and overdrinking, I presume, Max. Great game. Perhaps we should institute a poetryetc online version. The roads will be safe.
Bill
On 20/06/2013, at 3:21 PM, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From the Korean palace garden guide
>
>
>
> Set in the deep woods
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> in the western part of the garden,
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> is a sacred place for ancestral rites.
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>
>
> There was a place for composing poetry,
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> a setting for contemplation,
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> a venue for banquets,
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> and an archery range.
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>
>
> The royal family went fishing
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> and boating on the pond
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> and fireworks was sometimes displayed here.
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>
>
> Here the king and queen also
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> engaged farming
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> and raised silkworms.
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>
>
> One pavilion in this area
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> was for state exams conducted
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> in the presence of the king.
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>
>
> This pavilion which seems to be a lotus flower
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> in bloom on the pond
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> is designated as a Treasure
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> – number 1769.
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>
>
> The king once said ‘I love the lotus because
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> it blooms with such clean and beautiful flowers,
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> however dirty the water may be,
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> symbolizing the virtue of a true gentleman.’
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>
>
> A brook flows through the deep valley north.
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> Sometimes the king and his officials set afloat
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> their wine cups on the water while they wrote poetry.
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>
>
> When a wine cup was sent to a specific person,
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> The recipient had to drink the wine
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> then compose an impromptu poem and recite it.
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> If he could not, he had to drink
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> three cups of wine as punishment.
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>
>
> This type of party soon became
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> widely popular among high society.
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>
>
> The kings of Korea tended to die
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> about forty-six years of age.
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> Their lives were short because of
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> overwork, overeating,
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> and too many concubines.
>
>
>
> Max Richards
>
> (now back in Melbourne)
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>
>
>
>
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