Legendary western writers such as Shakespeare, Hugo, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Poe, Wilde and Twain claimed their work with their name. Korea has equally impressive national writers, but during ancient times in Korea, most scholars and high officials did not place value on literature. As a result the greatest written treasures are anonymous or written under a pen name. Most writings reflects themes focusing on religion, loyalty, love and honor. One great writer was Jeong Mongju (1337-1392- pen name: Poeun), a civil minister and scholar. He lived during the late Goryeo dynasty and is responsible for many writings that are considered national treasures. Most people revere him and consider him an inspirational person because of his strong loyalty to his country and his unwillingness to betray his leader and country.
Jeong Mongju's sijo (poem)
단심가(丹心歌)
이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백 번 고쳐 죽어 此身死了死了一百番更死了(차신사료사료일백번갱사료)
백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 白骨爲塵土魂魄有無也(백골위진토혼백유무야)
임 향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴. 鄕主一片丹心寧有改理歟(향주일편단심유개리여)
Though I die and die again a hundred times,
That my bones turn to dust, whether my soul remains or not,
Ever loyal to my Lord, how can this red heart ever fade away?
This poem is moving and powerfully illustrates loyalty. He wrote this in response to an event where his loyalty was tested. As a civil minister he was approached by some unhappy citizen who wanted to start a coup against the current government. He decided he would rather die than betray his loyalty to his leader. This is very inspirational! Consider what you value the most... this might include: family, relationships, faith/religion, values, country. Would you be willing to be perceived as different for not conforming to what everyone else is doing? Would you be willing to stay strong to what you value at any cost? Even though we do not have to experience death like Jeong Mongiu, everyone still encounters tests of loyalty on a regular basis. I know I am inspired and I hope you are too... Let's stay strong to our personal values and not care what others are doing or what other people may think.
After a long day of three lectures, we ventured off to Yoo's family which is a museum site dedicated to learning Traditional Korean lifestyle. Korean's value a similar cultural idea like US "Home is where the Heart is." Traditional Korean homes lack clutter and material objects. They emphasize openness. At this site we learned how to prepare and serve traditional Korean Tea, where traditional clothing and understand what it means, we use print blocks to make designs, and then finally had some kimchi pancakes!
Tomorrow we're off for the DMZ...
Lecture One: Korean Literature and Modern Korean History
We began this lecture focusing on Korean literature like Sijo which is a three line poem, similar to Haiku and limerick.
The history is over 5000 years old. Korea has three Kingdoms (Silla, Baekje, Goguryeo, Kaya) and three dynasties (Unified Silla, Goryeo, Joseon). Japan was Korea's worst enemy and took over from 1910-1945. One of Japan's intellectual/imperial reasons for the take over was that Kaya was historical part of Japan, so it made sense from the to absorb this into their empire. Many scholars believe there is evidence that the Japanese royal family was originally from Korea.
7 Important modern dates to know: 1. 2,333 BCE rule of Dan'gun; 2. 57 BCE founding of Silla; 3. 414- The Kwanggaet'o stele- the date with the oldest written document from Korea ; 4. 668- Silla Unification; 5. 918- founding of Koryo; 6. 1392 Founding of Choson 7. 1910- 1945 Japanese occupation
Important dates in modern history
1945- liberation; 1948- political division; 1950- Korean War; 1960- end of Rhee government; 1961- Park Chung Hee take over led by students; 1979- assassination of Park; 1980- Chun Doo Hwan take over; 1990- Unification- North Korean's believe this was the date unification events have begun.
Lecture Two: Hallyu (pop music and social media)
The growth of the Internet has allowed for Hallyu to increase at a rapid rate. Japanese animation was one of the first media to spread world wide. As a result helped other East Asian media to increase world wide.
Lecture Three: Korean Education: Achievements & Challenges
After the Korean War, Korea was very poor and undeveloped. It has changed dramatically since then. The lecturer is suggesting like many of the other have as well that Education is one of the contributing reasons. Another national motto is "Education is Our Hope, Human Resources are Our Future." Education allows people to have hopes and dreams and education provides a way for those dreams to come true.
The school system is similar to the US structure: 6 years in primary school, 3 years middle and 3 years high school, 4 years university. In high school there are two tracks: one for vocational and the other for university. By 2010 more than 80% of students attend university.
According the speaker, the driving forces behind educational achievements is based on qualified teachers and good working conditions. The strong respect factor, job security and favorable compensation makes teaching a desirable career path. Some other factors can be attributed to strong government role and effective education finance.
Socio-Cultural context- Korean society is homogenous and reflects Confucian tradition which reflects respect for teachers. There is an old saying that you should respect the king, father and teacher in the same way.
