Seochulji Pond

In a village at the eastern foot of Namsan in Gyeongju lies a small pond covered with lotus leaves. Its name, Seochulji, means "the pond where a letter came out". The Samguk Yusa, a thirteenth-century collection of histories and legends, tells how King Soji of Silla owed his life to a letter that rose from this water. In summer the crape myrtles around the banks burst into pink bloom and the Joseon-era pavilion Iyodang is reflected in the pond, one of Gyeongju's best summer scenes.

"Shoot the zither case"

The story appears in the Samguk Yusa chapter on King Soji. On the first full moon of 488, as the king travelled to a pavilion at the foot of Namsan, a crow and a rat appeared. The rat spoke like a human and told him to follow the crow, so the king sent a retainer after it. At this pond the retainer was distracted by two fighting pigs and lost the crow, but an old man rose from the water and handed him an envelope. Inside were the words "Shoot the zither case". Back at the palace the king fired an arrow into the case of his geomungo zither, killing a monk hidden inside who had been plotting with the queen, and the queen was punished too.

The pond was named Seochulji after the incident, and the first full moon became Ogiil, a day to honour crows by offering them sticky rice. The story is often told as the origin of eating sweet rice on that holiday.

What to see

• Iyodang Pavilion: built in 1664–1665 by Im Jeok (1612–1672), reportedly to commemorate the well he dug to save the village during a drought. Its name comes from a Confucian saying about loving mountains and water. It began as a building three bays wide and two deep; in 1736 his descendants turned one room into an open hall and added a five-bay gatehouse, giving it its present L shape with a raised wooden floor. Because its rebuilding history is so well documented, and because it reflects village life in an age of uncertain water supply, it was listed as a tangible heritage site of North Gyeongsang Province in 2023.
• Crape myrtles and pines: old crape myrtles and pines ring the pond. Iyodang framed by pink crape myrtle flowers in midsummer is the classic view.
• Lotus: in summer the surface fills with lotus leaves and flowers.
• Namsan-dong East and West Three-storey Pagodas (Treasure): a pair of Unified Silla pagodas faces each other in the middle of the village. Like Seokgatap and Dabotap at Bulguksa, the two are deliberately different: the east pagoda imitates a brick pagoda with stones cut like bricks, while the west one is a classic three-storey pagoda with the Eight Guardian Deities carved on its base. They are only a few minutes' walk from the pond.

Tripto tips

• When to go: July and August, when crape myrtles and lotuses are in flower. At any time of year it is a quiet place for a stroll.
• Time needed: 30 minutes to 1 hour to circle the pond and see the pagodas.
• Visiting: it is an open pond within the village, with no admission fee.
• Location: it lies right next to Tongiljeon; take a city bus heading for Tongiljeon from central Gyeongju and check routes in a map app under the "Tongiljeon" stop.
• Nearby: this is an eastern gateway to Gyeongju's Namsan. Add the trail to Chilburam Hermitage and the ginkgo avenue in front of Tongiljeon for a half-day outing; the ginkgos turn bright yellow in autumn.