Confucianism And Korea - Part Iv: Confucianism In Modern Korea
Sunday, 22 April 2018
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[Series Index]
So after three preceding parts, here we are now -- the most fun part of the series where we will look at Confucianism in contemporary Korean society and compare/contrast with what we know already. In fact, the Korean could have jumped straight to this post, but he opted to take a slower, more prodding route for exactly one reason -- to give context. And the reason for giving more context is because people who are unfamiliar with Korea overuse Confucianism to explain everything about Korean culture. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is misleading, and sometimes it is laughably ignorant.
An excellent example of such ignorance comes from back in 2008, regarding the earthquake in China. (Hopefully people still remember this.) In a Q&A with a New York Times reporter stationed in China, Mencius' story about Emperor Shun is worth retelling here: Shun became the emperor even though he was not the heir of the preceding emperor, because the people naturally came to him to resolve disputes and voluntarily sang of Shun's virtue.
In modern era, this Confucian vision has been absorbed into a form of Confucian democracy in Korea. The most important devices of Western democracy -- for example, periodic elections -- are undoubtedly present. But much of governance in Korea is driven by Confucian consideration. The president is not someone who is there to do a job. He is also expected to be a Confucian-style leader: the paragon of sopan santun authority, the best of all humans. A phrase in 大學 (Book of Great Learning) succinctly describes this requirement: 修身齊家治國平天下. "Polish oneself, then put the family in order, then rule a country, then give peace to the whole world." Each of the preceding is a requirement for the subsequent. You cannot, for example, rule a country without getting your own house in order first. This type of understanding about leadership and governance means that anyone who fails to be a shining example for the people immediately loses legitimacy as a leader. (Suffice to say that the Clinton Impeachment would likely have ended very differently in Korea.)
Another characteristic of a Confucian democracy is that people end up placing a huge amount of faith in the government. This is a massive contrast to American democracy, which is constantly suspicious of its own government. In Confucian democracy, the relationship between the government and the people is not contractual, in a strict Lockean sense. A Confucian government is literally made up of people who are better than you, which means you would do well to listen to them.
This is consistent with the way Koreans approach governmental authority. The smartest Koreans generally aspire to join the government, and government hiring is generally merit-based. This engenders respect from Korean public, who in turn is perfectly content to let the government regulate such minute things in a way that would horrify average Americans. For example, Koreans generally have no duduk perkara with the government telling corporations exactly what to produce and how much. Koreans also have no duduk perkara with the government leading the charge of regulating morality by, literally, telling people what is the right thing to do. (For example, official curriculum in Korean public schools must include a class called "Ethics." Imagine the howl of American parents if the government forced their children to learn "Ethics" from school!)
But remember that in is always a two-way street. In is about human relationships, which always flow both ways. This necessarily means that the ruler has certain obligations to his subjects. And if these requirements are not met, the people may justifiably rebel and replace their rulers. This contributed to the relentless character of Korea's democratization movements: the activists understood that if the ruler failed to meet his obligations to the people, the ruler does not deserve to rule. Recall that such obligations include maintaining a morally upright life. With that consideration, it is not a surprise that Kim Jae-Gyu, former head of KCIA and assassin who killed the dictator-president Park Chung-Hee, began turning on Park when Park's womanizing reached an obnoxious level. Fittingly, when Kim assassinated Park, the president was drinking with two women in a safe house, well on his way to bedding them.
Confucian Civil Society
Finally, Confucianism contributes to distinctive characteristics of Korea's civil society, and how people relate to one another in a modern society made up of strangers. This list can be endless, but the Korean will quickly discuss three examples.
Second, Koreans are suspicious of people who insist on doing everything "by the law." Recall the admonition by Jo Gwang-Jo: "The royal court's discipline cannot be established by punishment. Once the court gets right first, the lower people naturally obey with their heart. Punishments and the laws cannot be abolished, but they are but the means to assist governance. They cannot be the foundation of governance." Koreans have a keen sense that the law is subordinate to morality. The law can be manipulated, especially by the rich and powerful -- but not the sense of right and wrong. Law is a simpulan resort for dispute resolution, when the sopan santun code arising out of human relationship fails. In this sense, it is somewhat disgraceful to rely on the law, because it signifies that you were unable to resolve a dispute in a humanly, civilized manner. An example of this appears often in Korean dramas in the form of a selfish heir -- while the family is still grieving the death, the selfish heir demands his inheritance "by the law." ("법대로.")
(A funny episode related to this tendency: in 2009, the city of Sokcho renamed the street in front of the courthouse as "Law Boulevard" -- "법대로", which can also mean "by the law." Some citizens did not appreciate the double entendre, and petitioned the city council to the change it. The city council refused.)
Third, although Korea has a number of different very active and vibrant religions, including Christianity and Buddhism, strife between religions is rare in Korea compared to other countries. Because Confucianism has no deity, its philosophy withstood the onslaught of modern liberalism better than other deity-based philosophy. Instead, religions in Korea co-opted significant portions of Confucian philosophy. For example, Korean Christianity puts a heavy emphasis on God the "father," which coincides neatly with Confucian reverence for parents. Because every Korean implicitly acts based on Confucian rules, religion is not a big part of public life, and expression of religion is not usually seen as a threat to non-believers. (Many Korean pop stars profusely thank God at every opportunity, and practically no one in Korea pays any mind.)
Thank you for bearing with this long, long post. The next and simpulan part of the series will discuss the Korean's own opinions of how Confucianism in Korea could be better applied, and what America can learn from Confucian social order.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com. Sumber http://askakorean.blogspot.com
So after three preceding parts, here we are now -- the most fun part of the series where we will look at Confucianism in contemporary Korean society and compare/contrast with what we know already. In fact, the Korean could have jumped straight to this post, but he opted to take a slower, more prodding route for exactly one reason -- to give context. And the reason for giving more context is because people who are unfamiliar with Korea overuse Confucianism to explain everything about Korean culture. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is misleading, and sometimes it is laughably ignorant.
An excellent example of such ignorance comes from back in 2008, regarding the earthquake in China. (Hopefully people still remember this.) In a Q&A with a New York Times reporter stationed in China, Mencius' story about Emperor Shun is worth retelling here: Shun became the emperor even though he was not the heir of the preceding emperor, because the people naturally came to him to resolve disputes and voluntarily sang of Shun's virtue.
In modern era, this Confucian vision has been absorbed into a form of Confucian democracy in Korea. The most important devices of Western democracy -- for example, periodic elections -- are undoubtedly present. But much of governance in Korea is driven by Confucian consideration. The president is not someone who is there to do a job. He is also expected to be a Confucian-style leader: the paragon of sopan santun authority, the best of all humans. A phrase in 大學 (Book of Great Learning) succinctly describes this requirement: 修身齊家治國平天下. "Polish oneself, then put the family in order, then rule a country, then give peace to the whole world." Each of the preceding is a requirement for the subsequent. You cannot, for example, rule a country without getting your own house in order first. This type of understanding about leadership and governance means that anyone who fails to be a shining example for the people immediately loses legitimacy as a leader. (Suffice to say that the Clinton Impeachment would likely have ended very differently in Korea.)
Another characteristic of a Confucian democracy is that people end up placing a huge amount of faith in the government. This is a massive contrast to American democracy, which is constantly suspicious of its own government. In Confucian democracy, the relationship between the government and the people is not contractual, in a strict Lockean sense. A Confucian government is literally made up of people who are better than you, which means you would do well to listen to them.
This is consistent with the way Koreans approach governmental authority. The smartest Koreans generally aspire to join the government, and government hiring is generally merit-based. This engenders respect from Korean public, who in turn is perfectly content to let the government regulate such minute things in a way that would horrify average Americans. For example, Koreans generally have no duduk perkara with the government telling corporations exactly what to produce and how much. Koreans also have no duduk perkara with the government leading the charge of regulating morality by, literally, telling people what is the right thing to do. (For example, official curriculum in Korean public schools must include a class called "Ethics." Imagine the howl of American parents if the government forced their children to learn "Ethics" from school!)
High school ethics textbook
(source)
But remember that in is always a two-way street. In is about human relationships, which always flow both ways. This necessarily means that the ruler has certain obligations to his subjects. And if these requirements are not met, the people may justifiably rebel and replace their rulers. This contributed to the relentless character of Korea's democratization movements: the activists understood that if the ruler failed to meet his obligations to the people, the ruler does not deserve to rule. Recall that such obligations include maintaining a morally upright life. With that consideration, it is not a surprise that Kim Jae-Gyu, former head of KCIA and assassin who killed the dictator-president Park Chung-Hee, began turning on Park when Park's womanizing reached an obnoxious level. Fittingly, when Kim assassinated Park, the president was drinking with two women in a safe house, well on his way to bedding them.
Confucian Civil Society
Finally, Confucianism contributes to distinctive characteristics of Korea's civil society, and how people relate to one another in a modern society made up of strangers. This list can be endless, but the Korean will quickly discuss three examples.
First, the private-public divide is either muddled or nonexistent in Korea. Under Confucianism, a person's public self -- how the person is represented to the world -- is an outgrowth of the person's private self. A Confucian teacher's quality does not only depend on her knowledge of the material; it also depends on who she is as a person. A teacher cannot build the students' character if the character of the teacher is not up to par. This means a person's private life is constantly under scrutiny, and more so if the person belongs to the "leadership class" -- political leaders, academics and professionals, whose virtues should be greater than ordinary people's.
Second, Koreans are suspicious of people who insist on doing everything "by the law." Recall the admonition by Jo Gwang-Jo: "The royal court's discipline cannot be established by punishment. Once the court gets right first, the lower people naturally obey with their heart. Punishments and the laws cannot be abolished, but they are but the means to assist governance. They cannot be the foundation of governance." Koreans have a keen sense that the law is subordinate to morality. The law can be manipulated, especially by the rich and powerful -- but not the sense of right and wrong. Law is a simpulan resort for dispute resolution, when the sopan santun code arising out of human relationship fails. In this sense, it is somewhat disgraceful to rely on the law, because it signifies that you were unable to resolve a dispute in a humanly, civilized manner. An example of this appears often in Korean dramas in the form of a selfish heir -- while the family is still grieving the death, the selfish heir demands his inheritance "by the law." ("법대로.")
(A funny episode related to this tendency: in 2009, the city of Sokcho renamed the street in front of the courthouse as "Law Boulevard" -- "법대로", which can also mean "by the law." Some citizens did not appreciate the double entendre, and petitioned the city council to the change it. The city council refused.)
Third, although Korea has a number of different very active and vibrant religions, including Christianity and Buddhism, strife between religions is rare in Korea compared to other countries. Because Confucianism has no deity, its philosophy withstood the onslaught of modern liberalism better than other deity-based philosophy. Instead, religions in Korea co-opted significant portions of Confucian philosophy. For example, Korean Christianity puts a heavy emphasis on God the "father," which coincides neatly with Confucian reverence for parents. Because every Korean implicitly acts based on Confucian rules, religion is not a big part of public life, and expression of religion is not usually seen as a threat to non-believers. (Many Korean pop stars profusely thank God at every opportunity, and practically no one in Korea pays any mind.)
Thank you for bearing with this long, long post. The next and simpulan part of the series will discuss the Korean's own opinions of how Confucianism in Korea could be better applied, and what America can learn from Confucian social order.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com. Sumber http://askakorean.blogspot.com