[How About This Book] If You Dream of a Prosperous and Peaceful Life, the Answer Lies in Classics

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] In a world of continuous hardships, people live each day by overcoming the crises that confront them. Whether they savor fleeting happiness amid a painful daily life or face temporary crises amid a happy routine, it is an undeniable fact that life is punctuated by desperate moments and harsh failures from time to time. However, only a few possess their own emotional balm at such times. Most endure by treating time as medicine.

Kim Hoonjong, SBS Radio PD and author of Morning Opened by the Analects (HanbitBiz), emphasizes that studying classics serves as a remedy. This is because today's worries were those of wise predecessors, and their insights have been recorded and passed down in the classics. Having memorized the Thousand Character Classic and Myeongshim Bogam from childhood by grinding ink and writing with a brush on traditional paper, and having learned by transcribing the original text of Mencius during university, the author dispels the prejudice that classics are obscure, old-fashioned, and disconnected from reality, and discovers situational answers within them.

First, classics can be a reason for a rich and peaceful life. Humans feel satisfaction through ‘progress,’ in other words, improvement. If their own efforts were effective in this process, the pleasure of ‘efficacy’ is a bonus. Confucius also emphasized, “Is it not a pleasure, having learned something, to try it out at due intervals?” (學而時習之不亦說乎). The author places emphasis on ‘習’ (practice). He explains, “The character ‘習’ originally combined ‘feather’ (羽) and ‘self’ (自), but later changed to ‘feather’ (羽) and ‘hundred’ (百). It was inspired by a young bird breaking out of its shell, practicing wing flaps to grow strong enough to fly on its own.” Through thousands or tens of thousands of wing flaps, the fragile wing bones transform into sturdy wings that sweep the sky?this ‘practice’ tempering enriches life.

Classics also help one realize the happiness of aging. Usually, when young and naive, one smiles even at leaves blown by the wind, but as one grows older and increasingly feels the weight of life, laughter becomes a luxury. However, the author stresses that realizing the transience of life through classics allows one to be happy even in old age. One example is the concepts of ‘no self’ (無己), ‘no merit’ (無功), and ‘no fame’ (無名) from Zhuangzi’s Free and Easy Wandering (逍遙遊). He explains, “A person who has attained the Way has no ego, no desire to achieve merit, and no vain heart chasing fame.” Especially when one reaches the state of ‘no self’ (無己), a state of immersion where the mind is wholly absorbed in one place and forgets its own existence, one realizes life’s transience and feels everyday happiness.

Classics also teach moderation. In the Analects - Shu Er (述而), it is said, “Confucius fished but did not use nets, and shot with a bow but did not shoot sleeping birds.” This illustrates adherence to moderation. One family that embodied this in life is the Choi family of Gyeongju, known as the wealthiest family. While it is said that wealth rarely lasts three generations, the Choi family maintained their fortune for as many as thirteen generations. The author finds the reason in their family motto, which reflects Confucius’s teachings.

First, look back on the past but do not hold government posts above the rank of Jinshi (a high civil service rank).

Second, do not increase your wealth beyond ten thousand seok (a traditional measure of volume).

Third, treat travelers generously.

Fourth, do not buy farmland during years of famine.

Fifth, ensure that no one starves to death within a hundred-ri radius.

Sixth, when a daughter-in-law marries into the family, have her wear plain cotton clothes for three years.

Buying farmland sold cheaply by starving people during famine was prohibited as it would exploit their suffering, and forbidding silk clothes for new daughters-in-law was to calm their excited hearts and make them aware of neighbors’ hardships. The author says, “The six family rules of the Choi family reveal a stern command to practice noblesse oblige and help neighbors in need,” adding, “It is a modest but deeply meaningful family motto that considers the weak and encourages self-reflection.”

For those needing empathy, the author recommends Mencius - Gongsun Chou (公孫丑), which states, “The bow maker fears that people will be harmed, and the armor maker fears that people will be hurt.” The author explains, “The bow maker and the shield maker have essentially the same nature. A person’s character is determined more by their position than by their innate nature.” This emphasizes the spirit of putting oneself in another’s place (易地思之). He confesses that as a non-disabled person, he may have unknowingly discriminated against or inconvenienced disabled people; as a man, he may have unknowingly discriminated against or made women uncomfortable; and as a heterosexual, he may have unknowingly discriminated against or alienated homosexuals. He stresses, “We often need to switch places. Every time we empathize with the psychological loss others feel, every time we personally experience the position others stand in, we can gradually broaden the horizon of empathy.”

Having lost his mother during the writing period, the author points out that the moments when his mother was alive are not the same as the moments he feels now, emphasizing, “One must devote all one’s strength to this very moment.” He also pledges to fully embrace the call to ‘live in the present’ through the classics.

Morning Opened by the Analects | Written by Kim Hoonjong | HanbitBiz | 336 pages | 16,800 KRW