한국국제교류재단

Miryang, nearly 50 kilometers northwest of Busan, sits along two rivers. The Miryang River meanders southward through the center of the city. It twists several times to the east before joining the Nakdong River, which traces the southern border of Miryang, and the merged waters head for the sea. The Chinese character yang in the name Miryang may mean sunshine. But when it is attached to the name of a river, it means the northern side of the water. Mountains and craggy hills jostle the topography north of Miryang, and to the south of the city center the Miryang River valley embraces a fertile plain.

The oldest written record of Miryang as a geographical name is found in the third-century Chinese history text “Records of the Three Kingdoms” (Sanguozhi). The book mentions a state named Miri, which is the old Chinese transcription of the ancient Korean word mireu, which meant water or dragon, as the water god. Hence the interpretation of Miryang as “Secret Sunshine,” as director Lee Chang-dong has acknowledged, is no more than his personal, poetic view of the name.

By the Miryang River, traces of humans from thousands of years ago can be found. On the hill north of the Miryang Dam, completed in 2001, the remains of a Paleolithic site dated 27,000 years ago were discovered during the dam construction. The find dramatically moved up the timeline of human settlement in Miryang from the previously verified third century A.D.

Scattered in the alluvial plains of the Miryang River are Neolithic and Iron Age sites, and in the village of Geumcheon are the remains of an Iron Age agricultural site. It took tens of thousands of years for the people here to move down from their pit dwellings in the mountains to the fertile land near the river. Probably, when spring came, the Iron Age people broke the ground with stone plowshares and planted millet, sorghum and such, and when autumn came, stored the harvested grains in comb-patterned pottery jars to last them through the winter.

On the humble traces of lives forged out by the people of those times, who would have experienced joys and despairs before us, falls the “secret sunshine.” The ideas and values the ancient ones sought to pursue vanished long ago.

Looking at the skeleton of a wrecked boat retrieved from the riverbed, it is possible to imagine people long ago fishing up and down the river. The vessels, powered by the wind and made with all sorts of tools, would have represented the latest achievements in civilization and technology. From time to time they would have steered their boats to the Nakdong River. A people with a progressive and adventuring spirit, they formed an alliance with the state of Garak (a.k.a. Geumgwan Gaya, meaning the “Gold Crown Gaya”), founded in the Gimhae region in the lower reaches of the Nakdong River. For some 500 years they led the iron culture on the Korean peninsula as part of the Gaya Confederacy.

Standing beside Yeongnamnu is Chimnyugak, a building that was part of a guesthouse which once was located here. It is connected to the pavilion by a stepped corridor.

Bueun Temple (Temple of Father’s Grace), at the foot of Mt. Cheontae, presumably was erected around A.D.200 in memory of King Suro, founder of Geumgwan Gaya and father of King Geodeung. It overlooks the Nakdong and Samnangjin bridges, which span the winding Miryang River.

Among the villages next to the Miryang River there are two named Geumgok, which means “iron valley.” Both contain evidence of iron-making. Slag, which is left over from the iron smelting process, forms a veritable mountain in one Geumgok. Facilities for the entire iron production process, from the furnace to the waste dump, have been found in the other. This indicates that from long in the past a large amount of iron-sand had piled up near the Miryang River due to weathering and erosion.

The discoveries and river access suggest that Miryang exported iron to neighboring states, and even to Japan and China. As such, Miryang would have had an active role as one of the 12 states of Byeonhan, a tribal confederacy that existed until the fourth century in the lower reaches of the Nakdong River. Its people ed together pieces of processed iron and used them for currency. Byeonhan eventually grew into the Gaya Confederacy, which was known as the “kingdom of iron.” When it was annexed by the rising Silla, Gaya provided the foundation for Silla to become a powerful ancient state.

As in any other part of the Korean peninsula, Buddhist temples can be found nestled in the beautiful mountains around Miryang. Among them, Bueun Temple and Maneo Temple have a special place in the hearts of locals.

History books say that Gaya officially adopted Buddhism around the fifth century, before Silla, when Hwanghu Temple was built to pray for the happiness in the afterlife of Queen Heo Hwang-ok (a.k.a. Heo Hwanghu, meaning “Empress Heo”), the wife of King Suro, founder of Geumgwan Gaya (43–532). But oral history places the acceptance of Buddhism at an earlier time. It is said, “When King Suro built Maneo Temple, the monks who participated in the completion ceremony stayed overnight at Bueun Temple.” As such, Gaya probably accepted Buddhism in the first century when Queen Heo arrived from India.

According to legend, when Queen Heo, believed to have been an Indian princess, came to Gaya to marry King Suro, she brought stones that were used to construct what is known as the Pasa Stone Pagoda. “Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms” (Samguk yusa) says, “They are stones that cannot be found in this region.”

When the pasa stones at the tomb of Queen Heo were transported to Seoul in October 2019 for the special exhibition “Gaya Spirit: Iron and ” at the National Museum of Korea, which is scheduled to run until March 1, 2020, a special rite was held to announce the removal of the stones. The presence of many local politicians and dignitaries at the event shows that the local people and descendants of Queen Heo regard stories of the Gaya queen not as legend but as history. For the same reason, many of the stores in downtown Miryang use “Gaya” in their name.

Maneo Temple (Temple of Ten Thousand Fish), considered a sacred site of Buddhism by Miryang locals, is said to have been established by King Suro. In the precincts is a three-story stone pagoda presumably built in the 12th century.

The slopes near Maneo Temple are filled with rocks called maneoseok, literally “ten thousand fish rocks.” According to legend, the countless schools of fish that followed the son of the Dragon King were transformed into rocks. This area has been designated Natural Monument No. 528 in recognition of its academic and scenic value.

Yeongnam Daero, or the Great Yeongnam Road, was the major inland route of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). It linked the capital, Hanyang (today’s Seoul), with Dongnae at the southeastern end of the Korean peninsula. Miryang became a stopover on this road, which provided an alternative to the sea route used for more than a thousand years.

As the systems of a unified state were established, a network of roads was built linking towns and counties, some even leading to China. This reflected the state of international affairs, or specifically the decline of the Yuan Dynasty and the rising strength of Japan. Japanese piracy was rampant along Korea’s coasts, nearly paralyzing Joseon’s water transportation that had thrived for so long. Joseon’s efforts to secure a good road network were thus borne out of necessity.

Later, during the Japanese invasions toward the end of the 16th century, the overland network provided paths for attacks. Landing at Busan port, the Japanese forces captured Dongnae Fortress and from there advanced northward past Yangsan and on to Miryang, where they faced the Joseon army at Jagwongwan, a defense structure located at today’s Samnangjin. The Korean forces of 300 were no match for the 10,000-strong enemy, who continued to advance along this road to reach the capital in a mere 18 days.

Some consolation can be found in the story of the monk Samyeongdang (1544–1610), a native of Miryang, who led some 2,000 monk soldiers and joined the battle to reclaim Pyongyang Fortress. After the war, he became a special envoy of King Seonjo and traveled to Kyoto, where he forged a peace agreement with Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the shogunate that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. On his return he brought with him 3,000 prisoners of war. A statue of Samyeongdang, also known as the Great Master Samyeong, now stands on the path leading up to the old Miryang town wall, looking over the Miryang River.

Interestingly, less than a hundred years after becoming a stop on the Great Yeongnam Road, Miryang with its advanced technology, seafaring ways and inclusive social system became a regional base for Confucian scholars. They formed the sarim faction of provincial literati, the pivotal force behind Joseon as a Confucian state. The Miryang scholar Kim Jong-jik (1431–1492) and his disciples, who entered central government service in the latter half of the 15th century, emphasized loyalty and practical action. They challenged corruption in the bureaucracy and even criticizedthe king’s behavior. Kim Jong-jik’s birthplace and tomb are located in Bukbu-myeon, Miryang, as is Yerim Seowon, a Confucian academy dedicated to Kim and his teachings.

In the mid-18th century, a tax grain silo was built at the dockside in Samnang-ri, or Samnang Village. River boats ferried grain payments after the revival of the marine transport system of tribute grains. The international political situation surrounding Joseon had stabilized and a system of paying taxes with grain was taking hold to replace taxes in kind.

The river transportation system and its connection to the Great Yeongnam Road d a beehive of activity in Samnang-ri. Government offices, warehouses, taverns, inns and shops appeared to cater to officials and ship owners. But the prosperity ended in 1905 when the Seoul-Busan railway line opened, largely along the Great Yeongnam Road, and a station was built at nearby Samnangjin.

A new center of commerce formed around the Samnangjin Station. It appears in Korea’s first full-length modern novel, “The Heartless” (Mujeong) by Yi Kwang-su (1892–1950), published in 1917. For the author, the train was a literary device representing modern individuals in control of their fate.

In contrast, the short story “Dwitgimi Ferry Crossing” (Dwitgimi Naru) by Kim Jeong-han (1908–1996) tacked to an idyllic sentiment. “Dwitgimi Naru is on the upstream part of the Nakdong River, past Samnangjin, where its tributary, the Miryang River, joins the mainstream. So, the water was much clearer than at other places. Thanks to the clean water, flocks of geese and ducks flew in from early autumn.” At the same time, the author hints at a past colored with tragedy, saying, “The gentle people and their sons and daughters were taken away for forced labor, or in reality, were made to serve as comfort women for the Japanese.”

Miryang is also the hometown of the poet Oh Kyu-won (1941–2007). He too sees two faces in Miryang. One is the face of his mother, who passed away when he was 13 years old, the other that of his father. His mother’s face was “always peaceful, ready for rest,” something that made him “want to sleep and want to dream,” an existence “like the womb.” But his father was the “cause of unhappiness and poverty.” Unable to solve this psychological conflict, Oh left Miryang when he was in middle school and vowed to never return while his father was there.

Oh said his hometown was “like my mother’s body with its womb, a temporal space incubating both the language of nature inside and the language of reality outside,” and that he himself was “standing at the boundary.” In that sense, all hometowns may be called Miryang.

Oujin port in the downstream section of the Miryang River was a major transportation hub for boats carrying tribute until the Joseon Dynasty. It had a warehouse where grains collected as taxes were stored. When a railroad was installed in the early 20th century, it became a ferry crossing once again.