Korean Culture And Traditions

Ruth Benedict was quoted saying, “Culture is not a biologically transmitted complex.” In many ways, through studying a foreign country or culture, this statement is very true. In most cases, cultures do pass from generation to generation. But this has nothing to due with biology. Obviously, cultures can be passed through music, art, folklore stories, and games. But some of the best ways that culture and tradition are passed on are often overlooked. For example, South Korea is one country which over the years, through wars and independence, has retained a strong sense of culture. The country has easily maintained its culture through language, religion, and holidays.

Language is one of the most unsurpassed ways to continue and spread culture. In most foreign language classes even in the U.S. culture is one topic that is taught, thus to learn a language one must learn its culture. But does the relationship between language and culture go the other way, that to learn a culture one must learn the language? Yes, the answer is absolutely yes. There is a reason that many people when use the phrase “lost in translation,” when they are having trying to interpret for a foreigner. This is because even if, for example, a joke is translated if one doesn’t understand the culture behind the joke, that person may not understand the humor in it. Even certain old phrases, like “break a leg,” are not always understood. In South Korea their language has withstood many changes.

As South Korea, or the Republic of Korea, has only within the last hundred years obtained independence, the Korean language is shared between both North and South Korea. The language originates from part of the Altaic language family. Like English there are various apparent dialects, but these diverse dialects are mostly understood throughout the Korean speakers. Although the region this language is spoken in is small and partially remote, it is still spoken by over sixty-five million people. And forty-five of those alone, are from South Korea.1 Many language experts consider the language to be very well planned and one of the best in history. The formal name of the Korean Language is Hangul, which is used as the name of the written language. The alphabet was created by King Sejong in 1446. The alphabet is fairly simple and exceptionally easy to learn. A direct result of this maybe that Korea has one of the higest literacy rates in the world. Without a doubt, part of Korean culture is the huge focus on education for children. This is exemplified by the popular chuldrens story of how Hangul was invented.5

“A long, long time ago a man was sitting in his room thinking to create a new language for the newly independent country. He wanted something simple in opposition to the complexity of Hanja and the three different alphabets of Japan. He thought and thought but couldn't come up with anything; hoping to find some consolation from the night sky, he motioned to open the window, but he heard that there was a lot of rain falling outside. He looked at the window. In this window he saw some simple, yet powerful shapes to unify the broken Korea and get rid of illiteracy. And looking at this window, King Se-Jong invented Korean.”5

Today in Korea, technology invention and manufacturing has really taken hold. In order to communicate internationally, many in Korea learn English.1

While this modernization is happening very fast, Korea maintains its traditional values and the old way of life. Although there are highly populated cities, there are also rural area's which are still relatively poor, and still follow traditional ways of life. In cities, millions of people live in apartments, but in the rural area's you will find traditional housing. Also, even though the cities are headed toward very modern times, people still hold onto some traditional values. One thing that guarantee's this is the language. The language has traditional values of social status and respect built directly into it. Words change depending on who you are speaking with. For example, when speaking to other people who are older a person would need to add yo on to the end of the Korean word in order to make the word more formal.1 This in turn shows the elder respect. Respect in Korean culture has an enormous importance. In this way Hangul will keep traditional values always present.

Likewise religion is also an important part of Korean culture and tradition. In Korea, the religion encompasses a number of different traditions. Traditional shamanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Confucianism all play a role in Korea's religious tradition. The modern separation of Korea into North and South Korea has also shaped religious practice. Over forty percent of Koreans today associate themselves with religion. This affiliation is divided amongst the aforementioned religions. The cultural impact of these religions is vast.1

Firstly there is Shamanism, which in itself is traditional. The term Shamanism comes from the practice of using a Shaman as their guide in their religion. Shamans, who are mostly women, are usually recruited by people needing help in the spiritual world.) A kut is a service which the female shaman, or mudang holds in order help their clients in such ways as curing diseases, exorcisms, and praise the gods of the area. These rituals are also used to help the spirits of deceased individuals find their way to heaven. Shamanism also has elements which are sometimes animistic beliefs, which can be seen as being culturally connected to rural and fishing communities. In the more modern world Shamns have found their place by assisting the rural villagers to adjust to stressful moves to more urban areas. Although shamanism continues, the governmental discouragement of what they call a superstition has minimized the role it has played in Korean Life. But still, even with nationalism spreading, the songs, dances, and incantations used during the kut, have become an important part of Korean culture. These vital aspects of the kut have been deemed necessary to pass down to future generations.2

Korean Buddhism likewise is one of the older religions in South Korea, and as it was not seen to conflict with the rites of nature worship, it was allowed to blend in with Shamanism. Thus, the mountains that were believed to be the residence of spirits in pre-Buddhist times became the sites of Buddhist temples. It comes from the Mahayana branch of Buddhism, which is similar to that of China and Japan. Yet, Korean Buddhism is distinguished from the other forms of Buddhism because it attempts to resolve what could be classified as inconsistencies in the Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. This was found to be true by earlier Korean Monks. To solve