Moses Miracle at Jindo

watercolor on paper

9.5 x 13 inches

One of my first weekends away in my South Korea travels over 10 years ago.

The Moses Miracle or Jindo Sea Parting is a huge festival at Jindo. The tide is very low, revealing a land pass from the Jindo peninsula to the island of Modo.

About half a million Koreans and tourists enjoy the festival and walk the almost 3km to Modo and back, before the tide gets too high.

I made it a quarter of the way before the tide chased us back. In bare tender feet, my progress was pretty slow over those uncomfortable rocks. And I stopped every few minutes for photos.

You may notice the pink lantern has an elderly woman praying on it. This is from the legend of Grandma Bbong.

Over the years, many villagers of Jindo had been attacked by tigers. Finally, a decision was made for everyone to flee to nearby Modo, where they would be able to live in peace.

Unfortunately, Grandma Bbong was accidentally left behind. She prayed every day to the Dragon King of the Sea, Yongwang, to deliver her safely to her family.

One night in early March the Dragon King appeared to her in a dream, and told her that the next day a rainbow would appear in the ocean to guide her across. She went to the shore the next afternoon and prayed to Yongwang once more. At that moment, the waters parted and a crescent-shaped path linking the two islands appeared.

Grandma Bbong dashed across the opening but soon fell victim to exhaustion and the stress of her ordeal. Her family ran out to meet her and she died there in their arms, her final words spoken in praise of the Dragon King for helping to reunite her with her family one last time.

There are several statues of Grandma Bbong and the tiger around Jindo.

You can purchase this painting here