Burial Mounds

Before we came to Korea, I had read somewhere that Americans hiking through the hills may be surprised to come across burial mounds, which are regularly tended by obedient oldest sons.  Yup - weird, unlikely for me to need to worry about, forget about it.

On my second day here, Nick took me for my first hike behind campus. The area is like a cross between the rolling hills and farmland by Oak Grove (near Sioux Center) and the pine trees and larger hills of Black Hills (South Dakota).  About 20 minutes in, I notice a small clearing and a circular bump on the ground about 8' in diameter.  Oh, I say, joking around, I supposed that's a "burial mound"?  

Yes, he responds, and keeps hiking, like this is NORMAL to bury your parents in the woods somewhere and come pull the weeds and have a picnic there a couple times a year.

The more I've hiked, the more of these tombs I've seen.  Some are very plain - just the mound - and some are fancy - cement surrounding the mound, name markers, bench, pillars.  Some are alone, and some are in small groups; some are hidden in the woods and some are along the highway.  I finally found a map in English which points out some tombs as a landmark - and I love how they distinguish tomb from Very Nice Tomb.  : )

 I didn't realize the degree to which I assumed that people "should" be buried in a set-apart piece of land, cared for by hired workers, rather than remembered and cared for after death by family members.  Interesting.

3 tombs; marker with family name in Chinese characters

Fancy mound, guarded by 2 pillars with squirrels and acorns. 

the largest burial area I've seen; along the main highway - 8 older tombs and 1 newer one in the front.