Lamp of the east

Laid back and relaxing on a bed in a cosy corner room on the 16th floor of the Millennium Seoul Hilton, one couldn’t but gasp in awe at the cars moving with rhythmic motion under bright neon lights on nifty roads and flyovers down below, notwithstanding the heavy July downpour. It looks like a miracle of automated self-regulation in the South Korean capital, Seoul. Faith in an age of technological might and transcendence. This may sum up the mood in Seoul, beautifully bisected by the Han River, which eventually joins the Yellow Sea that separates the 1,000-km-long Korean Peninsula from China. Termed as one of the most mountainous regions of the world, on the other side, the East Sea separates it from another big power, Japan. No wonder the Koreans are so conscious of their indigenous culture.

The ideological legacy of the Korean Partition — when its Japanese colonial masters withdrew from the peninsula on August 15, 1945 (precisely two years prior to India winning her political freedom) into Communist-ruled North Korea and the Democratic South Korean Republic — is still etched in people’s minds and nature, as well as Korean culture. Korean history is a splendidly vast canvas, from the days of its first ancient Joseon kingdom, which their official history cites as having lasted from the year 2333 BC to 108 BC.

 Several eminent dynasties followed until the peninsula’s last, Joseon dynasty, from 1392 to 1910. Even as Buddhist art and religion had reached a peak in Korea as early as 7th century, which is called the golden age of Korean culture, the present Seoul was made the capital city way back in 1394. Even to this day, the palaces and high gates constructed during that period can be seen.

The cultural fragrance, the innate courtesy in people’s body language, is impeccably eastern as Korea’s traditional religions are Confucianism and Buddhism, the latter being India’s gift to the entire world. But Christianity too has a large following since it came into Korea in the late 18th century. In fact, today, there are nearly 12 million Buddhists and Christians here, comprising a large chunk of South Korea’s 50 million population, reveals Limb Jong-Myoung, editor of Diplomacy, an English magazine published in Seoul. “Our cultural values no doubt have been more shaped by the interface of Buddhism and Confucianism in the last 500 years, but now, religion means less and less in people’s everyday lives, particularly after the Korean War that ended in July, 1953,” Limb told us. The driving force for people in South Korea, now ranked the 13th largest economy in the world with industrial conglomerates like Hyundai, Samsung and LG becoming household names, “Is sheer hard work and diligence, inspired by modern Korea’s founder and former president Park,” adds Limb.

Thus, Seoul symbolises the very soul of South Korea, with thick greenery carpeting the hills-ringed metropolis. Home to nearly one-fourth of Koreans now, who are driven to the city by the juggernaut of industrialisation, Seoul accounts for a whopping 21 per cent of the country’s GDP and 50 per cent of its finance, say officials. Amid other growing cities like Busan and Daegu, Seoul is the most visited city by foreign tourists, say officials. In 2010, the city accounted for over 80 per cent of foreign tourists who came to Korea.

When a stifled Korea under Japanese occupation was kept back from uttering itself culturally, it was the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore who gave it a poetic identity, hailing it in 1929 as a “Lamp of The East”, waiting to be “lighted once again for the illumination of the East.” That poem of Tagore made all the difference to a whole lot of Koreans seeking freedom from Japanese oppression. “I was lucky to be exposed to Tagore’s poetry as it gave us self-esteem and the inward strength to resist,” says Dr Kim Yang-Shik, president of the Tagore Society in Seoul.

For her, like many of Kim’s contemporaries, those lines were a modern bridge to explore the philosophical-spiritual foundations of Korea and India. If Buddhism was the first ancient link between the two nations, a legendary princess from Ayodhya, who is believed to have come to Korea and married the then king, Kim-Suro in 48 AD, came as the second bridge to connect two eastern cultures. The present First Lady of Korea, Kim Yoon-ok, is among those who trace their ancestry to that royal cross-cultural wedlock.

This story may be true or just a fable, but the Indian link has been firmly established, as it is inspirational for people like Dr Kim Yang-Shik, who has not only translated many of Tagore’s works into Korean, but has also the finest collection of Indian artifacts and musical instruments at her Indian Art Museum in Seoul. “If rice plants came to Korea from South India, the santoor came here from Kashmir through China,” avers Chun In Pyong, a professor teaching Indian music in Seoul.

Soaked in centuries of historicity, in Seoul, one cannot miss its many objectifications, besides the Indian Art Museum, which was recently opened by Dr Karan Singh, president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The Gyeongbokgung Palace, which goes back to 1395, the enchanting Cheong Wa De, literally the ‘pavilion of blue tiles’, which houses South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s office, the Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple founded in 794 CE (or AD) are the other attractions.

More recently, the Cheong Gye Cheon, a natural stream and drainage in downtown Seoul, which almost disappeared due to human settlements, was restored in 2003, when Lee was the city mayor. The War Memorial, a grand monument to the Korean martyrs, is also a must-visit. Though new housing and commercial complexes are going vertical due to paucity of space, Seoul’s liberally sprinkled green parks, airy and fairly large courtyards at other smaller royal palaces of yore, provide a one-with-nature ambience for tourists to rest on its wide benches under shady trees.

For the trendy and the youth, there are glitzy shopping malls, eateries, the exciting Seoul Metro (or subway, as it is called there) to hop in, lots of pop music in the air and several casinos to lighten their wallets (one US Dollar is about 1,060 Korean Won). This economic miracle city also houses some rare museums for the archaeologically and historically inclined. Now, the 600 year-old, 18-km-long Seoul Fortress Wall around the city is being restored to sell it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.