At the Ground of the Barley, The Village of the Poor in Mockpo City

It was a taxi driver who took me to the unexpected place that day.

Actually I’d like to look around the modern history museum. So I asked the taxi driver take me to the museum. Suddenly he recommended to me to look first the village of the poor in the name of the ground of the barley.

He explained the reason why that village was called as the ground of the barley. Actually the barley was the grains for the poor. Rice was too expensive for the poor to eat, so they had eat the barley instead of the rice.

In Spring, they had dried the barleys on the ground. That was the reason why that village was called as the ground of the barley.

It was a shock that the view which had been unfolded in front of my eyes. I never had expected that kinds of panorama in Mocpo city.

The village around the ground of the barley was for the poor. The size of the village was unexpected. The rooms were so small that one person barely could lay down.

The history of that village went back to the rule of Japanese Imperialists.
Farmers had lost their land and forced to move near Mt. Yudalsan. That's the history of the village formed

There was no other means to live except the fishing.
So this village was the fisherman’s village.
Many people had lost their lives while fishing in the sea, at that time the fishing was very dangerous job.

It was very difficult to escape from the poverty. The only way getting out of the poverty was an education, the parents had made all their efforts to educate their kids. As a result, there are so many famous scholars and writers who came from Mockpo city.

The poverty and the difficulty were the true source of the success.
Many people have escaped from this village with their efforts.

But up until now, the poverty have been continuing in this village. While walking around the village, I noticed that many places were empty.

I felt good when I saw empty places, because empty places meant that people living in this poor village were diminishing.

While taking the pics, the history and the hardships of our parents’ generation came into my mind.