Sangdaepo Ancient Port Site

Today it is a quiet pond ringed by cherry trees and lotus, but Sangdaepo was once the international harbour of Gurim village in Yeongam, where ships came and went to China and Japan. Tradition holds that the Baekje scholar Wangin sailed from here to Japan and the Silla writer Choe Chi-won to Tang China, and the hill next door produced the first glazed pottery made in Korea. A rebuilt pavilion and pond now mark the spot where the sea channel ended.

History: from Gurim to Ningbo

Sangdaepo lay west of Sangdae hamlet in Gurim, long counted among the most distinguished old villages of the Honam region. The surrounding fields sit only about 2 m above sea level, so at high tide the sea came in about 2 m deep, making this the end of a navigable channel. The port's heyday ran from the late Unified Silla period to early Goryeo, overlapping with the time when Jang Bogo's maritime base of Cheonghaejin operated nearby on Wando.

In the 18th century the scholar Yi Jung-hwan wrote in his Taengniji that a boat leaving the Gurim shore reached Heuksando in a day, Hongdo the next day, Gageodo the day after, and Ningbo in China three days later. With a good north-easterly wind the crossing could take a single day, and he noted that Choe Chi-won, Kim Ga-gi and Choe Seung-u had hitched rides on merchant ships along this route to sit, and pass, the Tang civil service examinations. The story that Wangin left from Sangdaepo, however, is a legend with no firm evidence behind it.

Land reclamation sealed the port's fate. Colonial-era reclamation of the Seohogang estuary and, later, the Yeongsan River estuary dam cut off the channel, and Sangdaepo stopped being a harbour connected to the sea. Some sources pin the decisive moment on the Hakpa Farm reclamation of 1939–1949.

What to see

• Pavilion and pond: a pavilion and a small lake have been recreated on the old harbour site, with a wooden bridge and a waterside path around them.
• Seasonal views: in spring the cherry blossoms are reflected in the water; in summer lotus covers the surface.
• Gurim kiln site: on the hill south-east of the port, Ewha Womans University excavated two kilns in December 1987. They proved to be the first in Korea to make glazed earthenware, probably in use between the 7th and 9th centuries, and Gurim ware has turned up at Jang Bogo's base on Jangdo island.
• Yeongam Pottery Museum: opened in 1999 as a pottery culture centre to revive Gurim ware, it became a public museum in 2009. It is close to Sangdaepo and easy to combine.

Gurim's famous sons

While Sangdaepo was busy, Gurim produced several notable figures. The monk Doseon (827–898), famed as a master of geomancy, was born here, as was Choe Ji-mong (907–987), a close adviser to Wang Geon, founder of Goryeo. The village also yielded a stele carved in 786, recording the burial of incense wood in the tidal flats as a prayer for blessings, a coastal Buddhist practice. It is the oldest stele of its kind found so far.

Tripto tips

• Access: the pond and paths are open 24 hours and free, with a car park.
• Best time: spring, when the blossoms are mirrored in the water, and summer, when the lotus flowers.
• Time needed: 30 minutes for a loop of the pond; allow about 2 hours if you add the Yeongam Pottery Museum and a stroll along Gurim's stone-walled lanes.
• Getting there: the site is in Seogurim-ri, Gunseo-myeon, Yeongam-gun. Pair it with the Wangin Historic Site, about 1.4 km to the east, for an easy route.
• Combine with: the peaks of Wolchulsan, rising to the east, form the backdrop to Gurim village.