KBS

At 6:55 a.m. on the 18th, episode 1023 of KBS2 ‘Video Album: Mountain’ will air the segment ‘The Moon Drawn by the Heart - Dalbawibong in Bonghwa’, which presents the majestic scenery that consoled the spirit of Danjong.

Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang, a scholarly land better suited to leisure than haste and to quiet than noise. Dalbawibong, a hidden mountain in Bonghwa encircled by layered ranges, is not large in mass, but the rocks and ridges forming its summit and the views unfolding along its valleys are outstanding.

It is said that after King Danjong, the sixth ruler of Joseon, passed away, commoners who climbed Taebaeksan to console his spirit saw a rocky peak domed like a moon above the clouds spread below the eastern slope and named this place ‘Dalbawibong’. Into the distinctive landscape woven by tangled rocks, Chae Hyun-seok, a Spanish interpreter and translator as well as a traveler, sets out for Dalbawibong in Bonghwa.

Before the climb, he first heads to Seokcheon Valley. Fed by waters rising on Taebaeksan, Seokcheon Valley lies among gentle relief, its hollows not deep, and retains a neat beauty even in midwinter. The stream frozen in minus 10-degree weather evokes a quiet, mysterious mood like ‘Cheonghadongcheon’, meaning ‘a refined immortal village draped in a blue dusk’.

KBS

Following the valley upward brings you to Daksil Village, so named for a landscape likened to a hen brooding an egg. Reaching Cheongamjeong, set deeper inside Daksil Village, which has finished its winter preparations and quietly holds time, one can almost see a scholar reading in the pavilion atop Turtle Rock.

Beginning at Daehyeon 1-ri as the trailhead, the full ascent of Dalbawibong starts. In the cold, rainwater has frozen into icy paths. Unlike the sunlit opposite slope, the route lies in shade and still feels cold and bleak. Trees laid bare for winter deepen the hush of the mountain.

Climbing steady slopes through piles of fallen leaves up to the ankles, the high ridge of Taebaeksan comes into view to the northwest. Gazing at the range imbued with the tale that Danjong became the mountain spirit of Taebaeksan after his passing, one senses the quiet energy a winter mountain holds.

In the past, elders who came to pick rock tripe were said to suffer frequent accidents here. The route grows that much steeper. Upon reaching a sheer-wall section, he folds his trekking poles and hauls himself up by a rope. Bracing with both hands and feet, even this well-traveled, physically confident traveler, Chae Hyun-seok, finds the stretch demanding.

Majestic scenery that consoled the spirit of Danjong

Passing through a narrow gap between rocks that admits only one person and climbing a ladder on a steep pitch, he arrives at another lookout where the Taebaek Mountains spread wide. Hambaksan, showing its jagged ridge, and Maebongsan, where wind turbines turn vigorously, rise to eye level, making the present height feel real.

As Cervantes, author of <Don Quixote>, said, those who walk much see much and learn much; with each hard-won step, new lessons grow. Passing a pine that looks out at Taebaeksan with spirited bearing, he finally reaches the summit of Dalbawibong, where a summit stone rests nonchalantly on the rock. Since old times, Dalbawibong has been known for auspicious mountain energy, drawing shamans to pray and receive good fortune. Standing on the top and gazing at the spread ridges, one seems to feel stories layered with the wishes and supplications of people over the ages. Meet Dalbawibong, where rocks and ridges, and the tales laid upon them, come together, on <Video Album: Mountain>.

◆ Cast: Chae Hyun-seok / Spanish interpreter and translator

◆ Route: Daehyeon 1-ri – Chilseongam Parking Lot – Dalbawibong – Jeongbeopsa Entrance – Daehyeon Bridge / about 5.5 km, about 4 hours 30 minutes

Majestic scenery that consoled the spirit of Danjong