Jirisan

At the entrance to Baemsagol Valley, some 1,300 years ago, there used to be Songnimsa Temple. This temple practiced an annual rite on the Chilwolbaekjung holiday (full moon day of July by the lunar calendar) wherein they selected the most pious monk and prayed earnestly for his safe passage to paradise as a deity. In a certain year, the then highest monk Seosandaesa visited the temple, heard about this Buddhist rite, and guessed that there must be a secret behind it. Seosandesa allowed that year's chosen monk to pray wearing a silk robe anointed with poison, linked by a silk thread to Sinseodae Terrace. Seosandaesa then hid himself behind a rock to watch. At around 1 am, an imugi anaconda, which was sorry not to have turned into a dragon, slithered up from the valley below Sinseondae Terrace to the sound of roaring water. The imugi jumped upon the praying monk, bit him in the mouth, and disappeared into the water. Seosandaesa returned to the temple, and waited until dawn. Early in the morning, he, together with the villagers, went to Sinseondae Terrace to find that the imugi had died , having failed to swallow the whole body of the monk. Seosandaesa discovered Songnimsa Temple's secret of sacrificing a monk to an imugi every year. Thereafter, the valley was named Baemsagol, which means the valley where an imugi, which failed to become a dragon, died. The village at the entrance to Baemsagol Valley was named Banseon (meaning a "half deity") in memory of the dead monk because he was sacrificed without becoming a deity.[3]

Jirisan peak

Samshinbong (bong means "peak") is 1,284 m (4,213 ft) high and a popular, but strenuous, day-hike from the Ssanggye Temple entry point (it is the closest major peak from this trailhead). From Ssanggyesa, a trail winds up 2.3 km to Bul-il Falls. From the left turn in the path just before the waterfall, the track continues 6.9 km to the peak (for a grand round-trip total of 18.4 km). Starting from Ssanggyesa (the sa suffix indicates a Buddhist temple), the peak can be reached in four hours at a steady pace. There is a helipad near the summit for emergency services. It takes about three hours to get down; it is an extremely steep hike. Climbers are advised to bring plenty of water as it is only available from streams beyond the temple grounds. This peak can also be climbed from the back of Cheonghak-dong Village.

During the Korean War, North Korean troops occupied the region in 1950. After the United Nations forces took the area in 1951, a considerable number of North Koreans remained in the mountains, where they continued a guerrilla war, until they were finally beaten in 1955, two years after the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed by the belligerents. The Republic of Korea issued an "Anti-Guerrilla Warfare Service Medal" for its troops who fought in the area[4] and a movie about the fighting was later produced.[5] An earlier film, Piagol, about a group of North Korean soldiers in the area, was released the year the fighting ended.

Jirisan is known to grow about 1,500 kinds of plants, many of which are endemic. This is the largest growth of plants in South Korea except for Mt. Halla.

Some plants were first found in Mt. Jiri and have 'Jirisan' or 'Jirisan'. However, some plants do not have 'geori' or 'geori' attached to them even though they were first found on Mt. Jiri.[6]

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  Jirisan National Park
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  Baemsagol valley

• National parks of South Korea
• List of mountains in Korea
• Geography of South Korea
• Mayago
• Korea Forest Service
• Jirisan (TV series)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jirisan.

• Jirisan National Park-Official KNPS Homepage
• Online mashup/interactive map of Jirisan hiking trails (in Korean)
• Korea in the Clouds: A Detailed Guide to Hiking Korea's Mountains
• Jiri-san as a Sacred Mountain, Mason's pages on the religious character and sites of this remarkable set of peaks, slopes and gorges.