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The Theater of Seoul
| Article
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20381 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1992 |
2,073 Words |
| Author
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John Elsom
John Elsom is a contributing editor to The World & I. |
Seoul is a bustling modern city suffering from Western traffic inflation--too many cars chasing too few pedestrians. At rush hour, the motorways are so crowded that you wonder how anybody gets to work at all. In among the skyscrapers, the relics of old Korea (a Buddhist temple, an ornate palace) are preserved like family photographs yellowing on a piano that now nobody plays. In the markets street traders sell music cassettes from vans, playing selections from Andrew Lloyd-Webber late into the night.
The city claims over fifty universities and technical colleges to its credit. Korean familiies traditionally respect learning and the poorest farmers try to send as many of their children as possible to study in Seoul. The parks are thronged with earnest students clutching their black plastic files and unusually there are as many girls among them as boys. "The first women's university in Korea was established as long ago as 1910, developing from a school brought into being by U.S. Methodist missionaries in 1886. There was much opposition at the time, but Emperor Kojong gave it his blessing and its name, Ewha, meaning "pear blossom".
Ewha University now has nearly seventy thusand students, but the education of women is only one area where the values of the old and new Korea have come into conflict. Once ancient legend, dating back to the early Yi dynasty, tells of how Sim Chung, the dutiful daughter of blind beggar Sim Hakkyu, sold herself for 300 sok of rice (1,500 bushels), as a gift to the monks who could restore her father's sight. A sea captain bought her as a human sacrifice to placate the stormy seas of Indangsu; but the Lord of Heavens was so impressed by this act of piety that he wrapped her up in a lotus leaf and stopped her from drowning. She was rescued and married the king, who held a banquet for all the beggars in the kingdom, where she found her father again sight restored, and they all lived happily ever after.
Several Versions
The tale of Sim Chung is so popular that in two visits to Korea I have seen several versions of it ranging from a traditional pansori performance in the open air, with two musicians and a singing storyteller, to a carnival production and a Modernist deconstruction. As a parable, it is still controversial. In its original form, it celebrated filial piety an integral part of the Confucian ethic but this particular moral has to say the least been under considerable strain in Korea in recent years. During four months in 1991, the police reported no less than 3,840 demonstrations,
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