The Korean Writing System

            Han’gul is the most widely used script on the Korean peninsula.  In North Korea, the other script, Hanja, is not used at all, and in South Korea, Hanja is treated much the same way cursive is in English speaking countries.  This is what Hanja looks like:

            In Korea, much like in Japan and Vietnam, the first writing was in an adaptation of the Chinese system.  This system, known as a logosyllabary, includes thousands of signs, each representing a different sound and concept.  The system works very well for the Chinese family of languages, as the most widely spoken of them tend to be isolating languages, meaning they don’t have a lot of conjugation.  However, this poses a problem for languages that try to borrow the script.  Korean and Japanese both are considered agglutinating languages, meaning that there are lots of prefixes and suffixes that get attached to words in order to change them.  The Chinese script has no way to handle those grammatical endings.  

            In order to deal with this problem of grammar and to increase literacy rates, the Korean alphabet, Han’gul, was created in 1443.  The creation is credited to King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty.  He said, of the script he created, that it was simple enough for a smart man to learn in ten minutes, and an unintelligent man could learn it in a week.  The Han’gul alphabet is really easy to learn and it has been around for a short enough time that spelling conventions still match the actual sound of the words, making it that much simpler.

            In South Korea today, Han’gul is everywhere, and it doesn’t usually mix with the Hanja.  It is also easily identifiable amongst the other scripts of the region.  The letters are organized into syllable blocks that are read left to right and top to bottom. Han’gul is also the only script in the region that contains ovals within those blocks.  One thing to keep in mind when learning to read this script as a non-native Korean speaker is that the sounds available in Korean are different from others in the area, and much different from those available in English.  The differentiations between sounds are different too, and the letters of the alphabet reflect that.  Below is a chart depicting the basic consonant-vowel combinations available in Han’gul.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section.

Archetypical Anime: The Birth of a New Series

            Archetype: Definition – a pattern or model from which copies are made (Oxford English Dictionary). 

            In any storytelling medium or tradition, there are character archetypes.  Sometimes, they overlap from one tradition to the next.  Sometimes they diverge greatly.  Cross culturally, they sometimes are misconstrued.  In this series, I will be focusing on the story telling tradition of Japanese Animation (I know, its not a very long tradition, but bear with me), and exploring the differing characters across various genres.   

            Archetypes in Anime have developed in a variety of contexts and time periods across Japanese history.  Take the “emotionless clone” archetype, for example.  The first one that we see is often credited to the imagination of Hideaki Anno and takes the form of an actual clone named Rei Ayanami.  Later versions of this archetype tend to not be true clones, but have very similar characterization to Ms. Ayanami.

 On the other end of the historical spectrum, we have a character type that started in Japan with Momotaro, the “chip-on-his-shoulder-hero”.  This one also pops up in other cultures around the world.  He’s the hero who might not have a happy ending, but also doesn’t seem to know when to die. 

            There are also cases where certain archetypes merge, or certain stereotypes are broken.  This tends to happen more frequently in long-established archetypes than newer ones, but certain blended characters show up very soon after their basis is first witnessed. 

            If you have any suggestions for archetypes, or questions, please post them in the comments.  This will be an ongoing series here on From Tingri to Tokyo, so have fun with it, and keep the discussion going.

The Mid Autumn Festival or Tet Trung Thu

            

            Happy Mid Autumn, my lovely readers.  Today is the 15^th day of the 8^th lunar month, meaning people who follow the lunar calendar are celebrating the harvest and the moon goddess Change’e.  One version of the Chinese legend goes as follows:

            Houyi, an archer of legend, saved the earth by shooting down nine of the suns (sons of the Jade Emperor) with his arrows and aim.  Following this, he gained many followers and, regrettably, became a tyrant.  In his greed, he stole an elixir of immortality from a goddess.  When his wife drank it to save the people from his never-ending tyranny and greed, she promptly began to feel light.  After grabbing a rabbit to be her companion, she floated up to the moon.  Houyi’s wife was Change’e. 

            Today, the Mid Autumn Festival is often celebrated to worship the moon, or ask Change’e for prosperity.  There are many smaller traditions included in the festival, like the consumption of mooncakes 

or lantern making.  

Other traditions are more regional.  In Fujian Province, for example, they play Bo Bing, or mooncake gambling.  Bo Bing is a game played with dice in a ceramic bowl.  There is also swinging in Chaoxian province.  

            The Mid Autumn Festival isn’t only celebrated by Chinese youth though.  As it is a lunar calendar holiday, Vietnamese celebrate it too.  For the Vietnamese, or at least, those living in New Orleans, The Mid Autumn Festival is now celebrated for children where once it was a harvest festival.  The kids have a lantern making competition with prizes available, and the adults can pay more attention to the local musicians and dancers performing on the stage.  Good food is had by all, as the night wears on.  If you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly suggest it.

*Cited sources include 

China Daily:

<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2015-09/27/content_21992312.htm>

and Kathy Kilbourn in Louisiana Folk Life:

<http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/creole_art_vietnamese_folk.html>

First Stop: Seoul Fashion

            Up and coming on the global fashion stage are experimental designs from South Korea.  I mean, Japanese fashion gets a lot of attention for the Lolita style and Chinese designers have been in the media for their highly sculptural designs, but for wearable and experimental fashion, Seoul is at the forefront. 

For example, take these designs from Seoul fashion week winter 2016.  The designer here only played with the color schemes and lengths of his pieces, using short pants, monochrome cream, and a short jacket with a high collar in one outfit, and a similar outfit in black and color, but with a long jacket with lapels, yet it still seems innovative to me.

 

This set, from up and coming designer Munsoo Kwon, showcases the long coat with short pants look as well, but also demonstrates more experimentalism in pattern and texture.  Here, he pairs a green wool jacket with pinstriped pants and what appears to be a fleecy shirt covered in the letter “Z”. 

            At my visit to K-con this year, I had the luck to run across a small fashion brand located in South Korea called The Random Hypothesis.  Their handmade shoes are both comfortable and adorable, but the size of the company drives up the price point.  In addition, each pair of shoes is unique, having and oxford or sandal style and coming in a wide variety of patterned and textured fabrics.  Narae Yoon, the CEO, seems to have an eye for interesting design, and wearable shoes.  Maybe we’ll see here at Seoul Fashion Week some day.

(Please note, this is not an image of my shoes, but mine might make an appearance later on.)

An Introduction

            Hi, こんにちわ、안녕하세요, 大家好.  May I introduce to you, Tingri to Tokyo. My name is Dani, and I will be your guide on this tour of modern youth culture in South Korea, Japan, and China, though I may talk about more than just those three on occasion as well.  Most of the topics covered should be fairly light, but questions of identity (or politics, etc.) can get pretty heavy.  In these – and in any other case as well – this humble author would love to hear the thoughts of the readers. 

            Now that the broad overview is over, I should probably introduce some of the specific bits I want to talk about. 

I)              Popular Culture – This is probably the area with the most exposure to interested parties overseas

II)            Traditional Culture – The interplay of the old and the new fascinates me, and traditions like holidays can be lots of fun too!

III)          Food – Recipes can go a long way in helping stave off culture shock, or high grocery bills.

IV)          Language – There's just... so much diversity.  I mean, East Asia is home to both the most complicated and most simplistic writing systems on the planet, and that's not even getting into the spoken language bits.

            Please post any questions in the comment section.  I will answer as many as I am able. 

PS: Today is the Comb Festival in Kyoto.  In celebration, here's a history through hairstyles.