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 In the previous lessons you learned that diversity of Asian
countries was not a barrier towards understanding each
other‘s culture. It is about having respect on others‘ views
while taking a clear stand on your own perspective. Your
goal in this section is to take a closer look at some aspects of
the topic on Korean beliefs and conducting researches. The
revelations you will unveil will strengthen the concepts you
have learned from the previous lessons. You may now
continue.

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WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP
OF TODAY‘S FILIPINO YOUTH WITH THEIR
PARENTS?

― Hi! I‘m Luigi Ray. I‘m 11 years old. I

can say that I‘m very close to my
parents because I can tell my secrets to
them. I also consider them as my best
friends.

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THE AUTHOR Professor KIM Tae-Gil (1920-2009)
was a respected philosopher often
addressed as the 'Teacher of Our Time'
who had contributed to making the
society more mature and civilized. He
wrote more than 100 essays full of
high-minded spirit and also popular.
He served as the President of the
Korean National Academy of Sciences
and as Chairperson of the Korea
Broadcasting System (KBS).

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UNLOCK THE MEANING OF SOME OF THE WORDS USED IN THE
ESSAY. CHOOSE THE MEANING OF THE UNDERLINE WORDS
FROM THE CHOICES BELOW.
1. He does not agree with the notion that failure to
A. harsh and extreme produce male children is contrary to filial duty.
B. loving and devoted loving and devoted
C. elimination 2. Few students call for the total abrogation of some
D. doubtful and uncertain Korean rituals.
E. compliance and agreement elimination
F. boundary 3. They also want to abandon the custom that
G. standard prescribed circumspection in penance for sin (the
H. partial and unfair death of parents was attributed to the sins of the sons
I. power and control and daughters)
J. cautiousness cautiousness
4. Korean students have a preconceived notion that
Confucian moral philosophy is absolute.
partial and unfair
5. They believe that even if they live on the verge of
starvation, they will become just and honest men.
boundary

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A. harsh and extreme
B. loving and devoted
C. elimination
D. doubtful and uncertain
E. compliance and agreement
F. boundary
G. standard
H. partial and unfair
I. power and control
J. cautiousness
6. Korean student agrees in principle that he should
uphold filial duties.
standard
7. It has undergone drastic changes.
harsh and extreme
8. Another characteristic peculiar to Korea‘s traditional
moral values conditioned by Confucianism and
Buddhism is the predominance of spiritual values over
material or physical values.
power and control
9. They are very skeptical about formal democracy or
sham democracy which brings only hardship.
doubtful and uncertain
10. They believe man‘s inherent noble spirit is in
conformity to rule by virtue and democracy.
compliance and agreement
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 It is well known that Korea’s traditional morality has been
strongly influenced by Confucianism centered on the family. On
the other hand, today’s Korean student has the preconceived
notion that Confucian moral philosophy is “obsolete” and that
the family trend should also be drastically revised. However, our
survey on the student’s moral view unexpectedly shows that he is
conservative and that he is actually not so far away from the
traditional moral views of Confucianism as he thinks he is. The
Korean student agrees in principle that he should uphold filial
duties and he does not dare deny parental merits or his duty to
support his parents in their old age.

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 It is difficult, based on a man’s behavior, to
conclude that he takes more care of his parents than
he does of his wife and children. Thirty years ago the
young Korean man not only thought he did but he
actually did care of his parents more than for his wife
and children. But the actual behavior of today’s young
man shows he is not so strictly bound by his moral
obligations even though he continues to think he is.

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 The Korean college student agrees in principle with filial duty
on the one hand but, on the other hand, he is not blindly devoted to
his parents as Confucian morals would dictate. Instead, he believes
that impractical elements should be eliminated from the traditional
notion of “filial duty.” For instance, the average Korean does not
think it right to sacrifice the freedom of his children for the sake
filial duty, or to abandon an opportunity to study abroad in order
to be with and care for his parents, and he does not agree with the
unscientific notion that failure to produce male children is contrary
to filial duty. In matter of marriage, today’s Korean youth
trespasses the final decision concerning marriage should be made
by the couple involved.

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 The feudal society under Confucianism prescribed human relations in the
order of superiors and inferiors, and under such a system of social hierarchy
woman could not but be socially inferior to man. This idea of man’s
predominance over woman was clearly reflected in family’s morality; the
status of wife and daughters was inferior to that of father and sons. However,
as is well known, discrimination between sexes has, in principle, Benn nullified
in modern society and woman’s social status is being greatly enhanced. Korean
college students welcome this development and most of them want equality of
the sexes to be promoted even more. For instance, many believe that linguistic
differences when a man addresses his wife and when his wife addresses him
must be done away with, and that chastity in a man is demanded just as much
as honor is in a woman. However, it is found that few college students have
completely abandoned the traditional idea that there are professional barriers
between man and woman. . . .

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 Funeral and memorial services for one’s parents and
grandparents are extensions of the Confucian concept of filial
duty. However, few students call for the total abrogation of
such ritual but many favors shortening the traditional “three-
year period of mourning” and abandoning the custom that
prescribed “circumspection in penance for sins” (the death of
parents was traditionally attributed to the sins of sons and
daughters). This is interpreted as meaning that students
reflect common sense that ritual should always befit the
social, and particularly, the economic realities of society.

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 Another characteristic peculiar to Korea’s traditional moral values
conditioned by Confucianism and Buddhism is the predominance of
spiritual values over material or physical values, and Korean college
students seem to have inherited this intact. Most of them believe that it is
better to become a man of character, replete with knowledge and the
virtues than to become a technician skilled in one particular field only,
and that amassing a fortune or succeeding in life justifies the means.
They also believe that, Ven if they live on the verge of starvation, they
will become just and honest men that at the same time they treasure such
spiritual values as the arts and friendship more than mere material
values. Their ideal is the person who lives in poverty but who has
knowledge and integrity and not the man who enjoys wealth and power
but lacks knowledge and character.

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 It is probably in sex that Korean students have managed to
free themselves completely from the traditional moral code.
As the old saying “Boys and girls cannot sit in the same place
after they turn seven” indicates, Confucianists were most
strict concerning sexual morals. Such a conservative opinion
has been maintained according to the letter but it has
undergone such drastic changes that in actual practice few
take feudalistic sexual morals without question. Some thirty
years ago it was commonly considered “bad” for a student to
befriend a girl, but few retain such an attitude nowadays.

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 Although the opinions on sexual morals are said to
be quite freed from tradition they are still
conservative in comparison to their Western
counterparts. For instance, Korean students do not
think it is good to have premarital sexual relations.
We can draw the conclusion that today’s Korean
college student does not desire to adhere blindly to
the Confucian tradition concerning morals nor does
he want to abandon tradition entirely.

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 As for political matters, Korean students appear to have
inherited, at least partially, the Confucian ideal of rule by
virtue and favor, a form of democracy based on the
teachings of Mencius. Of course, no student believes that it
will ever be possible to realize the “rule by virtue” envisaged
by Confucius and Mencius, and few find the ancient
democracy of Mencius satisfactory in comparison to modern
democracy. It is thought that the reason why students still
pay respect to the political ideas of Confucius and Mencius
is, more often than not, that they believe that man’s inherent
noble spirit is in conformity to rule by virtue and democracy.

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 Due to the fact that Confucian political ideology is
founded upon feudal society, it is something different
from modern democratic ideals, for it allowed good-
intentioned dictatorship. Korean students appear
very critical on this point; they are very skeptical
about formal democracy which brings only hardship.
If there is any way that guarantees both stability in
material life and spiritual freedom, it will be
welcomed.

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 The sensitivity to social justice among Korean
college students of today appears keener than that of
the old Confucianism; this may be considered to
indicate that their desire for democracy has become
so much more urgent. Such a keen sensitivity with
respect to social justice makes them consider it a
matter of course that they actively criticize the
government and this at the same time gives rise to
positive social participation.

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 The traditional virtue of the Orient which treasures spiritual
values far more than material or physical values is still held by
a great number of Korean students. However, the tendency to
slight material values is gradually fading among the younger
generation while they tend to stress the importance of material
living. It is thought that the younger generation in Korea today
thinks it better to realize spiritual values on the foundation of
more stable material life.
Knowing the importance of the material life, Korean college
students long for rational consumption and because of this they
reject empty formalities and extravagance . . . .

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 Because Korean students still live under the strong
influences of traditional moral views concerning the family
they are not yet fully prepared to embrace Western
individualism in its entirety; they reject individualism at
least in their conscious view of values and morals. But it is
difficult to deny from their actual behavior, that
individualism gradually holds sway over them. In other
words, there is confusion between the ideas that are still
bound to family traditions and behavior that inclines ever
more to the new current of individualism.

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 It may be common to all peoples of all ages that
there is a gap between what one thinks and what he
actually does, but such a gap appears to be
unusually wide in the Korea of today. It is, indeed,
one of the most important tasks people in a new age
face to endeavor to narrow the gap between ideas
and actions; in some cases the idea must be changed
and in others the action must be geared in another
direction. Herein lies the urgent need to establish a
new morality with which our actions can be in
accord.

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Activity 13: READING COMPREHENSION CHECK
1. What is the essay about?
This essay shows the fast-transition of Korean students in terms of
their moral. They have believed the Confucian Philosophy where they
show more of their concern to primary family, their parents than to
their own present family, wife and children. But now, the Korean
students fully understand their filial duty or their responsibility as a
son or a daughter. But on the other hand, they are not as like as the
old-fashioned Koreans where are fully devoted by their filial duty.
Present Korean students are not being blind anymore by the
Philosophy of Confucius. They cherish their children and think of
their great responsibilities as the head of the family.

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2. What are the Korean college students‘ attitude
towards the following:
a. Filial Duties;
b. Belief about Sex;
c. Spiritual Values, Traditional Values, Physical
Values, Material Values; and
d. Democracy?

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 What moral Filipino
values shape your
identity?

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Why is it entitled the
―Changing Morals of
Korean Students?

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 "Today’s Korean youth trespasses the
final decision concerning marriage should
be made by the couple involved" and
"today’s Korean college student does not
desire to adhere dimly to the Confucian
tradition concerning morals nor does he
want to abandon tradition entirely."

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Answer the following questions:
1. Compare Korean beliefs with those of the Filipinos. (4 pts.)
2. What is the author‘s purpose in writing the essay? (3 pts.)
3. How do you think these beliefs shape identity? (3 pts.)
Did you get a good score? If you got…
8-10 Very Good
You have shared much knowledge on the topic asked.
5-7 Good
You have shared adequate learning on the topic asked.
0-4 Fair
Read more to sustain ideas about the topic discussed.
 

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