119. Six on Fifty Three
“therefore?”
Youngmi urged me with a curious expression.
“therefore? What did you say to my grandmother? yes?”
“Youngmi and you… I thought you were going to talk about philosophy.”
“Pop–!”
Youngmi with a smile on her face continued.
“So what did Grandma say?”
“He just said he knew, and told me to go into the room and talk a lot about philosophy with you.”
“really?”
I nodded and said.
“That’s why you came into your room like this now.”
Youngmi asked again with a look of disbelief at my words.
“Didn’t you say anything else?”
“… … .”
Instead of answering, I couldn’t help but put on an embarrassed expression. Seeing me like that, Youngmi said in a serious voice.
“Perhaps… Were you scolded by my grandmother?”
I shook my head.
“Then what? What did your grandmother say?”
“That, that… … .”
under—! Can I tell Youngmi this? ?
Yeong-mi said, stroking my chest with a look of curiosity and wanting to die.
“what? If you don’t tell me, I’ll go to Grandma’s room now and ask!”
“that is… So… … Well… … You thought I couldn’t be a man.”
“yes? You can’t play the role of a man… What does that mean?”
“Yesterday and the day before yesterday, I was just sleeping peacefully in the study, so I was worried that I couldn’t act as a man, but he said that I don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Pooh—!”
Seeing Youngmi’s smile, I smiled and said.
“Actually, I thought my grandmother would get scolded by me.”
To be honest, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw Youngmi’s maternal grandmother sitting in an armchair in the dark… If you get kicked out of here at this time, where should you go? it was
“why? Why is my grandmother scolding you?”
“When I saw my grandmother talking about Neo-Confucianism, some Confucian scholars in the Joseon Dynasty were crying.”
It meant that it was natural to emphasize the distinction between men and women if it was a Confucian scholar style.
At my words, Youngmi shook her head and said.
“This is a story I heard from my little aunt… Once, my aunt asked my grandmother why she studied so hard. Then my grandmother said… .”
Youngmi continued speaking with a slightly bitter expression.
“You said that you are studying because you want to know what the heck is a good study, and why you didn’t allow girls to study language and language when you were young.”
I felt my heart softened at Yeong-mi’s words.
“Your grandma is really cool.”
At my words, Youngmi smiled and said.
“i think so too.”
next day.
After breakfast, we packed our things and gathered in the living room.
“Are you going to Seoul after stopping by Naksansa Temple?”
When Youngmi nodded, Grandma asked again.
“What time is the train in Gangneung?”
“It’s 1:15.”
“okay? Hmm… I also have some things to live in downtown Gangneung, so let’s move with this grandmother.”
So the three of us headed to Naksansa Temple.
The grounds of Naksansa Temple.
“This is my first visit to Naksansa Temple, and I think it is bigger than other temples.”
My grandmother said to me.
“It was originally bigger than this. In the past, there were over 100 spaces.”
“ah… ! is that so?”
“Yeah, during the 6.25 riot, almost everything was burned down, and they said they would restore it later, but it’s less than half compared to when I was a kid.”
The old woman continued, pointing her finger at the empty vacant lot on the left.
“There were a number of seonbang buildings here where monks studied.”
“Did you come to Naksansa Temple often in the past?”
Grandma nodded at my question.
“When I was young, when I was hungry, I used to come to eat rice. At that time, Naksansa Temple was the temple where the rich in Gyeongseong paid the most donations.”
While looking around the grounds of Naksansa Temple, we stood in front of a pavilion with a large bell.
＜Treasure No. 479 Naksansa Temple of the same kind>
On a cultural property sign in front of the pavilion, there was an explanation that the bell was made by King Yejong of Joseon in 1469 for his father, Sejo.
Treasure No. 479.
I felt something familiar.
In particular, Treasure No. 479 is a number I’ve heard of… what?
I began to trace the memories in my head one by one, and after a while, the memories of my past life came to mind.
ah… ! Gangwon-do Yangyang Forest Fire!
Four years later, in the spring of 2005, this is a major wildfire.
The fire will burn down the buildings of Naksansa except for Hongryeonam and Uisangdae, and the same bell of Naksansa Temple, Treasure No.
I felt a little strange when I looked at the bell again, thinking that it would disappear with the fire in 4 years.
Then the grandmother pointed to the bell and said:
“It’s a miracle in a way that it remains intact until now.”
Youngmi asked at the grandmother’s words.
“A miracle, what do you mean?”
“During the Japanese colonial era… The monks of Naksansa Temple risked their lives to protect it. At that time, why did they pay special attention to the cultural assets in Naksansa Temple?”
“why? Why did you focus your eyes on Naksansa Temple like that?”
Instead of answering Yeong-mi’s question, the grandmother spoke to me.
“Our teacher. Regarding Japanese Buddhism… Don’t you know anything?”
Master Chae? And why are you speaking in Haoche all of a sudden?
Seeing my bewildered expression, my grandmother smiled and said.
“Last night, I even put on a top hat, so you shouldn’t call it rudely.”
“really! grandmother! Will you keep doing that?”
“haha–! Because I can’t even joke when I’m older… .”
Grandma laughed loudly and continued.
“You guys know that among Japanese products, it’s a Canon camera, right? Do you know where the name canon came from?”
Canon is a Japanese reading of the Kannon (觀音) of the Bodhisattva Kannon.
In Buddhism in Japan, the Pure Land sect, which emphasizes salvation in the afterlife, has prospered.
For this reason, the Bodhisattva Kannon was an important symbol of Japanese Buddhist culture.
“So, during the Japanese colonial era, why did they really appreciate if they were cultural assets related to the Bodhisattva Kannon?”
Grandma nodded my head to the explanation.
“That’s why we were aiming for the cultural assets of Naksansa Temple.”
For reference, it is Naksansa Temple that was built by Uisang, a high priest during the Silla period, after seeing the Bodhisattva Gwaneum and attaining enlightenment.
“right. There were times when I took the whole Buddha image of Kannon to Japan, not to mention the stone Buddha outside. There was a case where the stupa was dismantled at will and taken away… .”
Grandma spoke with a bitter expression.
“Especially, three or four years before liberation, the military police started plundering cultural assets. However, until then, it was just stealing, but in the 40s, it was taken very openly.”
I tilted my head and said.
“Why the 40s? In fact, it was colonized in 1910.”
“Until then, I thought that the Japanese would rule Korea forever. There was no need to bring the treasures here to the mainland. By the way… After the Pacific War with the United States, you must have thought that it could be ruined.”
When we arrived at Daeungjeon after a while, Grandma took off her shoes and entered the Daeungjeon.
Grandma bowed in a slightly sloppy posture and put two 10,000 won bills in the gift box.
Yeong-mi watched the grandmother with an interesting expression, and when she came out of Daeungjeon, she called her grandmother.
“Grandma, is it a bit strange to see that?”
“yes? What’s weird?”
“My grandmother said from a long time ago that there was no religion. I don’t believe in Buddha and I don’t believe in Jesus.”
This is what Youngmi was saying.
As we talked about Neo-Confucianism and Western philosophy last night, it wasn’t difficult to find out that Grandma was an atheist.
At Yeong-mi’s words, the grandmother smiled and said.
“Did you drink? It pays off what you owe.”
“Debt? What debt?”
“You told me before. I used to eat a lot of fried rice here when I was a kid. Even if you can’t pay interest, don’t you have to repay the principal from time to time? haha—!”
After looking around Naksansa Temple, the three of us headed to Gangneung.
When we finished lunch in Gangneung, we had plenty of time until train time, so Yeong-mi and I followed my grandmother to the bookstore in front of Gangneung Station.
So we went into the bookstore, and we scattered towards the Philosophy section for Grandma, the Literature section for English and Americans, and the Engineering section for me.
The books I found in the engineering section were major books in the field of mechatronics.
Mechatronics is a convergence study that combines mechanical engineering and electronics, and will become a field that will lead the robotics field in the near future.
A month ago, In-cheol showed the interior blueprints of a small cargo ship.
It was a small cargo ship built in Japan during World War II, and it is said to have the same internal structure as the Shigemitsu, which sank with 39 tons of gold ingots.
There were a total of five places where gold bars were presumed to be stored, one was just below the deck, and the other four were cargo compartments located on the first and second basement floors.
It is unlikely that valuable items, such as gold bars, were stored in temporary storage under the deck.
For reference, the Shigemitsu is a relatively small cargo ship with a total displacement of 250 tons.
Therefore, it is important to lower the center of gravity as much as possible when loading a heavy load on a boat.
Therefore, there was a high probability that the place where 39 tons of gold ingots were stored was in the cargo compartment on the second basement floor.
This meant that even if you went down to a depth of 70 meters in a small submersible, you could not take out the gold ingots in the 2nd floor underground cargo compartment.
There are two practically possible ways.
One is to salvage a sunken vessel out of the water, which is costly, but administrative procedures are complicated, and in the worst case, the gold bars we found are likely to belong to the state.
For reference, it is said that all the treasures of the Song and Yuan dynasties salvaged off the shores of Sinan in the 1980s belonged to the state.
The second method is to use an underwater drone, which is why I started studying mechatronics.
At that moment, Yeong-mi’s maternal grandmother’s voice was heard.
“Our teacher Chae! What kind of book do you want to read, flip through it like a picture book?”
I scratched the back of my head and said to my grandmother.
“Grandma, just call me Jeong-ho.”
“I mean, anyone who has something to learn is unconditionally a teacher to me.”
Grandma continued, pointing to the mechatronics book I was holding.
“You seem to like that book, and this grandmother will buy you.”
We got out of the bookstore and took a taxi, and Grandma got into the taxi.
“Grandma, please be careful.”
“Yes, yes. When you arrive in Seoul, call me even if it’s late.”
“Okay.”
In response to Yeong-mi’s answer, the grandmother turned her head to me and pointed to the book package she had bought at the bookstore a while ago.
“I will now study Kant and Hegel properly. Teacher Chae, you should definitely come and play next time you go on vacation. Understand?”
“Yes I will.”
My grandmother’s taxi left, and Yeongmi and I walked towards Gangneung Station.
“I think my grandmother likes you very much. “Come back next time,” he said.
“really?”
Youngmi nodded and said.
“I don’t even tell my grandmother and my grandchildren to come next time. Am I a little jealous of this?”
“ha ha ha—! okay? I will definitely come back next time.”
As I was walking towards Gangneung Station, I stopped.
past life… I had never met Yeong-mi’s maternal grandmother.