Korean Geomancy (풍수지리)

Some years ago some of the Catholics seeing the position of my bed which was facing North-South recommended that I change the position. Having the head of the bed facing north was not propitious. I have forgotten what they answered when I asked, "Why?"

There are many off handed remarks that one hears over the years and some of them register and some do not, but the interest that many of the Koreans have with grave sites is something which one hears too often not to take serious.

In Korea there is “Wind Rain Earth Theory” (풍수지리) which in English is often translated as Geomancy. It was and probably is a way of divining but for many it is a way of selecting a site for a house or a place for a grave. If the sites are not pick appropriately then the fear of misfortune for the family is not an uncommon concern of many.

In our times when ecology is a very important part of our interest the Koreans' interest in the relationship that the natural surrounding have on us was always an important part of there thinking. "If you have a mountain range facing you with gentle rolling hills than those who live in that ambient will be gentle and meek those who live in the proximity of steep and pointed mountains will be quick of temperament and lack smoothness." There are areas of this thinking that for me are superstitious and for a Christian of no help for a follower of Christ. Much of the thinking that follows from the relationship that we have with nature is healthy but the fear that it sometimes begets, and has no basis in reason, is not healthy for either the body or spirit. However, how much of the tradition is based on just good common sense is an area that might be interesting to study.

The Korean Comfort Women Issue

Received this letter in the mail this morning telling me about an article in the Korean Times.

“In the Sunday edition of the Korean Times for May 24, i.e. the Saturday-Sunday combined edition, there was an interesting article on comfort woman and their history of fighting exploitation. This mirrors very much an article in “Mission in the South”…. Check it out here

The Maryknoll Sisters were always active in the plight of these women. The reference is “Sharing House”, their abode since the 1990’s is what I reported in the book."

The following is a paraphrasing of the article from the Book, Mission in the South by Rev. Robert Martin Lilly,M.M. on the comfort woman.

Solidarity with former Comfort Women

The term “comfort woman” is a euphemism for the Asian women who were forced to become sex slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army. Battlefront brothels were common in China and Southeast Asia in the 1930s and throughout the Pacific War areas in the 1940s. In April 1988, the issue surfaced in Korea when a Protestant group called Church women United denounced the current “sex tourism” phenomena saying it was a modern equivalent of “comfort women”.

In 1990 an elderly Filipina went public with her story. In 1991 women from Korea came forth when as young girls they were forced to serve as sexual objects for Japanese soldiers. Since then the movement for support has gained momentum. Maryknoll Sisters were instrumental in helping the Association of Major Superiors realize that sisters as churchwomen would do well to support the “comfort women”- which they did.

.A number of organizations Christian and non-Christian are involved in the overall effort. Programs have included an international gathering in Seoul in 1999 and the movie, “Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women”, produced by a Korean –American.

The ninety-minute film traced the abuse and maltreatment the women suffered upon their return home, surprisingly not from Japanese perpetrators but at the hands of their own family, local community and government. It also points up the nonchalance for the the issue on the part of scholars. It was shown in Korea and on PBS in the US in May 2000. This was the first time anything dealing with it appeared on nationwide TV.

In the fall of 2000 there was an international tribunal in Tokyo on the issue.As always the key point was the demand for an official apology from the Japanese Government with financial recompense.