of the social system.
The repeal of Korea’s feudal family laws following the end of World War II in 1945 and the gradual introduction of democratic principles into Korean government over the next several decades removed almost all of the legal coercion and much of the social pressure that had artificially supported the respect syndrome in Korean culture since ancient times. But by that time chonjung was so deeply embedded in the culture that, although greatly diminished in many respects, it has continued to be a significant factor in Korean life.
Koreans are still distinguished by their respect for their parents and family, for their seniors and elders, for scholars, for discipline, for form and formalities, for education, and so on, but they no longer passively accept or automatically respect government authority or its elected or appointed officials. For the first time in the history of the country the people of Korea not only have a legal right to criticize and oppose government authorities but also are protected by laws that guarantee this right. And even though these laws are not always enforced fully or fairly, Koreans now have a voice in their government, and they are as verbal—and sometimes as violent—in asserting this voice as other people with much longer democratic histories.
Present-day Koreans have made great progress in personalizing chonjung—that is, they decide who and what they are going to respect according to their own criteria, not according to traditional customs or authoritarian government regimes. In this new environment, self-respect takes precedence over all other people and institutions. Individual Koreans are, in fact, extraordinarily sensitive about being respected—in itself this is nothing new, but in the past the respect they demanded was based on external factors such as their age, gender, rank, position, and so on. Now it is based primarily on their image of themselves as individuals with personal rights and only secondarily on other circumstances. Koreans also have great respect for themselves as a national group, with virtually unbounded confidence in their combined abilities.
Chonjung is therefore an especially important word in the Korean vocabulary and one that foreigners dealing with Korea should learn in all of its nuances.
Chontu/Ssa-um 촌두싸움 Chohn-tuu/Ssah-uum
Fighting at the Drop of a Hat
The ancient view of Koreans as paragons of good behavior and of Korea itself as “The Land of Morning Calm” stands out in stark contrast to another aspect of Korean life—the inherently volatile character of Koreans and their willingness to fight whenever verbally insulted or physically confronted. Korean social scientists invariably rank a “peaceful” nature high on any list of Korean traits. But this one-dimensional reading of the character of Koreans is based on the fact that historically Koreans were not aggressive toward their neighbors (the Chinese, the Khitans, the Japanese) and did not go out looking for trouble.
The home front was a different matter altogether. The code of Confucian etiquette and ethics that Koreans lived under from the fourteenth century until modern times was so all-encompassing and so strict that it required Koreans to suppress virtually all of their emotions and confine themselves to a highly stylized form of behavior that was contrary to practically everything that is normal and natural for human beings.
This behavioral conditioning made Koreans extremely sensitive to any deviation from the prescribed Confucian manners, particularly any behavior they regarded as disrespectful toward them or their family, and primed them to take quick action on such occasions. It could be said that Korean men in particular were something like water in covered pots that was normally just below the boiling point but hot enough for considerable pressure to build up inside the pot. When the “heat” on Korean men was turned up by anything that was upsetting, the pressure inside them increased rapidly, often resulting in their “blowing their lids.”
The propensity for Korean men to engage in chontu (chohn-tuu), or “fights,” especially public brawls, became such a disruption that one of the early kings of the Choson dynasty issued an edict requiring adult men to wear heavy ceramic hats in place of the lightweight horsehair hats that were traditional at that time. (Chontu is a Chinese term. The Korean equivalent, also commonly used, is ssa-um [ssah-uum].)
The edict went on to say that any man who became embroiled in a fight and lost his chungsan mo (chuung-sahn moh), or “pot hat,” would be punished severely. It is said that this decree was successful enough that it significantly diminished the amount of public violence in Korea. (What has not been mentioned, however, is how acrobatically skilled many Korean men became in balancing their heavy hats while still defending their honor.) The story goes that the “pot edict” was soon repealed because it interfered too much with the normal routine of men.
Korean men still do not go out looking for chontu, and by other social standards they are exceptionally well behaved even when drinking, but when they are called on to fight in a socially and politically approved situation they are fierce fighters who are inclined to give no quarter. During the Korean War men as well as women, on both sides of the conflict, routinely performed incredible feats that required extraordinary bravery.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s close to 250,000 Korean soldiers were sent to fight in the Vietnam War (under a financial arrangement with the United States), where they again proved their fighting spirit and skills and were especially feared by the Viet Cong. Since the 1970s most of the fighting spirit of Koreans has gone into transforming the country into an economic powerhouse—a challenge they met with the kind of ferocity once directed toward enemies on the battlefield.
Chorhakcha 촐학차 Chorr-hahk-chah
The Perennial Philosophers
Early Korea, like China, had its great chorhakcha (chorr-hahk-chah), or “philosophers,” who were generally the most esteemed men in the country. As also in China, Korea’s philosophers typically expressed their beliefs in poetry as well as prose, further ensuring that their names and beliefs would become known to the masses. (Many chorhakcha were as famous for the artistic quality of their calligraphy as for their philosophical concepts. The ability to write calligraphy in a highly refined style was, in fact, a yardstick for measuring the cultural achievement of all men in Korea’s gentry class and was regarded as the mark of a gentleman.)
Korea’s most outstanding philosophers included Ik Chae Yi (1287-1367), Kun Kwon (1352-1409), Hwang Yi (1501-1570), I Yi (1536-1584), and Hae Wol Choe (1829-1898).
Ik Chae Yi’s main theme was that all education should focus on realism, that metaphysical subjects, which abounded in his time, were just empty talk. Kun Kwon emphasized shilli (sheel-lee), or “realistic reasoning,” and shilshim (sheel sheem), or “realistic mind,” in his teachings. Hwang Yi (known as Toegye) was also a proponent of practical learning, which was counter to the Confucian-oriented system of education that had prevailed in the country for the previous thousand years.
I Yi (known as Yulgok) taught that reverence for sincerity in attitudes and behavior would prevent the victory of evil over good—that only the sincere man could know the “realism of heaven.” I Yi believed that government should be conducted on the basis of national consensus and that a loyal opposition was essential to keep those in power honest. He said that if demagoguery was not kept under control it would eventually destroy the state; that no man who depended upon demagoguery could survive no matter how high his position; that no amount of eloquence or courage could save a country once its leaders were caught up in the quagmire of demagoguery.
I Yi added that the more incompetent and corrupt the leadership, the more public resentment there would be; that morality would crumble and the penal system would become ineffective. He said that as long as corrupt officials escaped punishment, injustice could not be eliminated.
Hae Wol Choe (who was probably influenced by European and American philosophers) held that all men were created equal and that there
