Jeju Province
Jeju Province (officially the Jeju Special Autonomous Province is one of the nine provinces of South Korea. The province is situated on and coterminous with the nation's largest island of Jeju (also Jejudo; see Naming below), formerly transliterated as Cheju, Cheju Do, etc., or known as Quelpart to Europeans. The island lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of South Jeolla Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is Jeju City.
The island contains the natural World Heritage Site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.Jeju Island has a temperate climate and even in winter, the temperature rarely falls below freezing point.
Early history
According to legend, three demi-gods emerged from Samsung-hyeol which is said to have been on the northern slopes of Mt. Halla and became the progenitors of the Jeju people who founded the Kingdom of Tamna.
It has also been claimed that three brothers—including Ko-hu—who were
the 15th descendants of Koulla, one of the Progenitors of the Jeju
people, were received by the court of Silla,
at which time [when?] the name Tamna was officially recognized, while
the official government posts of Commander, Prince and Governor were
conferred by the court upon the three. However, there is no concrete
evidence of when the "Three Names" (Samseong-Ko, Yang and Pu) appeared
nor for the exact date of when Ko-hu and his brothers were received by
Silla. It may be supposed that the "Three Names" Founding Period
occurred during the Three Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) Period on the mainland of Korea.
Taejo, founder of Goryeo,
attempted to establish the same relationship between Goryeo and Tamna
as Tamna had had with Silla. Tamna refused to accept this position and
the Goryeo court dispatched troops to force Tamna to submit. Ko
ja-gyeon, chief of Tamna, submitted to Goryeo in 938 and sent his son,
Prince Mallo, to Goryeo's court as a de facto hostage. In 1105 (King
Sukjong's 10th year), the Goryeo court abolished the name Takna which
had been used up to this time and, from that year on, the island was
known as "Tamna-gun" (district) and Goryeo officials were sent to handle
the affairs of the island.
Tamna-country was changed to Tamna-county in 1153 during the reign of
King Uijong and Choi Cheok-kyeong was posted as Tamna-Myeong or Chief
of Tamna. In 1121 during Huijong's reign, Tamna was renamed "Jeju" and
the posts of Judiciary were established on the island.
In 1271, General Kim Tong-jeong escaped with what remained of his Sambyeolcho
force from Jindo and built the Hangpadu Fortress at Kwiil-chon from
where they continued their fight against the combined Korean
government-Mongolian army but within two years, faced by an enemy army
of over 10,000 troops, the Sambyeolcho was annihilated.
Geography
Jeju Island is a volcanic island, dominated by Halla-san
(Halla Mountain): a volcano 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) high and the
highest mountain in South Korea. The island measures approximately 73
kilometres (45 mi) across, east to west, and 41 kilometres (25 mi) from
north to south.
The island was created entirely from volcanic eruptions approximately
2 million years ago, during the time period extending from the Tertiary to the beginning of the Quaternary period, and consists chiefly of basalt and lava. The eruptions took place in the Cenozoic era. It has a humid subtropical climate,
warmer than that of the rest of Korea, with four distinct weather
seasons. Winters are cool and dry while summers are hot, humid, and
sometimes rainy.
An area covering about 12% (224 square kilometres or 86 square miles) of Jeju is known as Gotjawal Forest. This area remained uncultivated until the 21st century, as its base of ʻAʻā lava made it difficult to develop for agriculture. Because this forest remained pristine for so long, it has a unique ecology. The forest is the main source of groundwater
and thus the main water source for the half millon people of the
island, because rainwater penetrates directly into the aquifer through
the cracks of the ʻAʻā lava under the forest. Gotjawal forest is
considered an internationally important wetland under the Ramsar Convention by some researchers
because it is the habitat of unique species of plants and is the main
source of water for the residents, although to date it has not been
declared a Ramsar site.
Society and culture
Because of the relative isolation of the island, the people of Jeju have developed a culture and language
that are distinct from those of mainland Korea. Jeju is home to
thousands of local legends. Perhaps the most distinct cultural artifact
is the ubiquitous dol hareubang ("stone grandfather") carved from a block of basalt.
Another distinct aspect of Jeju is the matriarchal
family structure, found especially in Udo and Mara, but also present in
the rest of the province. The best-known example of this is found among
the haenyeo
("sea women"), who were often the heads of families, because they
controlled the income. They earned their living from free diving, often
all year round in quite cold water, without scuba gear, in order to harvest abalones, conchs,
and a myriad of other marine products. It is thought that women are
better at spending all day deep-water diving because they resist cold
better. However, because of rapid economic development and modernization, few haenyeo are still actively working today.
- Bangsatap
Bangsatap are small, round towers made of many stones. There are many
Bangsataps and you can see them near the countryside in Jeju. People
usually pile up many stones, making a shape like a tower in order to
protect themselves from the bad luck in their village. They built
Bangsatap according to the theory of divination because they believe
that geography is very important in choosing the right place for them.
It is also a good example to demonstrate religious belief in Jeju island
because it is an object in which people put faith: people put a rice
paddle inside the Bangsatap to gather as much money as possible, as well
as an iron pot to overcome disaster and fight fire in their village.
Nobody knows that when the Bangsatap was built over the year previous.
Cuisine
Jeju Island is the southernmost and largest island isolated from the Korean peninsula. Due to its lack of fresh water, paddy farming is only done on a small scale on the island, with the cultivation of cereal crops such as millet, barnyard millet, buckwheat, and barley being the main feature of agriculture. Therefore, the traditional Jeju meal generally consists of japgokbap which is a bowl of steamed multiple grains as a main dish, with various salted dried fish called jaban[disambiguation needed] as banchan (side dishes), and a soup based on doenjang (soybean paste) such as baechuguk made with Napa cabbage, kongnipguk made with soybean leaves, or muguk made with daikon. Jeju dishes are made with simple ingredients, and the taste is generally salty. Raw seafood called hae is commonly consumed as a part of the meal. The warm weather affects Jeju cuisine in that gimjang,
preparing kimchi in late autumn for winter consumption, is not
necessary to Jeju, as it is in the other provinces. Only a small amount
of kimchi is pickled by Jeju locals. Representative main dishes in Jeju
cuisine are porridge made with fish, seafood, seaweeds, or mushrooms.
Examples include jeonbokjuk made with abalone, okdomjuk made with Red tilefish,gejuk made with crabs, gingijuk made with small crabs called bangge (Helice tridens),maeyeoksae juk made with young wakame,and chogijuk made with shiitake.
Gamgyul is a type of orange similar to the Mandarin orange or tangerine,
commonly harvested in Jeju island. Black pig is a delicacy on the
island as well. Black pigs are famous for their black hair and their
meat for its chewy texture. The meat is nutritious but does not have the
unique smell of pork. Black pigs other notable features are their long
faces, narrow snouts and small ears that stand up.
