Tour Through Time: Stop 5: Gaizhou

So after travelling 314 miles along the Cheolli Jangseong (Thousand Unit Wall) we have now arrived at Geonan, one of the major military garrisons, in present day Gaizhou.

The Cheolli Jangseong was a formidable defence built at a time of relative peace between the Goguryo Dynasty and Tang Empire. Some believe that the building of the wall and subsequent dethroning of the King of Goguryo by Yong-Gae was a simple lust for power, where others felt they were important steps to strengthen Goguryo at a time when it was submitting to the Tang in the interests of maintaining peace.

Ancient records portray Yong-Gae as a brutal dictator who carried no less than 5 swords and who stood on his subject’s backs to mount his horse. The Tang claimed he had unnecessarily provoked them into war, but loyal supporters of Yong-Gae claim these reports are just jealous and bitter.

To this day historian’s opinions are divided on Yong-Gae. Whatever the truth, the newly strengthened Goguryo Dynasty caused the Silla Dynasty to side with the Tang Empire. They continued their assault on Goguryo for many years, finally succeeding in 668AD, two years after Yong-Gae‘s death, and amidst a power struggle between his 3 sons.

To celebrate our arrival we will be performing a bonus exercise of 314 marine press ups before continuing along the coast to the Lushunkou District and the location of a prison.

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Tour Through Time: Stop 4: Nong’an County

After travelling 116 miles we arrive at the start of a great wall situated in present day China, but no it isn’t the great wall of China! This lesser known wall was built in 631AD by Governor Yong-Gae and is known as the “Cheolli Jangseong”, or Thousand Unit Wall, being a thousand “Li” (Chinese miles) long. The Li has varied over time but 1 Li is now known to be roughly 0.5km.

The wall took 16 years to build and had numerous military garrisons posted along it. It was built by Governor Yong-Gae in response to a Tang invasion of Goguryo where a small number of troops were sent to destroy a monument built to celebrate Goguryo‘s military victories over the Tang Dynasty‘s predecessors, the short-lived Sui Dynasty. Yong-Gae believed that the wall would protect Goguryo against any future invasions from the Tang Dynasty.

However, King Yeong-Nyu of Goguryo along with some of his court officials became nervous of General Yong-Gae and his military presence along the border, fearing that he had become too powerful, and so planned to have him killed. News of this was leaked to Yong-Gae who decided to invite 100 opposing court officials to a banquet celebrating his new position of Governor of the Eastern Province of Goguryo. These officials were ambushed and killed by Yong-Gae‘s troops whilst Yong-Gae attacked the King’s palace, defeating the guards and beheading the King.

To signify our arrival here we will be performing a bonus exercise of 116 leg raises before we continue 314 miles along the wall to one of it’s major garrisons.

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Tour Through Time: Stop 3: Harbin Railway Station

In March 1909 12 patriots including Ahn Joong-Gun swore an oath to sacrifice themselves for “the restoration of independence and preservation of peace in the East” forming the Donguidanjihoe society. As part of this they all cut off the first joint of their ring finger to show their faith in the cause.

When the Resident-General of Korea, Hiro-Bumi Ito arrived at Harbin on 26th October 1909 it was to meet with Russian Finance Minister General Kokotseff. Russia was starting to get nervous about the Japanese after they had gifted “territorial rights” to Kando, a Korean city, to the Chinese on 4th September 1909 in exchange for access to Manchuria via the Southern Manchurian Railway. As the man who had total control of all Japanese forces stationed in Korea, Resident-General Hiro-Bumi Ito was to reassure and calm the Russian’s fears.

However, Ahn Joong Gun was already there waiting for him, having slipped by the Japanese guards with a gun hidden in his lunch box. As Hiro-Bumi Ito stepped off the train Ahn Joong Gun fired his pistol, shooting him 3 times and seriously injuring 4 other Japanese ministers. He then waved a Korean flag and shouted for Korean Independence in Russian. Russian guards arrested him and held him for 2 days before turning him over to the Japanese. On reflection of the murder, Joong Gun was stated to have said “I have ventured to commit a serious crime, offering my life for my country. This is the behaviour of a noble-minded patriot”.

Our bonus exercise for this location is 271 prisoner squats. From Harbin Railway Station we will now travel 116 miles south west to Nong’an County.

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Tour Through Time: Stop 2: Paektu Mountain

109 miles later and we are tired, soggy, and Rich is a little broken, but we are here at the highest peak in Korea; the Paektu (white-headed) Mountain. Atop this extinct volcano lies Lake Chon Ji, the “Heavenly Lake”, where the water is so clear and calm that you can literally see the heaven meeting the earth. This was also supposedly the home of Korea‘s legendary founder Dan Gun.

To celebrate our arrival we will be completing a bonus exercise of 109 mountain climbers before continuing our journey 271 miles North into China to the city of Harbin, but who knows what famous event happened here?

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Tour Through Time: Stop 1: Hwa Dae

And we’re off! Well, Nick is! 😂 Our journey starts in Hwa Dae, Myonchon County in what is now North Korea. This is the birthplace of Major General Choi Hong Hi, the founder of Tae Kwon-Do. He was born here on 9th November 1918 whilst it was under Japanese rule and left at the age of 15 when his father sent him away to study calligraphy under Hang Il Dong, who was also a master of Tae Kyon, an ancient Korean art of foot fighting. From Hwa Dae we will be travelling 109 miles North West to the border of North Korea and China, but what famous landmark will we be visiting here?? 🤔

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Tour Through Time

So we thought it would be nice to expand on your theory and give you all a little bit more insight into the stories behind the pattern meanings. What better way than to take you with us on a virtual tour of Korea and beyond! We will visit the birthplaces of scholars, a restaurant that witnessed the start of a revolution, a railway assassination site, a heavenly lake atop an extinct volcano, memorial parks and tombs, battle grounds, temples and a great wall built to defend against a Tang invasion. We can’t be there in person but between myself, Mr Newman, and the rest of the NMA teaching team we will be running, walking and cycling the journey of over 2,000 miles, keeping you up to date with our progress and sharing virtual postcards as we reach each location.

Are you ready to join us on our Tour Through Time?

Start Tour Through Time