Namwon
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| Namwon |  |
|---|---|
| Hangul: | 남원시 |
| Hanja: | 南原市 |
| Revised Romanization: | Namwon-si |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Namwŏn-si |
| Statistics | |
| Area: | 752.12 km² |
| Population: | 104,198 (2002) |
| Pop. density: | 45.98 people/km² |
| Administrative divisions: | 1 eup, 15 myeon, 9 dong |
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Namwon (Namwon-si) is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 45 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is 3 hours away from Seoul.
[edit] Chunhyang festival
Namwon City holds an annual event called the Chunhyang festival, which commemorates an ancient love story and folktale, Chunhyangga, which may or may not have actually happened. This festival is said to be the oldest in Korea. [citation needed]
According to the legend, Chunhyang was a maiden who was taken advantage of by an immoral local governor who forced her to marry him while the young man she really loved was away on government affairs. When the young man returned he disguised himself as a common person and saw for himself the myriad of injustices that the local governor had perpetrated; using his authority to kill him things are set straight and the maiden is set free, giving the tale a happy ending.
Some claim this is actually a true story and have tried to set dates for its occurrence. Regardless of its veracity the city of Namwon is the setting for the annual festival commemorating the legend that is held with visitors from all over the country. The main bridge that crosses the river that runs through the middle of the city is lit with fantastic lights, and along the river bank there are vendors selling food and items of all kinds. There are several main events like the Chunhyang beauty contest in which the most beautiful female residents of the city can enter, wearing their full traditional Korean dress (chima jeogori). Another event is the Chunhyang parade which runs through cordoned sections of the city along the river bank, and which is comprised of just about the entire complement of the city's mid-grade schoolgirls (numbering probably in the low hundreds) who are dressed in full chogori and carry musical instruments of some type, who march in a very long line. There are also other parades of men and anyone else who is not a young girl may dress up in traditional dress and join the procession.
The festival lasts four days and top-notch fireworks blaze the skies every night.
For the rest of the year when the festival is not on, there is a small theme park dedicated to Chunhyang complete with hypothetical dwellings and surroundings that someone like Chunhyang would have had (a mock house and yard). There are other pleasant sights in the park unrelated to Chunhyang such as a fish pond where visitors are free to feed the fish, idyllic nature settings, and some old-fashioned swings and horseshoe-style throwing games. Outside the park, along the river bank, there are also mini paddle boats that couples can rent to traverse the small river for a fun daytime activity or for a romantic and private moonlit boat ride, which are popular in the summer.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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| Administrative divisions of North Jeolla province, South Korea | |
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| Capital: | Jeonju |
| Cities: | Asan | Gimje | Gunsan | Iksan | Jeongeup | Jeonju | Namwon |
| Counties: | Buan | Gochang | Imsil | Jangsu | Jinan | Muju | Sunchang | Wanju |
