When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom, the Hyoseok Cultural Festival Begins

In autumn, Bongpyeong boasts a spectacular scenery of buckwheat flowers. When the buckwheat fields are covered with pure white blossoms, travelers head toward Bongpyeong. Lee Hyo-seok's novel "When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom" adds a lyrical touch to the journey, and visiting places featured in the story is a great joy of a buckwheat flower trip. Combined with the Hyoseok Cultural Festival, autumn in Bongpyeong turns into a festival ground where nature, literature, and people harmonize.

Along the way

1. 1

   Bongpyeong 5-Day Market

   봉평5일장

   Bongpyeong Market is a five-day market held on days ending in 2 and 7. It serves as the main setting for Lee Hyo-seok's novel "When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom." The site of the Chungju-jip tavern where Heo Saeng-won used to stop by, the watermill, and the late-summer buckwheat blossoms still vividly evoke the novel's atmosphere. True to the home of buckwheat, various buckwheat dishes—ranging from traditional memil makguksu (buckwheat noodles), memil buchim (buckwheat pancake), memil jeonbyeong (buckwheat crepe), and memil muk (buckwheat jelly) to memil jjinppang (steamed buckwheat buns), local memil sundae (blood sausage), memil noodle hot pot, and memil sprout bibimbap—have recently been developed to captivate passersby, all sharing the proud tradition of native buckwheat and homemade taste.MoreLess

   

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2. 2

   Lee Hyo-seok's Birthplace

   이효석 생가

   Lee Hyo-seok is a representative novelist in modern Korean history. Under the pen name Gasan, he published "When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom" in 1936, one of the masterpieces of Korean short stories. In Pyeongchang-gun, the birthplace and setting of the novel, the thatched-roof house where Lee was born was restored in 2007 based on historical research by local elders, located about 600 meters below the original site in Lee Hyo-seok Village. It is a place that brings to mind the childhood of Lee Hyo-seok, the eldest among two sons and three daughters. Designated as the "Nation's 1st Cultural Village" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1990, Lee Hyo-seok Cultural Village hosts the "Hyoseok Cultural Festival" every September when buckwheat flowers are in full bloom. The village also features various attractions such as the birthplace site, a watermill, Chungju-jip tavern, Gasan Park, Lee Hyo-seok Memorial Hall, and the Buckwheat Local Folk Museum.MoreLess

   

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3. 3

   Lee Hyo-seok Literature Museum

   이효석 문학관

   Located on the mountainside behind the watermill across Naman Bridge, this museum is also situated along the path to the birthplace site. Opened on September 7, 2002, during the 4th Hyoseok Cultural Festival after long anticipation, the Lee Hyo-seok Literature Museum offers a comprehensive look at the author's biography, original manuscripts, and personal belongings. The displayed manuscripts and relics were organized mainly by the Gasan Literature Promotion Association. At the annual memorial service held on May 25, the family of his eldest son (Lee Woo-hyeon) and his second daughter residing in the United States attended and donated the author's original manuscripts and medal certificate in their possession.MoreLess

   

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4. 4

   Watermill (Lee Hyo-seok-gil)

   물레방아(이효석길)

   Crossing Naman Bridge in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, you will immediately see a monument marking the "Site of Lee Hyo-seok's Literature" and a watermill. These were erected in 1991 when the Ministry of Culture designated Naman-dong, the birthplace of Lee Hyo-seok, as a cultural village. In the novel "When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom," this is the place where Heo Saeng-won, suffering from the heat in the inn's room, stepped out alone at night toward the stream, entered the watermill, and spent a dreamlike night with the weeping maiden of the Seong family. Inside the rustic watermill stand a treadle mill and a few earthen jars, while a waterwheel turns on the right side. In front of the watermill stands a monument with a sculpture resembling the maiden of the Seong family. Lee Hyo-seok Cultural Village is where Gasan Lee Hyo-seok was born and raised, and serves as the setting for "When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom." Designated as the "Nation's 1st Cultural Village" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1990, it holds the "Hyoseok Cultural Festival" every September when buckwheat flowers are in full bloom. Within the cultural village are Lee Hyo-seok's birthplace site, the watermill, Chungju-jip tavern, Gasan Park, Lee Hyo-seok Memorial Hall, and the Buckwheat Local Folk Museum.MoreLess

   

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