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Mt. Kumgang and its Seasonal Names

Since the ancient times, Mt. Kumgang of unparalleled scenery has been called by several names as it changes its appearance into thousands of forms and figures depending on time, place and view of observers.

In the ancient times it was called Mt. Son because supernatural beings were believed to live in the mountains and in the period of Three Kingdoms it was called Mt. Phungak, meaning ‘the peaks of tinted autumnal leaves’.

During the Later Silla Dynasty it was called Mt. Kaegol or Mt. Sangak to the effect that the white peaks looked sharp like frost columns.

From around the 15-16th centuries it was also called Mt. Pongrae.

Later, the mountain took on the name Kumgang, for it looked like diamond (a hard stone shining like a gold) when viewed from a distance.

Some of the twelve thousand peaks and principal eccentric sights of Mt. Kumgang were also given names such as Samson Rock from our ancestors’ worship of supernatural beings, and the ones such as Oson Peak, Sokka Peak, Sejon Peak and Myonggyong Pavillion are said to be of Buddhist origin when Buddhism was widely spread in the Middle Ages.

Since Mt. Kumgang changes its appearance according to the seasons, in spring it was called Mt. Kumgang, for it was clad in all kinds of flowers and in summer Mt. Pongrae (wormwood peak), because wormwood grew in profusion all over it.

Its autumn name was Mt. Phungak, which depicted the beauty of its twelve thousand peaks tinted red with autumnal leaves and, in winter, it was called Mt. Kaegol, because the peaks of rocks looked just like long thin bones bare of leaves.

Such seasonal names of Mt. Kumgang got fixed from about the 17th century and other names such as Mt. Son and Mt. Sangak have hardly been used ever since.