Korean sacred places

Investigations and activities (English Focus)

The teacher writes the following questions on strips of paper and puts them in a container. The class then divides into six groups. Each group selects a card from the lucky dip and respond to the question on large sheets of paper. (Alternatively, large sheets with each question written at the top, can be passed from group to group with students adding comments to each page.) Click on the image Mt Bukhansan: Religion and recreation.

Describe, in as much detail as you can, what you can see in this image.
What does this image remind you of? Why?
Who might this person be? What qualities do you think this person has?
How does this image make you feel? Why?
What questions would you ask the person in this image?
What do we find out about Korea from this image?

For 5000 years, Koreans have thought their mountains are sacred.

‘Koreans see mountains as though they were human beings. For them, the Baekdudaygan mountain range is their spine running down from Mt Baekdusan in the north to Mt Jirisan in the south. The Baekdudaygan is the spiritual origin of Koreans. Every year, many young people hike along these mountains and hills like a pilgrimage through their native land.’

Go to the article Mountain road on the Earth Report website. What does it tell you about what is happening to the environment in contemporary Korea?

Make a mind map around the theme of special or sacred places. This can be used as a starting point for:

a piece of writing exploring ‘What's special to me’
a survey of people of different ages, genders and cultures to explore special places for others
some metaphors for some Australian icons, for example, Uluru, the Opera House, the Westgate Bridge, the Top End – just like the powerful metaphor of the Korean mountain range as a spine.