baekdu and a guidebook to China published in Seoul describes it as "more than just a mountain soaring high. It's like a sacred place of national origin."

The volcano has generated headlines in recent years as seismologists warned it could erupt for the first time in centuries, raising alarms over what such a cataclysm could mean for impoverished yet nuclear-armed North Korea.

North Korea has used the peak's importance in Korean history into its own political propaganda by incorporating it within the mythology of the ruling Kim clan.

The late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was officially said to have been born on its slopes in 1942, with hagiographic accounts claiming a double rainbow and new star appeared at the time. Outside scholars say his birth was in the Soviet Union.

When Kim died on December 17, 2011, "layers of ice were broken... shaking the lake with big noise", North Korea's state news agency reported.

Kim's father and predecessor, the North's founder Kim Il-sung "organised and led the anti-Japanese revolution to victory from there", according to an official biography of Kim Jong-il.

The Korean name translates as "white-headed mountain", while the Chinese version can mean "eternally white".

The Changbai range spreads through Manchuria, the northeastern region where the Manchu ethnic group conquered all of China in the 17th century, subsequently ruling as the Qing dynasty for 268 years. Its emperors are recorded to have made offerings to the mountain.

Beyond imagination

Gao Shang, a graduate student and ethnic Manchu, said he had wanted to see the crater ever since his parents told him as a child that "there is a magic pool on the Changbai mountain", recalling the tale might even have included a "monster in there".

According to family lore, his ancestors came from the area, he added. The mountain "is important for me", Gao emphasised.

Lee Kang-ho, visiting with his father and son from the southern Korean port city of Busan, was overwhelmed with pride at scaling the volcano.

"It's beyond my imagination," he said, calling the mountain the "lifeline and very root of Korea".

At the same time, he was embarrassed that he could not travel through North Korea to reach it, he added.

"I felt shame that I had to spend money in China in order to come here."

- AFP/nf

 

[Roybot]

That looks amazing!

 

[beijingwalker]

China has no land disputes with North Korea,but some South Koreans have different view on this part of the border.

Border disputes
PRC-DPRK border around Baekdu-Changbai Mountain
According to Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, the Yalu (鴨綠江) and Tumen Rivers (土門江/圖們江) were set as the borders in the era of the founder of Joseon Dynasty, Taejo of Joseon (1335–1408).Because of the continuous entry of Korean people into *****, a region in Manchuria that lay north of the Tumen Manchu and Korean officials surveyed the area and negotiated a border agreement in 1712. To mark the agreement, they built a monument describing the boundary at a watershed, near the south of the crater lake at the mountain peak. The interpretation of the inscription caused a territorial dispute from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, and is still disputed by academics today. The 1909 ***** Convention between China and Japan (Japan was responsible for Korea's foreign affairs at the time, according to theEulsa Treaty, though this treaty was later declared null and void in 1965 by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea) recognized the area north and east as Chinese territory. The border was further clarified in 1962, when China and North Korea negotiated a border treaty on the mountain border in response to minor disputes. The two countries agreed to share the mountain and the lake at the peak, with Korea controlling approximately 54.5% and gaining approximately 230 km² in the treaty.

Recent disputes

Some South Korean groups argue that recent activities conducted on the Chinese side of the border, such as economic development, cultural festivals, infrastructure development, promotion of the tourism industry, attempts at registration as a World Heritage Site, and bids for a Winter Olympic Games, are an attempt to claim the mountain as Chinese territory.These groups object to China's use of Changbai Mountain, which has been used since Liao Dynasty and the earlier Jin Dynasty (1115–1234).Some groups also regard the entire mountain as Korean territory that was given away by North Korea in the Korean War.Both European maps and Chinese maps dating before the annexation of Baekdu Mountain and ***** show these areas to be under Korean Joseon Dynastycontrol.

During the 2007 Asian Winter Games, which were held in Changchun, China, a group of South Korean athletes held up signs during the award ceremony which stated "Mount Baekdu is our territory". Chinese sports officials delivered a letter of protest on the grounds that political activities violated the spirit of the Olympics and were banned in the charter of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia. The head of the Korea Olympic Committee responded by stating that the incident was accidental and held no political meaning.South Korea has attempted to avoid having this issue become a source of friction between South Korea and China. The athletes' gesture did not become as big an issue as Liancourt Rocks dispute and the Sea of Japan naming dispute.

The 2007 official National Atlas of Korea shows the boundary as per the 1962 agreement, roughly splitting the mountain and the caldera lake. However, South Korea claim the caldera lake and inside part of the ridge enclosing the lake are Korean territory.

five female players raised signs reading "Mount Baekdu is our territory" during the awards ceremony after they won the silver in the 5,000-meter relay.

 

[S10]

Fact: Mao gave half the mountain to North Korea as a sign of friendship. It was a major mistake on his part. Now the South Koreans think it's theirs. They need to be put back into their place.

 

[northeast]

Changbai moutain is the sacred place of manchus（jurchens）people，nothing to do with the Koreans.

 

[Tractor]

Upper-left North Korea
Seems hydropower in China side.Korean sacred mountain be damaged?

 

[Lux de Veritas]

Actually the North Korean and South Korean demand 100% of Changbai Mountain and much more. China told the Koreans off and said that this mountain is sacred to Manchus as well.

As far as I know North Korea see that China hold part of Tianchi as an insult and try many times to negotiate it to get it from China. Luckily PRC leaders did not ceded it.

 

[Tractor]

People are free to go there is the point I think although this mountain not remarkablle.Unlukily we Chinese no free to go to Indian controlled south Tibet which has many beautiful mountains and lakes.

 

[cirr]

was once in a convoy made of 19 SUVs which。。。

 

[eazzy]

Lol China should claim sovereignty over Jeju as Penglai...

 

[beijingwalker]

Now South Koreans still have the luxury to come to China to worship their sacred mountain,but If the mountain was "theirs", those South Koreans would never have the chance to see it from anywhere again.

 

[cnleio]

Whatever Korean demand, they can take it by their blood.

 

[armchairPrivate]

Changbashan is legendary in wild herbs. I read a lot about it in the kungfu stories.
The crater lake is magnificent.The name Changbashan I guess come from the fact the mountain is tall and the teak is covered in snow all year round?

 

[Kolaps]

Fact: Mao gave half the mountain to North Korea as a sign of friendship. It was a major mistake on his part. Now the South Koreans think it's theirs. They need to be put back into their place.

The communist was selling out Republic of China territory for free.

TRAITOR!

 

[halupridol]

People are free to go there is the point I think although this mountain not remarkablle.Unlukily we Chinese no free to go to Indian controlled south Tibet which has many beautiful mountains and lakes.

u can come and visit india, just like many chinese people do.....
n we dont control tibet.........



btw........anybody from yunan here???