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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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 Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:00 am Post subject: Naksan Temple destroyed by fire |
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| Exquisite park/temple complex perhaps known to many who have travelled up to these parts is engulfed in a major forest fire as I write. I have so many fond memories tied up with this place. Tragic. Naksan Beach Hotel might be next. Story unfolding. |
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weatherman
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:55 am Post subject: |
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http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050405/610000000020050405172949E0.html
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(2nd LD) Forest Fire Spreads to Renowned Buddhist Temple
YANGYANG, South Korea, April 5 (Yonhap) -- A raging forest fire fanned by dry and strong winds destroyed a thousand-year-old Buddhist temple in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, on Tuesday afternoon, after forcing thousands of residents to evacuate overnight, the police said.
Naksan Temple, one of the most renowned temples in South Korea with 1,300 years of history, was widely damaged, they said. Out of its 20 ritual halls, eighteen were completely destroyed, including the Hall of the Great Veneration where the image of Buddha is enshrined.
The temple preserves about 30,000 national treasures. Its monks said they had evacuated three representative treasures including a Buddhist image considered the oldest in Asia into the temple's basement before the fire spread. But the scope of the damage could not be immediately determined.
No victims have been reported.
Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan issued an emergency directive to mobilize all equipment to contain the fire, his office said. It said Lee will hold an emergency meeting this evening with ministers of defense, administration and health as well as heads of fire authorities and the police agency.
The fire erupted Monday night and spread rapidly, forcing 700 residents to evacuate their mountainous villages in the middle of the night. The authorities mobilized fire trucks and police officers to try to contain the blaze, a feat made more problematic by the dry conditions and strong winds.
Southwesterly winds are forecast to continue until Wednesday morning, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.
Residents threatened by the fire in the mountainous region in South Korea's northeast were evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night.
"The forest fire stuck my house so suddenly that I had no time to do anything about it except save myself," Jeong Yeon-hak, 71, said at an emergency shelter.
Tourists visiting the eastern coastal region for Arbor Day on April 5 were also forced to evacuate their condominiums, the police said.
The blaze is the largest fire in Yangyang county since May 1980.
Forest fires frequently break out in other counties in Gangwon Province, which is covered in mountains and visited by dry spells in early spring.
Forests make up 82 percent of Yangyang county.
[email protected]
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weatherman
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: Korea
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:18 am Post subject: |
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| I guessing it was organised by a group containing 50% japanese and 50% north american english teacher/playboys with no degrees |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:31 am Post subject: |
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I was hoping we might have a relatively fire-free spring this year -- rains & snowpack have been good. But I guess its still tinder conditions out there. A fire's coming at us from the north too, started in North Korea & its made its way across the dmz.
Really windy over here. A similar day last spring a forest fire ripped through Sokcho & took out a favorite mountainside pub. Be careful with fire! |
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Holyjoe
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: Away for a cuppa
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:51 am Post subject: |
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Some pictures of the forest fire too:
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JacktheCat
Joined: 08 May 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:56 am Post subject: |
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Sad news.
Though the current Naksan temple complex is (was) just a reconstruction, built during the 1970s and 80s.
The orginial Naksansa was over 1,300 years old when it was bombed into smithereens by American bombers during the Korean War. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| Indeed. The lovely pine forest surrounding is now cinders I suspect, but I'm holding some hope the little hermitage on a cliff overlooking the sea might have survived -- rebuilt, sure, but with a heritage going back 13 hundred years. |
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Kalhoun
Joined: 30 May 2003
Location: Land of the midnight noise!
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:52 am Post subject: |
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I'm just wondering if it might be at all possible that radical fundamentalist christians torched the Buddhist temple. I would not be surprised as it has been happening a fair amount over the last 25 years or so. Frank Tedesco has done excellent research on this tragic and shameful element of certain christian groups around Korea.
Last edited by Kalhoun on Thu May 12, 2005 9:54 am; edited 1 time in total |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:00 am Post subject: |
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| No need to seek for plots. Likely a farmer burning waste, or some idiot flicked a cigarette butt. |
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itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:49 am Post subject: |
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I was at naksan temple last september..
and man I thought it was the best place I have been in korea!!!
thats a such a shame!!!! |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:50 am Post subject: |
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Me, too! I was there last summer with my family!
It was amazing!
I am sure it can be rebuilt, though. What a loss. |
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Emu Bitter
Joined: 27 May 2004
Location: Bundang
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:12 am Post subject: |
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| Makes me happy. Can't stand Buddhists. |
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JacktheCat
Joined: 08 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Emu Bitter wrote: |
| Makes me happy. Can't stand Buddhists. |
I'm going to take that comment in stride given some of the other junk that gets posted on this website.
Are you just saying that because you dislike Asians, and think all Buddhists are Asian?
More than a few westerners, like my mother and father, are Buddhist and that was the religion I was brought up into. Can't say I am much of a practicing Buddhist these days, I love my beer and meat too much, but that is my moral background and Buddhism shapes much of my outlook on life. |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Emu Bitter wrote: |
| Makes me happy. Can't stand Buddhists. |
Sad. |
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