We
are ushering in a New Year. Last year was the year of the Tiger this
year is the year of the Rabbit.
The Catholic Times in its Reconciliation
North/South Issue Column a Research Fellow with the Northeast Asian
Peace Institute gives us his thoughts on the 'Chengyu' a traditional
idiomatic expression which is usually made up of four Chinese
characters. He entitled the column (狡兎三窟) "A cunning rabbit digs three burrows."
When he thinks of rabbits, the Aesop's fable about the race with a tortoise comes to mind. This
is a story where the rabbit races with the tortoise, far ahead and
lost the race to the sincere tortoise because he was careless and fell
asleep. The lesson gained is that sincerity is often more important than individual ability.
He remembers reading in a book and was surprised by the reaction of
the children in the North that was different from here in the South. In
the past, a cultural delegation from the Soviet Union visited the
north, and it seemed that the schedule included time to inspect an
elementary school. At
the request of the principal of the school, the delegation leader, gave a short speech in front of the students, told them the story
of the 'Rabbit and the Turtle'.
He finished saying: "Now, children, don’t be lazy like rabbits, but
work hard like turtles." Suddenly, a student raised his hand and asked: "Why didn't Comrade Tortoise wake up Comrade Rabbit from his sleep and go with him? It goes against the cooperative spirit of socialism that we were taught."
We would see it as an individual problem, but the North Korean children saw it as as communal problem. He also had a different response than the North Korean child.
The columnist explains to the readers the four-character idiom (狡兎三窟). "A cunning rabbit digs three burrows." It may mean creating multiple alternatives when working. He used the expression cunning, but in fact, it would be correct to say a wise rabbit.
About our country in 2023, experts in each field are generally expressing negative views. In particular, the outlook for the economy and foreign affairs and security is bleak.
There
are also concerns that the interests and conflicts of neighboring countries may
directly collide in the geopolitical space of the Korean Peninsula. In this case, it seems necessary to prepare two or three wise alternatives like rabbits in the above expression.
