Mungyeong Chasabal

Chasabal are tea bowls, and the Mungyeong ones are deliberately unrefined: thrown quickly, glazed unevenly, fired in a wood-burning climbing kiln where ash falls on the surface and no two come out alike. In Korea they were everyday rice bowls. In Japan, where the same ware arrived from the sixteenth century, tea masters found in exactly that roughness the aesthetic they were looking for and elevated it - Ido bowls of Korean origin became among the most valued objects in Japanese tea, which is one of the odder asymmetries in East Asian art history, and Korean potters were taken to Japan after the invasions of the 1590s. Mungyeong kept the tradition through families still working today, using the mangdungi kiln and the treadle wheel. The county has a ceramics museum, working kilns, and a traditional pottery festival in spring where kilns are opened.

What you actually see

• The wood-kiln surfaces - ash fall, uneven glaze, no two alike.
• The treadle wheel and climbing kiln - the old working methods.
• The museum - the history and the Japanese tea connection.
• The spring festival - kiln openings and sales.

When to go

April to June and October; the pottery festival in spring is when kilns are opened and the potters are all working. Weekdays otherwise, and it is worth calling a workshop ahead.

Honest expectations

The bowls are meant to look crude and many visitors simply do not like them. Working kilns are businesses, not exhibits. Mungyeong is inland and awkward to reach without a car.

Nearby

Mungyeong Saejae pass and the county's coal museum are close.