Jeju-do (also spelled Chejudo) is Korea's largest Island, located well south of the western side of
the peninsula. Above is a panorama of Jeju's natural beauty: under a typically cloudy sky, the
1950-meter peak of Halla-san dominates its alpine slopes, above jungle-thick coastal forests
transversed by high gushing waterfalls. The whole island is one gigantic volcano, dormant since 1007 CE, with one
main cone / crater and over 350 smaller ones (called eo-reom in the local language; some are quite dramatic). Where the
volcanic rock is exposed, the landscape can be surreal. Some 20 beaches of varying quality encircle Jeju-do. The main
island is 1,810 square kilometers, half of which is still naturally forested. Green tea and semi-tropical fruits are widely grown.
Before its conquest by Korea's Koryeo Dynasty in 1105 CE, Jeju was self-governed in a fairly decentralized way under some
tribal confederations with names like Juho, Supra, Tammora and especially 'Tamna-guk' [guk = country] -- a name once
banned in the interest of national unity, but now revived and widely used with pride, we noticed. Conquest by the Mongols (on
their way to attempt invasion of Japan) soon followed, and they introduced the short strong horses that still run wild over the
extensive pastures. Tame horses are now ridden by tourists (see below); Jeju is the only place in Korea where this is offered.
Jeju has long been known for its "three factors in abundance": wind, women and rocks, and its "three factors lacking":
beggars, thieves and locked gates. In the spring of 1948, there was a tragic communist-inspired rebellion against the
illegitimacy of the American-backed right-wing government in Seoul. It was put down with such brutality that a large minority of
all the men on the island was murdered; between ten and twenty thousand islanders met unnatural and unjust deaths.
Starting in the 1970's, Jeju recovered as Korea's "honeymoon paradise", a conscious imitation of Hawaii. Many beautiful
resort-hotels and golf courses (and lower-cost motels and campgrounds) have been built, and It now hosts millions of
domestic and foreign tourists and conventioneers every year. It will host the Pacific-Asia Travel Association (PATA)
convention in the spring of 2004.
For thousands of years, Jeju evolved its own native religious customs, similar to other northeast-Asian Shamanist traditions.
Shamans and the ceremonies they held for the spirits they intuited were central to everyday life and belief. The mysterious,
unique, Pacific-island-style Dol-harubang [stone grandfather] statues found all over the island (one is below, with me) are the
most distinctive relic of this original culture; they have become the primary symbol of Jeju traditions (small copies are popular
souvenir items). The other most important spirits here were and are the Halla-san-shin [Spirit of Halla Mountain] and the
Yong-wang [Dragon-King of all waters], representing the two most prominent natural features affecting the people every day.
Mountains, especially the volcanic Halla-san, were respected with regular rituals at unadorned volcanic-rock altars. No
depictions of their spirits seem to have been made. The mainland-Korea custom of painting colorful and complex portraits of
the San-shin was imported by Korean officials and monks during the 1800's, but didn't really flourish until just recently. The
styles of San-shin paintings now found on Jeju-do are indistinguishable from mainland types (many appear to be by the same
artists), with two notable exceptions on Halla-san.
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