Korean History in the West?

As a “westerner” who was educated in both the U.S. and briefly in the U.K., let me state first of all that it is regrettably true that for the most part Korea is ignored in western education.

The focus is on “western civilization” and ancient Asian history is only mentioned where there are direct links to the history of the west. Years ago China and India were only mentioned in because Marco Polo wrote about visiting there. The only exception was if one chose to delve further in college, but even then the options were seriously limited. Most of the western curriculum focused on Asian only in the modern era, and sometimes, with the exception of WWII, even that was only a brief surface level look. I seriously cannot remember having to even know where Japan was on the Globe. We knew China because of the USSR and because I was in school during the “Cold War”. Korea’s only mention is the “Korean Police Action” and the fact that the country remained divided with an “evil government” in the north and a democracy in the south. That’s it – nothing more. Learning what I have on my own in later years, I find it disgraceful.

Were it not for some people I met because my father trained Asian pilots, and a separate interest in Shamanism, I might still be largely ignorant of Korean history. I would probably still see Korea through the visions relayed to me by a man who was a negotiator at Panmunjom the year I was born. And that would be extremely distorted.

In higher education, depending on your field, you do start learning more about China and Japan. But it’s not necessarily just because of a bias toward those countries. Most of the material I was taught was philosophy, religion, political structure and military strategy. The reason most of that centers on just China and Japan in the west is because those are the resources most readily available. Ancient Chinese and Japanese manuscripts are widely published in English and other western languages. I still find it hard to find these types of works that have been transcribed in Hangul and then translated into English. Is it that there is not much Korean History published in English, especially on a high school level, or have I just not found a good source? People only learn from what they have access to. Hangul is not taught in most schools in the west, so unless the history is in English and put before students, Korean history and culture will remain a blank for most westerners.

A recent example of this is that despite my interest in Korean history, it was only within the past month that I learned that 100 years ago there were more Koreans in Texas than Chinese or Japanese. I knew the history of the Japanese here because of the rice fields and internment camps. And the Chinese have always been very visible. But it took being given a book by Irwin Tang (a Chinese American) to find out about the Korean communities because they have been so self-contained. Granted this is not really part of Korea’s history, but if something that close and in my own country is unknown, think how remote the information before the immigration is to us? Korean history is not usually something that comes up in casual conversation over drinks between a Korean and an American, so what is going to spark the American’s interest to learn more than is put in front of them?

(Actually I have had those conversations, but those in earshot have looked at us like we are either insane or had way too much soju.......and they may have been right on both counts.)

Gong Xi Fa Cai

My new goal is to spend each Lunar new Year in a different place.
2007 - Los Angeles
2008 - Dallas
2009 - Chicago or Houston (?)

A.D.D. or Antidote for Boredom?

Whether it is a mild case of ADD or just too many interests to stay focused, switching between interests has been a double-edged sword from my earliest memories. The scenario usually goes something like this. Something catches my attention and I have to know everything possible about it yesterday. Of course this impossible, but I dive in headfirst and plow through everything I can until my version of reality sinks in. Either I do not have the resources (financial, free time, physical stamina, or skill) to continue, or I finally face that my goal is incredibly unrealistic. I scale back my efforts and eventually the quest becomes a memory. Or, as with ADD, something equally intriguing surfaces and the ever-hopeful seeker goes off on this new tangent. The original interests either fall by the wayside or mutates into something that blends with the new exploration.
Either way the results tend to be consistent. A basic understanding of the new subject is added to the rest of the Trivial Pursuit answers stockpile in my biological RAM. An appreciation for those well versed on the subject of the moment is added to the “good guys – might want to meet someday” list. A mosh pit arranged pile of papers, notes, books and other data is added to the ever-growing pile of crap I will someday have to move, even though I can rarely find any item I go looking for later from this pile. And most imposingly, this unattained grail is added to all the others I will someday resume my journey to find when I am old and have nothing better to do (as if I will ever be able to retire?). Stockpiling against future boredom!
Some of this is good – knowledge gained, even if incomplete. Some of this is bad – a pack rat’s paper heaven!
Such has been the fate of my studies of music, language, theology, sports, and many other fields. The debris of instruments, dictionaries, iconography, toys, notebooks and file folders litters my surroundings like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumb trail through the forest. If I follow it, I will retrace old paths, but it is more likely the debris will wear away over time leaving spaces to be filled in only by having to choose another unmarked direction.
What is the growing smirk for? Well, considering all this, I wonder what those paths I have walked to the end of say about me. For there are those expeditions into unknown territories that I managed to pursue to their final destination (at least final as far as I am concerned), before allowing the sparkle of a new idea to distract my magpie sight. If you have read this far, I suppose you are wondering just what strange lands those journeys crossed and where they saw their finish. Or maybe if you have seen my library and talked with me at length, you have seen a map of where I have been and maybe even learned the why and how. But I doubt that even you know what rewards awaited the journeys’ conclusions, because years later I am still finding new ones once in a while. Mostly the rewards were confidence replacing ignorance, and even fear at times, and indelible memories of experiences that others only read about in books.
But future blogs will disclose the details of a few.