My Essay-4

07-24-2008 17:46

Reading Is Window to History

By Chung In-sung

In the Joseon Dynasty, Shin Heum, a scholar and politician, sang lyrics that went like this:

If I close the door, I read a book I like most.

If I open the door, I meet a guest I've waited for a long time.

If I go out of the door, I travel to a beautiful mountain and a river I want to.

About 10 years ago, I read the novel, ``Ieyasu Tokugawa," written by a famous Japanese novelist. It was so impressive that once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down, and I stayed up late for a few nights straight.

The writer realistically described the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). I was so amazed at Admiral Yi Sun-sin's heroics. He was depicted in detail as a war hero who defeated the Japanese navy with modernized weapons in the book, which also excellently described the cause and effect of the war between Korea and Japan.

What impressed me most was Japan's reform process from feudal society to modern civilization through the help of Western countries, such as Portugal, England, the Netherlands and America. After reading this book, I've tried to learn more about Japanese culture.

One day I happened to visit the British Museum on the Internet. I was really shocked to find only Chinese culture and Japanese culture in the ``Asian Culture" part. I couldn't find any Korean culture there. Eventually, I managed to find something about Korean culture under another ``Asian culture" category. It included various Asian countries' cultures, including those of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines as well as Korea.

Why were Asian cultures classified into these two different groups? I've wondered about how I should solve this problem for a long time, but I did not discover the solution until recently. I read that the ancient Korean Peninsula played a role in transmitting Chinese culture to Japan. If it is true, only Chinese culture should exist in Asia. Of course, I don't deny the truth that Korean and Japanese cultures bloomed for several centuries after the influence of Chinese culture. I began to wonder whether or not the Korean that I had learned in my schooldays was true.

Recently I had the opportunity to read the book, ``The Clash of Civilizations'' by Samuel Huntington, a futurologist and professor of Harvard University. He introduced the world's civilizations as follows: Spangler specifies eight major cultures; McNeill discusses nine civilizations; Bagby also sees nine major civilizations or 11, if including Japan and Orthodoxy; Braudel identifies nine and Rostovanyi seven.
Despite these differences, many historians agree that 12 civilizations existed, seven of which no longer exist (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Cretan, classical, Byzantine, Middle American, Andean). Nowadays, only five civilizations exist; Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Islamic and Western. Most historians recognize Japan as a distinct civilization, an offspring of Chinese civilization, emerging between 100 and 400 A.D.

The historical sense I've known from my boyhood is that Korean culture was the messenger who handed over Chinese culture to Japan. I can't help asking myself this question: Is my common sense on Korean history not true? Why on Earth did my teachers inoculate me with incorrect historical information about Asian culture during my school days? For what reason do many Korean historians keep silent on the shocking truth that Japanese culture is something completely isolated from Chinese culture? I don't know the reason why Korea's mainstream mass media has not dealt with this historical problem until now.

One spring day during my high-school days, we went on a field trip. Two hour's walking led us to our destination, the Maitreya Pagoda in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, where there are the ruins of a stone image of Buddha and temples built in the Baekje Dynasty period. I looked around the magnificent, enormous pagoda, supported by more than two meters of sculpted granite.

I was surprised by what I saw at back of the Pagoda. If someone didn't repair the pagoda immediately, it looked like it would fall to the ground. A chill ran down my spine at that moment. Unfortunately, someone had made the pagoda very unsightly with a concrete mould to stop it falling down. Nobody took care of the old pagoda, standing in the cultivated rice paddies.

After becoming a teacher, I heard that one Japanese historian visited the pagoda during the colonial times. He was so shocked when he saw its magnificence for the first time. He saw that the pagoda was similar to that of a Japanese national treasure. He too felt that the grand pagoda might fall down at any moment if he didn't repair it right then and there. He hired some workers to fix it and cemented the thick and ugly molding on it.
If I have free time to study history, I would like to look at the misconception of Japanese culture, pondering my lack of historical understanding. Reading was a window to opening new eyes on history.

The writer is a teacher at Sanne Middle School in Namwon, North Jeolla Province. He can be reached at flesung@yahoo.co.kr.