Columnar Joints on Gyubong Peak and Jigong Stony Slope in Mudeungsan Mountain

Ipseokdae and Seoseokdae Rocks and Gyubong Peak, on Mudeungsan Mountain, the principal mountain of the Honam region, are famous for their columnar joints — pillar-shaped cracks formed as lava erupted from a volcano cooled and contracted. At Gyubong Peak, about 100 sheer stone pillars that seem to touch the sky, together with dense woodland and Gyubongam Hermitage, come together as if forming a single Oriental painting. The Sinjeung Dongguk yeoji seungnam, a Joseon-period gazetteer of human geography, states in its entry on Gwangsan-hyeon, Jeolla-do: 'Gyubong Peak has ten platforms (dae), named Songha, Gwangseok, Punghyeol, Jangchu, Cheonghak, Songgwang, Neungeom, Beophwa, Seolbeop and Eunsin' — giving a name to each of the stone pillars. Kim Geuk-gi praised the wonder and beauty of the place, writing: 'Its unusual shapes made it hard to name; having climbed up, I find the ten thousand forms all in balance. The rocks look as if cut from silk, the peaks as if carved from jade. Once the scenic spot is revealed, the traces of the mundane world are shut out; dwelling in this secluded place deepens one's feeling for the truth. How might I sever my ties to the secular world? I sit cross-legged and learn of no-birth.' Jigong Stony Slope is a scree formed as columnar joints broke apart over a long period and gathered along the mountain ridge; it shows the early stages by which columnar joints form, and takes its name from the story that the Indian monk Jigong, while sitting in meditation, laid down a hundred million stones through his spiritual power.

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Where it is

Region

Hwasun, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Scenic Site · 명승