[Book Sip] The Korean People and Youth as Seen by Teacher Lee O-ryeong on the 2nd Anniversary of His Passing

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from books.

On the 26th of last month, marking the second anniversary of the passing of Lee O-ryeong, 'Korea's representative intellectual,' books containing his thoughts and wisdom were published one after another.

'Lectures by Lee O-ryeong,' published by Yeollimwon, is a collection of ten lectures he gave to young people during his lifetime. It includes the 2000 Seoul National University entrance ceremony congratulatory address, the 2010 Korea Advancement Forum monthly discussion, and the 2021 Seoul National University autumn degree conferment ceremony congratulatory address. Lee emphasized that in a new era where the power of culture, language, and art dominates the world, young people must face their inner pain and loneliness and overcome them to turn them into the driving force of creation. He also advised that the paradigms of industrial technology, mechanical technology, and financial capitalism must be transformed into life systems.

'My Face Reflected in Lake Baikal,' published by Param Book, is the Japanese volume of Lee's posthumous series 'Stories of Koreans.' The 'Stories of Koreans' series consists of ten volumes: the four-part 'I Ask You,' the three-part 'Heaven, Earth, and Man,' and the three-part 'Food, Clothing, and Shelter.' 'My Face Reflected in Lake Baikal' is the concluding volume of the 'Heaven, Earth, and Man' trilogy. In the book, Lee explores both science and humanities to unravel the secrets behind the appearance of Koreans.

Lake Baikal is one of the major stopover points of ancient humans, ancestors within modern Northeast Asia. It is where some modern humans, who embarked on a bold journey from Africa into the unknown outside world long ago, stayed for a long time. Lee says Koreans tend to have small eyes, blunt extremities such as noses and ears, less body hair, and large heads, and that the harsh cold of Lake Baikal sculpted the faces of today's Koreans. However, he emphasizes that genes alone do not determine a person's facial features; culture is a more decisive factor.

[Book Sip] The Korean People and Youth as Seen by Teacher Lee O-ryeong on the 2nd Anniversary of His Passing

The Korean word 'nagne' (traveler) is beautiful. Its etymology is even more beautiful. It means 'a person who has gone out,' someone who crosses the threshold from a room to the yard, then from the yard through the gate latch to outside the door. A nagne is a person who gradually steps out from the familiar into the unfamiliar world. (Omitted) Cultural anthropologists say, "Humans walk more than any other animal." Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, rarely walk more than 3 km a day. However, hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times walked over 30 km daily. Although monkeys' hands can grasp objects like humans, their feet are structured differently. Monkeys can grasp branches with their legs. Contrary to common sense, the difference between monkeys and humans lies more in walking ability than grasping ability. In short, only the monkey who became a 'nagne' by walking became human. (pp. 27-28)

Where did these characteristics of Koreans begin? The great journey of our faces started at Lake Baikal in Siberia. (Omitted) The over 10,000 km journey of our ancestors that began at this lake is closely related to the shape of our faces today. Only the Neo-Mongoloids endured the minus 70 degrees Celsius cold at Lake Baikal. The parts of the face most exposed to the cold are the nose and eyes. To survive the harsh cold, noses became lower, and eyelids thicker. Cheekbones protruded. Thick eyelids without double folds, protruding cheekbones, and flat noses are the faces left by our ancestors who survived unprecedented cold and gradually moved southward, eventually reaching the Korean Peninsula. These are sculptures, artworks, and symbols created by the severe cold of Lake Baikal. (p. 59)

A name belongs to me but exists for others to call. It is for others. The face is the same. I cannot see my own face. Humans establish self-identity by borrowing a third person's gaze through a mirror. But whose face is it? It is mine. It is mine but I cannot see it. The owner is me, but it is not mine; it belongs to others. That is the face. (Omitted) Just as a name is not something I attach for myself but for others to call me, the face is not for me to see but for others to see me. Thus, both names and faces belong to oneself but exist for others. To know 'Who am I,' one must always look at oneself as reflected by others. (pp. 73-74)

Floating and flying are clearly different. The difference is huge. Clouds or balloons are not flying but just floating in the air. Bubbles and duckweed float on water. Floating things, whether in air or water, move only by external forces. They are pushed by the wind or waves. They do not move by their own will or desire. But eagles fly toward the sun even in storms, and carp swim upstream against rapids and waterfalls to reach the Dragon Gate. (Omitted) Only dead fish float on water and drift with the waves. Yet, for some reason, we often say 'to rise' or 'to float.' Actors or politicians gaining popularity are said to be 'rising.' It's not just 'floating' but also 'being promoted' or even 'asking to be promoted.' But if they only rise and cannot fly, they eventually disappear like bubbles or fall like balloons. (Omitted) Korea and Koreans have certainly risen in the global space. The economy rose with the Miracle on the Han River, the internet rose with IT, and the Korean Wave rose with dramas and movies. But everything seems to have only risen and not yet flown. (pp. 24-25, 2008 Seoul National University entrance ceremony congratulatory address)

We can expand Maslow's five-stage hierarchy of needs to human civilization history and apply it directly. The 21st-century global civilization, digital media, and network society are evolving toward the era of life in late knowledge information?I named it Digilog. In other words, if the agricultural society corresponds to physiological needs and the industrial society to safety needs, the information society corresponds to the need for belonging and evaluation through communication with others. Therefore, agricultural, industrial, and information societies performed labor and work to satisfy these desires. But in the coming era of life, people will engage in joyful, self-purposeful creative activities to fulfill self-actualization needs. In the past, self-actualization was practiced by a few artists like poets, painters, musicians, philosophers, pure scientists, and saints. Now, the entire public pursues it. (Omitted) Open-source programs, like those by Linus Torvalds, whose source code is publicly available for free use, are increasing. It is not because of money but for self-actualization that the era of Web 2.0, characterized by openness, sharing, and participation, is arriving. (Omitted) People in developed countries consume 400 times the energy needed for survival. Productivity has increased more than 1,000 times compared to the 19th century. But when asked if they are happier, no one says yes. What is urgently needed now is for cyberspace like Web 2.0's internet to be realized offline, on the ground, and in schools to provide that answer. (pp. 61-63, 2007 Ewha Womans University Ewha Academy Foundation commemorative lecture)

Those who know Japanese may have already read it. There is a book called 'Clouds Above the Hill (Sakanoue no Kumo),' a famous novel by Ryotaro Shiba depicting Japanese intellectuals of the Meiji era. The phrase 'clouds above the hill' tells the story of Japanese people in the Meiji era standing at the threshold of developed countries, looking at a grand dream, and climbing that hill diligently. If we compare Japan to a hill, the developed countries are the clouds rising above that hill. (Omitted) Recently, Japanese people have faced various difficulties and realized that although they have been striving toward that hill and trying to catch the clouds, it is impossible. Clouds are inherently fleeting. (Omitted) The very name of the Advancement Forum where we gather now contains the hope that we will join the ranks of the G7 and G8 developed countries. We are hanging on the edge of developed countries. We believe we will be happy if we enter. We have been running toward that 'clouds above the hill.' But two years ago, we experienced the event where this 'cloud' vanished again in vain. We witnessed the crisis in the financial capitalism symbolized by Lehman Brothers, especially the financial system of the United States, which was the prior model of advancement. (pp. 137-138, 2010 Korea Advancement Forum 42nd monthly discussion)

Cockroaches never excrete waste. Using microorganisms to recycle everything inside their bodies, cockroaches have lived for 300 million years and are much older than us. With know-how accumulated over 300 million years, they never excrete waste, but humans have produced more waste than production under industrial capitalism. To make 1 liter of juice, 1 ton of water and waste are discarded. However, all animals never waste resources. Only humans discard more than they consume. (pp. 333-334, 2010 Seoul National University computer engineering special lecture)

Lectures by Lee O-ryeong | Written by Lee O-ryeong | Yeollimwon | 376 pages | 18,000 KRW