Seorim Park
Sand playground in Seorim ParkA sand playground inside Seorim Park situated in Dongjung-ri and Seooe-ri, Buan-eup, Buan-gun.
Trail within Seorim ParkThe trail within Seorim Park situated in Dongjung-ri and Seooe-ri, Buan-eup, Buan-gun. The public forest park is accredited for its value to forestry and designated as a National Forest Cultural Heritagein 2016.
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LocationGuyeong 1-gil, Gyodong 2-gil Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryTour/ Park
- Korean서림 공원
- Chinese西林公園
- FieldGeography / Human Geography
- Contents TypePlace Name / Facility
- Current LocationGuyeong 1-gil, Gyodong 2-gil Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Definition
- A park in Dongjung-ri/Seooeri, Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Summary
- Seorim Park is in Seonghwangsan Mountain (height: 115 m) in Dongjung-ri/Seooeri, Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. As one of the leading mountains close to Buan, Seonghwangsan Mountain appears to be embracing Buan from northwest. The name Seonghwang is associated with Seonghwangsa Temple, where locals held sacrificial rites for the village guardian deity. It is also called Sangsosan Mountain. The name Sangsosan was attached to it based on the historic fact that Gen. Su Dingfang of China’s Tang Dynasty camped out there with his troops when he led troops here during the unification of three kingdoms in Korea. At present, the Buan-Gun Office is located on the southern slope of the mountain, where the old Buan Administration Office was situated in the past. The name Seorim literally means the forest to the west of the Buan Administration Office, and the back garden of the Buan Administration Office was originally located here.
- Background of Construction
- It is said that, in 1847 (13th year of King Heonjong’s reign), after he looked at Seonghwangsan Mountain nearby the Administration Office, Buan Administrator Jo Yeon-myeong (1847-1849 in office) organized a group of 33 locally influential people to plant trees in spring and autumn in order to create a forest and built a pavilion named Seorimjeong. Later, as the forest was impoverished, another local administrator named Lee Pil-eui (1864-1869 in office) reactivated the previous group to restore the forest, which has become Seorim Park today.
- Composition
- There are four access paths leading to Seonghwangsan Mountain, where there are four trekking courses. There are lookouts for enjoying the surrounding landscape here and there in the mountain. Many locals love to walk on the path through the metasequoia/sun tree forest here. Near the eastern access path to the park is an ecological forest formed as part of the project designed to restore the damaged forest.
- Current Status
- Seorim Park was a place where local scholars in Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do appreciated the arts and beautiful scenery of the area, and it is a favorite destination among locals. In 2016, it was designated as a National Forest Cultural Asset in recognition of its ecological and environmental value and as a forest park formed with the local government playing the lead role. In the park is a stone marker set up to honor the achievements made by local administrators Jo Yeon-myeong and Lee Pil-eui in the formation of the forest and construction of the pavilion. There are Buddhist temples including Seonghwangsa and Hyewonsa at the foot of Seonghwangsan Mountain. Seonghwangsa is a temple dating back to 1314 (2nd year of the reign of King Chungsuk of Goryeo).
The lookout in Seorim Park is a place that commands a nice view of Byeonsan, West Sea, and estuary of Dongjingang River down below, where people loved to visit to compose poems and paint the nice scenery. On the hillside behind the Buan-Gun Office building is a monument of poem for Maechang, and there are two rocks on its right and left containing engraved Chinese characters “琴垈” and “惠泉.” Female poet, and official gisaeng Lee Mae-chang is said to have used to sit on the rock and play geomungo, drinking from the spring. A rock left on the site of the olden-day Buan Administrator’s Office contains the engraved Chinese characters “蓬萊洞天 珠林 玉泉,” which were handwritten by Park Si-su, who served as the local administrator in the 1810s. It is a Taoistic phrase about Buan being a nice and beautiful place where even deities longed to live.
- See Also