Ppong, Moses and the Jindo Sea-Parting Festival

Do you know that feeling you have when you are about to experience something phenomenal? Something that few will experience and that sends chills up your spine? This was my personal experience at the Jindo Sea-Parting Festival. A moment I will never forget at one of the those hidden wonders of the world many don’t know of.

Every year in March-April unnaturally low tides create a natural land bridge between two islands through the Jindo Sea. This occurrence is know as the Jindo Sea-Parting or "Moses Miracle". The event attracts thousands every year.

Such a natural phenomena is not without it’s legend. The Korean legend goes as follows…

It was 1480, the beginning of the Joson Era in Korea. A man name Son Dong-Ji was banished and exiled to the island of Jindo in the far southwest of Korea. On his voyage to Jindo his ship was wrecked in a storm and he was washed ashore on Hoedong, or Tiger because of the tigers that frequented the area. It was at Hoedang where Son settled down and raised a family. For 200 years his descendants lived there under constant attack from the tigers. His descendants eventually built rafts to move to the island of Modo to escape the tigers. Everyone but Grandmother Ppong made it to the island, she was forgotten. It became Grandmother Ppong’s quest to be reunited with her people. She prayed to the Dragon King of the Sea and one March set out on her journey. The Dragon King came to her in a dream and promised a rainbow in the sea she could walk across. The next day she woke up and ran across the rainbow in the sea. The journey across the island became too much for her and she collapsed. Her family walked from the other island across the rainbow to meet her. She died in their arms but was happy, she had been reunited with her family.

Korean’s also like to equate the Jindo Sea-Parting with the story of Moses and the Israelites. While I trekked across the land bridge I could not help but think of Grandmother Ppong while at the same time thinking of the Israelites fleeing the advancing Egyptians.

The rush of seeing a bridge appear out of nowhere really did send chills down my spine. A euphoric and unreal feeling overcame me as I took my first step onto the sand and rock connecting the two islands. Walking in a bustling crowd of anxious Koreans I felt the surge and panic of an Exodus or the family from Modo going to meet grandmother Ppong. It was an intense and surreal moment. Most of the Koreans weren’t really interested in making it across. The humor in it was that most of them went out to go hunting for shellfish in the sand. So hundreds of Koreans with hand shovels and bags went out to hit the mother lode of sea life for consumption. Business is business. It took nearly an hour to make it to the island of Modo but we made it. It was a rewarding feeling, something that can’t be taken away or replaced. The little things can be the most rewarding in life. Like walking across a land bridge in the sea. It may not be Paris or Rome but it is something special, something that should be appreciated.