Gyerim () is a small

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

Gyeongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The name literally means "rooster forest". The grove lies near the old site of the

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

kingdom palace in central Gyeongju. Nearby landmarks include the Banwolseong fortress,

Cheomseongdae Cheomseongdae () is an astronomical observatory in Gyeongju, South Korea. Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Asia, and possibly even the world. It was constructed during the Silla period, during the reign of Queen ...

, the Gyeongju National Museum, and the Royal Tombs Complex.Gyeongju Gyerim
at

Doosan Encyclopedia ''Doosan Encyclopedia'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by Doosan Donga (). The encyclopedia is based on the ''Dong-A Color Encyclopedia'' (), which comprises 30 volumes and began to be published in 1982 by Dong-A Publishing (). ...

History

The original name of Gyerim was Sirim (). However, according to the

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk sagi'' () is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Completed in 1145, it is well-known in Korea as the oldest surviving chronicle of Korean history. The ''Samguk sagi'' is written in Classical ...

, a 12th-century Korean history, Sirim was the site where the child

Kim Al-chi Kim Al-chi (; unknown–?), was a historical figure in Korean history. His descendants formed the Gyeongju Kim, Kim royal clan of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. His legendary birth is said to have occurred during the reign of Silla' ...

, founder of the Gyeongju Kim clan, was discovered. Found in a golden box accompanied by a rooster, he was adopted by the royal family. His descendants became the later kings of Silla and the forest where he was found was renamed ''Gyerim'', "Rooster Forest." The ''

Samguk yusa ''Samguk yusa'' (; ) or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, d ...

'', a 13th-century miscellanea of tales relating to the

Three Kingdoms of Korea The Three Kingdoms of Korea or Samhan (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) competed for hegemony over the Korea, Korean Peninsula during the ancient period of History of Korea, Korean history. During the Three Kingdoms period (), many states and statele ...

, gives a different origin of the term Gyerim. According to that text, the founder of Silla, Hyeokgeose, was born at a stream called Gyejeong (), "rooster well," and that his future consort was born from a dragon that came to earth at another place called Gyeryongseo (), and for this reason the area was renamed Gyerim.Gyerim
at Britannica Korea However, it is presumed that Kim's ''Legend related to Gye'' () was mixed with the legend of state's founder. Because, The source of these records is a comprehensive record of verbal legends in the 13th century written by Buddhist monks. There is a difference of more than 1000 years from the time when the incident occurred. In the Samguk Sagi, a more reliable history book, ''Legend related to Gye'' is mentioned only in Gim Al-ji's part, but not in Hyeokgeose's part. Based upon the legends of Silla's founding, Gyerim also became a sobriquet for that state. The earliest recorded reference we have of Gyerim being used to designate Silla is from the Chinese histories. The ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' records that in 663

Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife ...

designated Silla the Gyerim Territory Area Command and

Munmu of Silla Munmu of Silla (626–681), personal name Kim Pŏm-min, was a Korean monarch who served as the 30th king of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He is usually considered to have been the first ruler of the Unified Silla period. Munmu was the son of ...

as its commander-in-chief. The early eighth-century Sillan scholar Kim Taemun authored a no longer extant book of tales of Silla entitled ''Gyerim japjeon'' (鷄林雜傳). Gyerim also appears in the title of the early twelfth-century Chinese work '' Gyerim yusa'', which provides one of the earliest sources of information on the pronunciation of the native Korean language.

Historical landmark

Being considered a holy place, a monument commemorating the birth legend of Kim Al-chi was built in 1803 by the

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

.Gyeongju Gyerim
Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea ''Gyerim'' has been designated as historical landmark #19 from the Korean government since January, 1963. The grounds cover 7,300 m² and has a dense forest of old

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, ash,

zelkova ''Zelkova'' (from the Georgian language, Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (''Ze ...

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

, Japanese clovers, scarlet maple and Japanese pagoda trees.

Gallery

File:Kim Alji.jpg, Painting depicting the discovery of

File:Gyerim.JPG, Gyerim forest File:Korea-Gyeongju-Gyerim Forest-Monument-01.jpg, Gyerim Forest Monument

References

External links

{{Commons category
Gyeongju National Park introduction
Korea National Park Service Geography of North Gyeongsang Province Gyeongju Historic Sites of South Korea Forests of South Korea Tourist attractions in Gyeongju Gyeongju Historic Areas

History

Historical landmark

Gallery

See also

References

External links