CLS Korea Students Visit Mihwangsa Temple

CLS students at Mihwangsa Temple.

From July 22-23, participants in the Critical Language Scholarship program in South Korea traveled to Haenam, a town on the southernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula and home to Mihwangsa Temple. Students were at Mihwangsa for two nights, staying in the monks’ quarters, participating in temple activities and learning about the Korean Buddhist tradition.

CLS students donned temple clothing, shared in a tea ceremony with the head monk, and learned about the structure and rituals of Korean Buddhism. They woke up early to participate in morning prayer and gave back to the temple by helping clean the grounds.

CLS students follow the head priest in Buddhist ritual.

On their way back to Jeonju, students visited Usuyeong, a memorial site for the Battle of Myeongnyang Strait, in which Admiral Yi Sunshin repelled 133 Japanese warships with a force of 13 ships during the Imjin Waeran Japanese invasions of the peninsula in the late years of the 1500s.