SPIRITED GARDEN > Introduction

When he created something unprecedented in an overlooked, thorny wilderness, many Koreans dismissed bonsai and gardens as merely part of Japanese culture.

Later, when three Chinese presidents and numerous influential leaders visited, and when Spirited Garden was introduced in Chinese textbooks, people questioned its connection to China.

Spirited Garden remains the only Korean garden featured in globally renowned gardening books from the UK and the US. It is also a place where half of the visitors come from Western countries—something that Koreans have found difficult to accept.

There has never been a world-class garden created by a single individual in their lifetime. Most prestigious gardens around the world have histories spanning hundreds of years.

The fact that South Korea was able to elevate its cultural and artistic identity globally through garden culture was made possible by a pioneer who dedicated 60 years to this vision.

Farmer Sung Bum-Young