Taking care of the nation

By Bernard Rowan

One marker of Korea as an advanced nation is her appreciation for and cultivation of national treasures and important intangible cultural properties.

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) of the Korean national government sanctions them. It manages over 300 national treasures, 100 important intangible cultural properties, several hundred "living human treasures," and other important cultural heritages. Heritages stand for different parts of the country or the nation as a whole.

Think about the "glue" of Korean civilization. What makes Korea "Korean"? Don't forget your cultural heritages. It's important to identify, study, and educate citizens of the nation and the world about them.

Intertwined with race, language, land, history, food, and customs are the gems of human effort, testifying to what Hannah Arendt would call homo faber or the quality of people as makers.

Koreans have produced many "wonders of the world." Korea continues to emerge on the world stage. "Hallyu" matures. Korean hallyu calls us to explore heritages. Taking care of the nation means understanding them. It also means sharing them with global peoples.

The United Nations records cultural monuments for all to know. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) identified 15 Korean heritages for the Intangible Cultural Heritage List and ten World Heritage Sites in South Korea.

Do you want to learn about Korea? There is no better cultural primer. Koreans and friends of Korea should learn about pansori (the Korean art of sung storytelling) or sing "Arirang", the Korean folk classic. We can try gimjang (the art of making kimchi) or visit Jongmyo Shrine. There's nothing like Korean royal music, the munmyojeryeak.

We can travel to Haeinsa Temple to view the Tripitaka Koreana or to view Seokguram's awe-inspiring image of Buddha. There is nearby Bulguksa Temple or the traditional villages of Hahoe and Yangdong.

Not just married couples but everyone should see the Island of Jeju and its volcanic geography. We're just scratching the surface of Korea's cultural inheritance.

How many of the treasures on UNESCO and CHA's lists do you know? Koreans should support learning about these treasures and monuments to Korean people and society.

Nonetheless, the list is not static and will continue to grow, as researchers and citizens actively continue the important task of memorializing artifacts and places that say what it means to be Korean.

The Korean government and people also invest significantly, nearly 800 billion won, to preserve their heritages. This great sum signals the vitality of Korean culture.

North Korea also has her cultural treasures. Still a hermit nation, Kim Jong-un hides her treasures from the world. Totalitarian leadership stifles North Korean culture's flowering and communication.

There is much room to develop inter-Korean and international efforts that shine light on North Korean-South Korean cultural heritages and publicize those found geographically in the North. One day, I hope we will see more chances to do so.

A few years ago, China tried to take the song Arirang as its national cultural heritage, which caused a stir. That's not surprising, since there's no sign the song emerged from Manchurian or Han peoples.

However, it shouldn't surprise us at all, since many Korean people live in Jilin, Liaoning Province, and in other parts of China. They sing the song. There are multiple versions. The song is Korean, but different sub-groups of Korean people have used and adapted it.

Do you know what's curious about some cultural properties, tangible and intangible? Beyond the margins, history isn't "us" versus "them." It describes flows of people and events.

Many "national cultural heritages" come from plural geographies, or more than one nation. This shows that internationally named heritages "belong" to no one nation alone. In instances of proven historical diffusion and use, they are international heritages.

As much as this will grate some people, I think Korean Confucianism is another important intangible cultural heritage of South Korea.

Often referred to as the most Confucian of Asian societies, this great philosophy, in its ethics and moral practices, continues to shape and influence Korean society. To be clear, I am not referring to Joseon neo-Confucianism or the Confucianism of Yi I or Yi Hwang, or any other particular version.

I am referring to that core of Confucian values: They include respect for elders, encouragement of junior-senior networks, avoidance of scapegoating, concern for harmony, and widespread use of reason to face life's problems and opportunities.

It would be a Korean version of what the Chinese scholar, Tu Weiming, has written about China's Confucian heritage.

The advanced nation takes care of itself by remembering its past, in particular its living past, and by cultivating it in the ways people live. May Korea always do so. Take care of the nation this way. Improve the world as a result.

Bernard Rowan is assistant provost for curriculum and assessment, professor of political science and faculty athletics representative at Chicago State University, where he has served for 20 years. Contact him at browan10@yahoo.com.