King Sejong the Great and Empress Myeongseong

Today was a busy day.  I went to visit King Sejong's grave and went to the birthplace of the last queen of Korea (Empress Myeongseong).  Both of these places are located in Yeoju, so I did not have to go very far.  They were both really interesting, considering I am a huge nerd and find history type things awesome.

First I went to King Sejong's grave.  He is most notably associated with being the king that produced Hangul, which is the written from of Korean.  King Sejong is known for his technological advancement of Korean society and his intellect.  Because of his advancements he is revered and loved.  His tomb is in Yeoju and with the tomb there is a small museum with different relics from his reign.  Since he was known to be an intellectual and academically minded, most of the relics pertain to science and books, with some being musical instruments.  The tomb itself is really impressive, with stone guards on either side and rams lining his grave.  The view from the top is really nice.  The park has walking trails and is just beautiful.  I will probably make a trip back because it was just so pretty.

Empress Myeongseong was the last queen of Korea before the Japanese colonized Korea and destroyed the Joseon empire.  She was born and raised in Yeoju, and now her birthplace is a memorial of sorts to her.  She was an advocate for Korea and tried to save Korea from the Japanese, which ultimately lead to her downfall.  She was killed by a samurai before she could gain the help of the Russians to beat back the Japanese forces.  Her birthplace has a little museum with her life story and talks about her fight against the Japanese involvement in Korea.  It also has a small recreation (only one building is original) of her home in Yeoju.  The grounds for this place are not as extensive as the ones for King Sejong but they were still really cool.  

The day was really nice and I learned a lot about Korean history.  Well I learned a little, this country seriously has a long ass history.  The only real constant is their hatred of Japan.  Ha!  Go figure.  I mean Japan has taken over this peninsula a few times and on multiple occasions tried to mess with the political state of the country.  On more than one occasion my students have shown their distaste for Japan.  Ahh well.  I really enjoyed myself nonetheless.  :D