With spring flowers starting to bloom, a re-visit to the Chang Deok Gung secret garden was in order.
I may have visited a tad bit early. There were still remnants of winter in the garden. Even so, it felt rather different from my visit during February; more green, more alive.
This pond is called Ban-do-ji and resembles the shape of the Korean peninsula. The structure on the right is called a Jun-gak and is meant as a place of rest to enjoy the mountain and waters.
The king would recite poems in a contest with some of his shinhas (government officials) while floating drinks in the stream. If you look closely you can see the poem of king Sukjong (1661∼1720). I hope I’m not completely sabotaging the meaning, but roughly it goes like this :
Okryuchun (Jade-flow-stream) waterfall 300 chuk ( roughly 94 meters)
As though it falls from the far off sky
Watching the white rainbows that arise
Each valley filled with the roll of thunder
