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Korean Culture:
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Three
Mrs. Kims dressed in traditional hanboks
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Like all
agricultural societies, Korean life has always centered on tightly
knit families. Large families have been prized and over many
centuries families intermarried within the regions of Korea
to form large clans. Family names reflect this. A dozen family
names predominate, especially Kim, Park, Lee, Kang, and Cho.
But Kims from the city of Pusan in the south are not the Kims
from Seoul and all the Kims know exactly which group they belong
to. Custom forbids people marrying within their own clan, no
matter how distant the cousin might be. In order to know who
is who, families and clan keep detailed genealogical records
that might go back many hundreds of years. Even in today's westernized
Korea many people can still recite the glorious history of their
clans and take pride in them.
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Couple
on their way to Ch'usok ceremony
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Confucian
Ideas:
Already
male centered, Korean society became highly patriarchal when
the Confucian system was imported from China and made the official
state belief system in about 1390 A.D. Order and authority are
the hallmarks of Confucian thought. Fathers are responsible
for their families and must be both obeyed and revered by everyone.
Even ancestral fathers are honored. The custom is called filiopiety
and even today elements of it remain among Koreans. Traditionally,
older people are accorded honor. For instance, at dinner the
eldest person sits first and eats and drinks before anyone else
can begin. Anyone older must always be addressed with honorifics,
even among acquaintances. No one would think of calling an older
person by their first name, much less a grandfather or grandmother.
Bowing to them is the really traditional way of greeting. Hard
work, obedience to family, protection of the family, and proper
decorum among family members are very much Korean values, even
in the modern world.
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Mrs.
Kim teaches her grand-daughter the art of cooking
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Women
and Village Life:
Today,
women are in every occupation, from government officials to business
persons and professors. In traditional Korean society, women had
set roles. They were expected to stay at home, to raise their
children, keep house and prepare meals. In farming villages they
also worked in the fields. When women married they came to live
in their husbands' houses, but always kept their own family names.
Once in their husbands' homes, they became part of the extended
families. Not only were they to obey the eldest males in the family
and their husbands, but to take commands from the eldest woman.
As in many traditional societies, the oldest women within the
household, a grandmother, for instance, had great power over the
rest of the women and children. And, more than one son would think
twice about disregarding the wishes of a powerful grandmother.
The
idea of cooperation based on a system of authority worked in the
old villages. Villagers often banded together to help one another
in times of need and for important events. If a member might need
help in a harvest or perhaps house repairs all the rest would
gather to help. When a village needed a new well or a bridge,
for example, everyone pitched in to build them. For important
occasions such as funerals, weddings, or major birthday party (usually
when a man reached the age of 60), villagers often pooled their
moneys to make a grand party. That sense of solidarity with one's
neighbors and even one's nation still flows through Korean life
today.
For
more information on this subject:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/STUDENTS/Hwang/home.htm
http://www.joins.com/kwin/index.html
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