The Basic Mind of Korean people, inner beauty [Photo Essay Contest]
The Korea JoongAng Daily hosted its first photo essay contest for elementary, middle and high school students on the theme: “Promote the beauty of Korea to foreign countries." The contest ran from October to November. Photos containing scenes of traditional culture, family love, places to see and tasty treats in Korea were submitted for the contest.
Yoonjae Kim from Sinjung elementary school won the participation prize in the elementary school category for this photo essay.
What do you think the beauty of Korea is? There are two types of beauties, which are visible beauty, and invisible, hidden beauty. Korea has cultural and geological beauty. Korea’s cultural beauties are Hallyu (e.g. K-pop, K-drama etc.), Hanok (Korean traditional house), and Hanbok (Korean traditional clothing). The geological beauties consist of mountain ranges, the distinct four seasons, and more. These are all part of our nation’s beauty, but today, I will explain about invisible, hidden beauty.
It was a bright morning in late autumn. I looked around my grandparent’s small farm, and I noticed that they had forgotten to harvest few persimmons. I asked my grandfather, “Why did you leave those persimmons?” The harvest from the persimmon tree was not affluent this year, but my grandfather had left three of the largest that the tree had produced. My grandfather answered, “Those are food for the magpies.” I thought about what this could mean, and I realized that this was one of the traditions of Korea. Our ancestors left food for the starving creatures in consideration. If humans eat the fruit, they would only be satisfied, but during the coming winter, the small sacrifice of giving few fruits would be a lifesaver. This - having consideration towards others - was their philosophy.
This ethos can also be seen in subways. Korea’s subways are highly advanced, easy to access, fast, cheap, safe, better for the environment, and punctual. They also have good hygiene, good safety measures, free Wi-Fi. Moreover, they have seats for the pregnant woman and the elderly. Even in these small conveniences, hints of the basic manner of the Koreans - consideration towards others - can be found. For example, subways having seats for the pregnant woman and the elderly are an uncommon sight. But in Korea, every subway car has a seat for the pregnant and the elderly. Besides this, there is a system where Korean citizens over 65 years old gets a free pass. This is an aspect of respect towards others. Why do you think that these systems exist? This is in concern towards the social minority.
There are other mindsets that the Koreans have, such as truthfulness. For example, once, my mother and I were riding the subway, and at our destination, we got off. After few seconds though, we remembered that we had left a bag with a laptop, a passport, and a wallet. We called the station office and found the bag within twenty minutes. And most surprising of all, nobody had touched it. These kinds of mentalities are also shown in communities. As an example, in front of community centers, there is a rice container for normal people to donate rice into, and the poor to take the rice to eat. This mentality – sacrificing their own property for the needy – is not just created. It had been carved into our minds from our ancestors. Not only this, but Koreans do not make a fuss out of it or try to get respect out of it. Their ideology is to help the poor, not to show off what a generous person one is, it is to help. Another one is that Koreans have the ideology ‘be strict to oneself, and generous towards others.’ This carved the ideology of generosity towards others. Once, Confucius, the most prominent scholar at the time, said that Korea is a bureau of oriental courtesy, and that his life wish is to ride a raft to Korea and learn about filial piety, the devotion of soul, benevolence, courtesy, and virtue. This is because most of the people who visited Korea said that Koreans are humble, modest, and are full of courtesy and they love, respect, and consider others.
As you can see, Korea has numerous beauties, both visible and invisible, and the invisible, hidden beauty can be found everywhere, making Korea’s society beautiful. It is easy to see superficial, glamorous beauty, but the beauty of the deep and wide mind of Koreans is unmatchable.
By Yoonjae Kim, Sinjung elementary school
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)