VOL.69/2024.04

Korean Editor’s Pick

2022.12.05

If you are interested in Korean culture and stories, you will eventually find yourself wondering, “What country is Korea?” Of course, there will be many ways to answer this great question, but if I were to answer, I would choose two books instead with two words “land and people.”

The first book – or series – that I recommend is My Exploration of Cultural Heritage (Changbi). This is one of the representative humanities book series in Korea and is regarded as the pioneer that settled “exploration journals” as a genre that differs from travelogues. The series has sold more than 4 million copies since it was published 30 years ago. It currently consists of 20 volumes – 12 about Korea, 5 about Japan, and 3 about China. Among the volumes covering almost every region in Korea, I chose My Exploration of Cultural Heritage 11: Seoul (3) because it is not just the iconic city of Korea, but also the writer’s hometown. After spending his entire life searching for artifacts, ruins, and people, he came a long way to talk about his hometown. Doesn’t it make you look forward to experiencing the magnificent moment where the history of the land of Seoul is combined with the life of the storyteller? Well, I gave it such a grandiose meaning, but I was just happy that Seochon, Seoul, where the writer lives today, was where he was born and finished all the educational courses from elementary school to university. Maybe it’s another story of “land and people,” where they are connected to one another. I can’t wait for your story to carry on here in Seoul.

* K-Book Trends Vol. 53 – Go to the article about Professor Yu Hong-June

The next book I would like to recommend is On My Way to Temples (Annes’ Library). In Buddhism, you call a place where monks practice Buddhist teachings and share sermons with other followers a temple. In this book, temples are plainly expressed as “juljip,” which is a combination of “jul (temple)” and “jip (home),” to show how friendly and open the places are. Perhaps the writer wanted to describe temples as a place where people can visit freely and as a place that ages with countless footsteps of former visitors and their hearts. Temples in Korea are already famous across the world; seven temples, including “Tongdo Temple,” “Buseoksa Temple,” and “Bongjeongsa Temple” were listed as “Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea” on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2018. As you can meet temples on any mountain you climb in Korea, temples can be said to be the most frequently visited places, and are locations of culture and nature in Korea. Now, what is in your heart that brings you to the temple? The writer answers this question through three words: “pohaeng,” which refers to the act of taking a short walk in the middle of meditation, “chingyeon,” which refers to the act of seeing something/someone in person, and “hapjang,” which refers to the act of putting hands together with the palms facing each other. She also talks about 20 temples and the stories of people related to them. No matter which path you seek or walk on, I believe it will lead you to a temple one day. I hope that moment comes into your life.

Written by Park Tae-Geun (Editor-in-Chief at Wisdom House)