Opinion - The Korea Times

Heungbu and Nolbu

By Mark Peterson All Koreans love the story of the two brothers, Heungbu and Nolbu. I'm going to tell the story today, but conclude with a twist that most people don't know when they tell the story. Let's start with the story (or you'll never get the “twist” that I will offer).Two brothers: Nolbu was the elder brother and he was a scoundrel. At the outset of the story we learn of the awful things he does: kicks pregnant women in the belly, defecates in the village well, sprinkles rocks in the rice, feeds the baby from its own diaper ― really gross stuff, of course, meant to be crudely humorous. More importantly we find out that Nolbu has a big house with fields and plentiful harvests and grains of all kinds in his storehouse. And he is married to a “high-maintenance wife,” so to speak.Heungbu on the other hand, is good-hearted, married to a long-suffering, supportive wife, has between 10 and 20 children ― his story changes with each telling, depending on the mood of the storyteller, and he is very poor. He either lives in a cave or in a poor tumble-down shanty

May 20, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Registry of adoptions

By Mark PetersonI had a heartwarming experience on my recent trip to Korea. Met an old friend who I had never met before!Well, he seemed like an old friend because he knew of my work and had worked in the office of the Korean Traders Association, the precursor to today's Korea Foundation. He was a junior officer there and had the duty of going over applications for grants and he remembered mine. It was 1977.Forty-one years ago I was a Ph.D. student working on my dissertation in Korea. I had just completed my coursework at Harvard and was in Korea on a Fulbright doctoral dissertation research grant. I applied for a research grant to hire an assistant to help me make an index to a set of “registers” ― the Kyehu-deungnok and the Pyeol kyehu-deungnok ― that recorded applications for adoptions. The registers were kept by the Ministry of Rites, one of the six cabinet-level ministries of the 1392-1910 Joseon government.Ham Young-jun remembered my application for the grant and worked on the administrative side of things as the application was vetted and approved and moneys were d

May 3, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

1694 wedding gift

By Mark PetersonOnce in a while a researcher finds a document that changes everything. Such was the case for a 1694 document where a mother-in-law gives a wedding present to her daughter-in-law. The document tells of a woman named Pak who is the mother-in-law of a woman named Hong. Their husbands, father and son, are named Yi.The document says, “My husband died young, leaving me with only one son. I've always longed to have a daughter, and now, finally, with a daughter-in-law, my dreams have come true. Every time I see your face I am overcome with joy. Here on the occasion of your marriage I have a gift for you of five slaves [each is named and identified by gender, age, and parentage]. Have them step and fetch for you to make your life more comfortable.”There are several points to draw from this document. References to slavery remind us of the slave-holding tradition of Korea.The “dojang” or personal seal was dipped in black ink, not the usual red used for seals; this was typical of widows who were assumed not to know how to write, or at least how to write in

Apr 25, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Ancestor ceremonies today

By Mark Peterson After writing about modern “jesa” ― ancestor ceremonies in today's Korea ― it occured to me that many readers do not understand much about ancestor ceremonies, either today or yesterday. Korea readers will largely know from their own experiences, but the foreigner has probably only read about “ancestor worship” and has not attended a ceremony. Let's look at the ancestor ceremonies briefly today.Last week I wrote about visiting the Gwangsan Kim ceremony in a modern hotel with some of the traditional trappings of the ceremonies and some new features ― such as holding the ceremonies in a hotel ballroom.For those who have never attended a ceremony in Korea, it might be worth taking a minute to learn more about the ceremonies. First, they are the heart of Confucianism ― the core ceremony in Confucianism. Oft times one reads about “ancestor worship,” but that phrase is misleading. One performs the ceremony at home for close relatives who die, and there are ceremonies for those ancestors of greater and greater distance, but no one is real

Apr 8, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Understanding ancestor ceremonies

By Mark PetersonOn my recent trip to Korea I was privileged to be invited to the annual meeting of the Gwangsan Kim lineage association. I didn't realize at the outset that it was virtually a modern version of the ancestor ceremonies, without the ancestor ceremonies! I have attended many ancestor ceremonies over the last 50 years of living in (and out) of Korea. Because of my interest in Confucianism and my interest in Korean history, I've always wanted to see actual ceremonies, and not just read about them in books. I am also interested in Korean families and how they function, their value system, and how they acculturate the succeeding generations. I've always been impressed with Korean families ― how solid they are and how Korea values are perpetuated in the family.The ancestor ceremonies tell us a lot, and although they are Confucian in their origin, people who outwardly do not claim to be Confucian, still, carry on the ancestor ceremonies. In fact, people who are critical of Confucianism and even blame Confucianism for some of Korea's problems will still carry out the family cer

Mar 29, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Thousand-year border

By Mark Peterson Today, I want to return to an earlier theme that I like to write about ― that of the stability of Korean history. The stability argument runs counter to the general perception of Korean history among the average Korean citizen these days. Of course, the 20th century was not very happy for Korea, with the Japanese takeover, division, war and unresolved division, but if one looks beyond the 20th century ― both forward to the 21st century, and back into the 19th century and earlier, leaving the 20th century, the hallmark of Korean history and culture is stability.I have written about Korea's long dynasties, and the smooth transitions from one dynasty to the next. I've written about the uniqueness of Korea's surnames ― that there are so few, compared to other civilizations ― and that such large percentages of the population bear few surnames: Kim, 21 percent; Yi, 15 percent, Pak 9 percent. And that these surnames were the royalty of former dynasties. Along these lines, I thank professor Martina Deuchler for arguing that Korea's ruling aristocracy has not changed or been

Mar 17, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

'Show me the money'

By Mark Peterson One of the primary cultural symbols of any country are the figures they put on their money. In most cases these figures are historic people. The United States has a law that only deceased people can appear on the money; by contrast a living Queen Elizabeth in on the currency of many countries in the commonwealth (like the Bahamas, where several years ago I visited and was surprised to see the Queen staring back at me when I looked at the new money in my hands).Who is on the money in Korea, and what does it mean?When the 1,000 won note came out, the powers that be had decided that a true cultural hero was the 16th century Confucian scholar, Yi Hwang, known also as Toegye. Soon thereafter, the descendants and disciples of the “other 16th century pillar of Confucian philosophy,” Yi I, better known as Yulgok, were able to get their man on the 5,000 won note. The 10,000 won note has the image of the great Confucian king, Sejong. The theme so far has been Confucianism. Two Confucian scholars and a king whose primary legacy was Confucian scholarship. He was

Mar 12, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Traditional ancestor ceremonies

By Mark PetersonI've been writing about the 1688 inheritance document that was one of the first to espouse the disinheritance of daughters. I've written on that aspect of the document the last two weeks. There is more. The document said that daughters would only receive a one-third share of property (when compared to the sons), and it also said that daughters would no longer be able to participate in the rotation of hosting the ancestor ceremonies.To most of us, the traditional ancestor ceremonies were hosted by the eldest son, and the participants were all the other sons. No daughters. This became a “thing” ― the role of the eldest son had a special term ― the “jongson.” (English readers, please read the “O's” with a long [o] sound ― it's not jangsan, the natural pronunciation for an English speaker. It's johng-sohn ― with an O as in yoyo. This is a hopeless issue; for how many years have Americans been calling the U.S. Army base is Seoul “yahngsahn” ― when it is Yongsan, yong as in yoyo.) Before the 1680s the jongson did not have a sp

Feb 21, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

'Our family is different from other families'

By Mark PetersonSome years ago, in my study of Korean history and culture, I came upon a document that was revealing on many levels. It was a 1688 will or inheritance document of the Buan Kim family. In the preamble to the document it states they are going to change their procedure of giving property to the next generation.In the West, inheritance documents are called “wills” or the intention of the property-owning parent generation in giving their property to the next generation. In Korea there is a kind of “will” that is called a “heoyeo mungi,” which is translated as a “documentation of a gift” or a special allocation of property while the owner is alive. But most divisions of property occur after the parents die and is determined by the next generation, not the parent generation. Such documents are called “dongsaeng hwahoe mungi” or literally “a document of the peacefully assembled siblings.” The purpose of the document is like that of the “will” in the West, but it is the siblings who decided whi

Jan 21, 2019By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

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Heungbu and Nolbu

Registry of adoptions

1694 wedding gift

Ancestor ceremonies today

Understanding ancestor ceremonies

Thousand-year border

'Show me the money'

Traditional ancestor ceremonies

More on 1688 document

'Our family is different from other families'

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