Just where lies the spirit of Korean beauty? Is it in its early misty mornings? In its busy and spirited cities like Seoul? Or in the spiritual peace and serenity of its countryside, like that of Kyungju, where every street ends up with a pagoda?
Is it in its history? In the charm of its people? In its homebody women? In its youth oozing with interest to gain higher education? Or among the graceful lines of its deep blue mountains?
The spirit of Korean beauty is still a mystery. Many came to seek it, and many failed. Yun Kyung Real, an old Korean artist said that he came to Kyungju, to find it. Yun was from North Korea and his family is still there.
To many old Korean artists, the secret of Korean beauty may rest on the lines held by its arts. The lines that draw pictures of Korea and its people. The lines of simplicity and charm which are common to all things Korean.
"It is a question of line," so said Son Ujo, a Korean art scholar. "Korean lines (so to speak) are graceful curves," Son continued. "I can never imitate that line," added Dr. Chung Yang Mo, then, the director of the National Museum in Kyongju.
The Korean line can be be observed in the softness of a woman in her hanbok. It is the very line we breathtakingly see among the bluish green waves of the misty mountains around the Korean Peninsula. An imitation of this line may be seen in the charming and simple roofs of the Korean temples and typical Korean houses. The glowing of the candle lights during the Feast of the Lanterns on Buddha's birthday also reflects this astonishing line. And yes, this is the very same line we'll hear in the kunyak music that speaks the Asian soul.
This is also the line we see in an old Korean farmer's back bowed by years of toil and hard work, or that of his forehead, an indication of his wisdom. Can it be the same line formed by blood on the face of student Lee Han Yol during the June 9, 1987 anti-government rally at Seoul's Yonsei University? Or that formed by sweat on the faces of South Korean soldiers working under subhuman conditions as prisoners of war in North Korea's northern mining areas?
Just how do this line look? Dr. Chung attempted to draw it on the air with his chopsticks. He drew a somewhat barely pregnant bulge that mimicked the shape of the Emille bell, a big 23-ton bell cast into one piece in 770 A.D. It now hangs outside the National Museum in Kyongju.
Is it in its history? In the charm of its people? In its homebody women? In its youth oozing with interest to gain higher education? Or among the graceful lines of its deep blue mountains?
The spirit of Korean beauty is still a mystery. Many came to seek it, and many failed. Yun Kyung Real, an old Korean artist said that he came to Kyungju, to find it. Yun was from North Korea and his family is still there.
To many old Korean artists, the secret of Korean beauty may rest on the lines held by its arts. The lines that draw pictures of Korea and its people. The lines of simplicity and charm which are common to all things Korean.
"It is a question of line," so said Son Ujo, a Korean art scholar. "Korean lines (so to speak) are graceful curves," Son continued. "I can never imitate that line," added Dr. Chung Yang Mo, then, the director of the National Museum in Kyongju.
The Korean line can be be observed in the softness of a woman in her hanbok. It is the very line we breathtakingly see among the bluish green waves of the misty mountains around the Korean Peninsula. An imitation of this line may be seen in the charming and simple roofs of the Korean temples and typical Korean houses. The glowing of the candle lights during the Feast of the Lanterns on Buddha's birthday also reflects this astonishing line. And yes, this is the very same line we'll hear in the kunyak music that speaks the Asian soul.
This is also the line we see in an old Korean farmer's back bowed by years of toil and hard work, or that of his forehead, an indication of his wisdom. Can it be the same line formed by blood on the face of student Lee Han Yol during the June 9, 1987 anti-government rally at Seoul's Yonsei University? Or that formed by sweat on the faces of South Korean soldiers working under subhuman conditions as prisoners of war in North Korea's northern mining areas?
Just how do this line look? Dr. Chung attempted to draw it on the air with his chopsticks. He drew a somewhat barely pregnant bulge that mimicked the shape of the Emille bell, a big 23-ton bell cast into one piece in 770 A.D. It now hangs outside the National Museum in Kyongju.
Was the Emille bell beautiful? Yes, it was uniquely beautiful. The Japanese used to admire Korean-cast bronze temple bells especially during the Silla dynasty. But this Emille bell, had a more fascinating myth than beauty.
It was said that the metals of this bell, after so many cast attempts, refused to mix. The emperor who commanded the casting of the bell, beginning to be impatient, gave an ultimatum. He ordered that the officer who was commissioned to mold the bell would be beheaded if the bell can not be molded after a set deadline. This worried Kongai, the daughter of the commissioned officer. Kongai, however, had heard that the metals needed the blood of a virgin in order to mix.
On the final day, the last attempts to cast the bell seemed futile. And before the eyes of many villagers, and before her father could utter a word, the little girl Kongai threw herself into the boiling cauldron of metal, as a sacrifice so that the two metals will mix. Upon the spill of the virgin's blood, the metals mixed and the bell was molded, just in time, before her father was scheduled to be beheaded.
It is of no wonder that each tolling of the Emille bell was interpreted by the villagers as a plaintive cry of a child calling fro her mother, Emille means "Mama."
Physically, the Emille bell's surface was rough. I tried to explore its roughness. As I place my fingers on its surface, I closed my eyes to feel every gash on its pitted surface. They said, 'Koreans are like the Emille bell, rough and scarred on the outside, smooth and tough on the inside.' But the cold surface of the bell, which I felt under my palm made me start thinking. Are the Korean hearts cold too? Cold enough to put aside the idea of reunification of the two hostile northern and southern entities?
No. Not this time. President Kim Dae Jung, with his brilliant "sunshine policy," planned to "warm" Seoul's relations with Pyongyang. And North Korea is trying to open her doors to the world. In fact, in July of this year, Chung Ju Yung, founder of South Korea's Hyundai Group, led a herd of cattle across the Dimilitarized Zone (DMZ). There was even a plan to begin allowing South Korean tour groups into Keumkang Mountain Region.
Physically, the Emille bell's surface was rough. I tried to explore its roughness. As I place my fingers on its surface, I closed my eyes to feel every gash on its pitted surface. They said, 'Koreans are like the Emille bell, rough and scarred on the outside, smooth and tough on the inside.' But the cold surface of the bell, which I felt under my palm made me start thinking. Are the Korean hearts cold too? Cold enough to put aside the idea of reunification of the two hostile northern and southern entities?
No. Not this time. President Kim Dae Jung, with his brilliant "sunshine policy," planned to "warm" Seoul's relations with Pyongyang. And North Korea is trying to open her doors to the world. In fact, in July of this year, Chung Ju Yung, founder of South Korea's Hyundai Group, led a herd of cattle across the Dimilitarized Zone (DMZ). There was even a plan to begin allowing South Korean tour groups into Keumkang Mountain Region.
So that, reunification is not a far-fetched dream. Now, Yun Kyung Real, could begin to hope that one day, he will be reunited with his family. He had never seen them since the last civil war. Surely, this dream is not only his, but is actually the dream of many. Needless to say, that these are also the aspirations of the Korean ancestors - that is to see their sons and daughters united and face the world together with the strength of character and toughness with which Koreans were always known.
Speaking of reunification like this, it calls to mind how the Silla dynasty had defeated neighboring Kingdoms: Paekche to the West, Kogoryo to the North in 668 AD. And how it repelled invasion from the Tang dynasty to preserve Korean unity. Legends even had it that emperors sometimes turned themselves into dragons to protect the integrity of Korea. The Silla dynasty had indeed unified Korea.
But the modern Korean society seldom reflects on these past lessons. Today, Koreans are business-minded, intense, visceral, impatient, fractious and raucous. They want to be ahead of the others. They won't settle to become the second best. They always wanted to be the best. Their stature commands - "I'm in a hurry, get out of my way!" In short, there's no room for dilly-dally, all should work hard for progress. And to the Koreans, time is gold.
Have the Koreans started to adopt the American line? A strict, unyielding and sharp rod, which is well represented by the obelisk at Washington. Isn't it that the cruel and unbending line on the 38th parallel was placed by the Americans and the Russians? It is, therefore, a foreign line. A cruel line that separated members of families. A line that divides the nation into two hostile states. The line ironically called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which was guarded by armies of both sides who are armed to the tooth.
Speaking of reunification like this, it calls to mind how the Silla dynasty had defeated neighboring Kingdoms: Paekche to the West, Kogoryo to the North in 668 AD. And how it repelled invasion from the Tang dynasty to preserve Korean unity. Legends even had it that emperors sometimes turned themselves into dragons to protect the integrity of Korea. The Silla dynasty had indeed unified Korea.
But the modern Korean society seldom reflects on these past lessons. Today, Koreans are business-minded, intense, visceral, impatient, fractious and raucous. They want to be ahead of the others. They won't settle to become the second best. They always wanted to be the best. Their stature commands - "I'm in a hurry, get out of my way!" In short, there's no room for dilly-dally, all should work hard for progress. And to the Koreans, time is gold.
Have the Koreans started to adopt the American line? A strict, unyielding and sharp rod, which is well represented by the obelisk at Washington. Isn't it that the cruel and unbending line on the 38th parallel was placed by the Americans and the Russians? It is, therefore, a foreign line. A cruel line that separated members of families. A line that divides the nation into two hostile states. The line ironically called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which was guarded by armies of both sides who are armed to the tooth.
No. The Koreans haven't adopted the American line. The Korean line is a line with emotions. Remember President Park Chung Hee when he strove hard to stabilize the South Korean economy? Building the country from the grave poverty, President Park had to beg for funds to import materials and equiptment to uplift his country's battered economy. In 1960's, he hesitantly bartered his Korean nurses and miners to get a $40 million loan from Germany. And visiting his scruffy miners in Germany in 1964, he was moved to tears, that he wasn't able to finish his lines. The German president, who was standing next to President Park, passed his handkerchief to him.
So that the line at the 38th parallel is a line without emotions, a cruel one, designed by foreigners to advance their own selfish interests. That line is a foreign line. not an inherent line in the Korean system. That is why consciously or unconsciously, Koreans wanted to scrap it off the map. And this wanting can be seen in the eyes of every Korean. They all wanted reunification.
"You can't turn your back on your family," echoes the words of Mr. Yun, who still have his sister in the North. Incidentally, Mr. Yun lives in Kyungju, where Korea became one state hundreds of years ago.
But like the Emille bell, the preliminary casts to mix the metal seemed to be futile. The North and the South, though brothers, remained to be in constant doubt of each other's moves. They still look at each other with suspicion.
Does the situation needs another Kongai in order to unite and be one? The youth had sacrificed enough, haven't they? They have already fulfilled their duties throughout this history of wars and aggression. They have already done their part as the 'conscience of the nation.' It is always pleasing to know that even in Korea, the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal's words: La juventud, bella ezperanza en la patria mia! (The youth, fair hope of my fatherland!) still hold water.
But beyond all these, I personally believe that there are two Koreas. Not the North and the South of course. The first one is the Korea that we see in magazines, brochures, and encyclopedias - the one that is divided by that foreign line at the 38th parallel.
The second Korea is holy - more difficult to define for it exists only in the realm of spirit. In that Korea, there is unity, harmony, simplicity and excellence. Maybe, it is in that Korea, we will find the Spirit of Korean beauty!
