Former Chinese president Hu Jintao said, “The Chinese culture belongs not only to the Chinese butal so to the whole world.” This quotation is much felt by Koreans, who share a culture influenced by the philosophy and civilization of ancient China. For Korea University (KU) students who wish to learn about and from Chinese sages such as Confucius and Mencius, the Dongsuhoe, an academy of oriental studies, provides opportunities to discover virtues from the past.


Jeon Jin Yeong ('13, Korean Language and Literature), the current president of the club, was interviewed in a dim room into which a hazy light from the window flowed, illuminating the bookshelves that covered the entire right side of the wall. A trace of rustic papers and lumber lingered in the air. 
 
According t o Jeon , Dongsuhoe first started as a study group in 1972. A few students from Classical Chinese, including Yoon Jae Min, who is currently a Classical Chinese professor, got together to exchange ideas regarding interpreting the Chinese language found in Korean literature. This small group gradually grew, and now it consists of over 20 students whose majors range from sociology to Korean history. Although the club is more than 40 years old, its legacy continues through students past and present, the books they have donated and their occasional meetings.
 
   
▲ The original text of Bugunok, an encyclopedia written in Joseon Dynasty, thatwas studied by the members of Dongsuhoe. Photographed by Lee Ji Hoon.
 
The group's sessions are mostly held in room 523 of the Student Union Building; their activities are
seminars and membership training. For the seminars, the members decide on which classic works to analyze and get together once a week to share their opinions about what they have read. "Since last semester, we've been reading an original text written by Mencius," said Jeon. "But to finish it, I'm guessing it'll take another several months."
 
One interesting fact is that Dongsuhoe has no assistant professrs to guide members in translating ancient Chinese. Their interpetations are done completely by themselves; Jeon claims this is what makes the club so attractive. "Without the help of professors, the seminars progress at a much slower pace," Jeon said. "But we have been able to break free from being passive receptors of knowledge and have learned to independently reach out for more information to satiate our curiosity." For example, when students cannot understand a specific excerpt, a few will voluntarily form a study group to research background references, allowing them to gain a wide spectrum of knowledge from history to ideology.
 
Jeon summarized a lecture that was held last week. The students discussed the three-year mourning period, which was considered an obligatory filial duty in the past in Korea and China. After a few minutes of debating whether the practice should be considered an invaluable historical legacy, as Mencius suggested, or be treated as an impractical display of a personal matter, the members delved deeper into the text and analyzed the etymology of the ancient Chinese, comparing its use with the modern language.
 
   
▲ The photo of Jeon Jin Yeong, the current president of the club, reading ZizhiTongzian written by Sima Guang. Photographed by Lee Ji Hoon.
 
Not only seminars, but Dongsuhoe’s membership training has its own traits. While other clubs head to resort pensions in order to enjoy a break from campus life, Dongsuhoe takes trips that will expand their insights into the root of one's social culture. The members travel to view relics all across Korea. Recently, the members visited Manboksa, a temple built between the end of the Silla dynasty and the beginning of Goryeo, which was the literary background for the Geumo Myth written by Kim Si-sub that the club had previously studied. "Seeing these remnants of the past in the flesh is always exciting," said Jeon. "But when we witness the relics that we have learned from the text so carelessly forsaken, we also feel the need to delve further into our study so that we rediscover the true value of these vestiges of the past.
 
 Dongsuhoe's quest for knowledge from the past is indeed admirable. Asked what members' plans are for their future careers, Jeon said, "The members who remain in the club all have fanatic affection for the study." Thus it should come as no surprise that amidst the capitalist society where profit-making jobs are valued the most, many plan to continue their studies in graduate school to enliven the flame of enlightenment, and the awaken appreciation of knowledge itself.
 
   
▲ The photo of Sim Gyu Sik ('10, Korean Language and Literature), one of thementors of the club, studying works written by Mencius. Photographed by Lee Ji Hoon.
 
 
 
Mencius said, "If the search for riches is sure to be successful, though I should become a groom with whip in hand to get them, I'll do so. As the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love." Dongsuhoe members, the dreamers in bourgeois modern civilization, seem to have chosen the latter path.
저작권자 © The Granite Tower 무단전재 및 재배포 금지