3rd Essay Contest on Chung Hyo Ye - Korean Spirit and Culture ...

3 rd <strong>Essay</strong> <strong>Contest</strong> on Chung Hyo Ye
What I Learned About My Life from the Chung Hyo Ye
Emily Hartman

Respect, humility, devotion—these are all virtues by which I thought I was
living my life. However, when I read the collection Chung Hyo Ye, I realized that
I really hadn’t understood the full implications of these virtues before, and have
been merely claiming to live by them. For that reason, I have begun to evaluate
how I can truly live them, and how I can change my life to better respect those
around me.
Filial Devotion was a term I had been familiar with through my study of
world culture and philosophy. I knew it meant obedience, service, and reverence
to one’s parents. This book helped me to gain a deeper understanding of filial
piety by emphasizing why I should respect and honor my parents. It is only
because my parents conceived and cared for me that I am alive and healthy
today. I owe them everything, if only because they have given me the gift of life.
The story “Sim Chong, the Girl Who Became the Eyes of Her Father” is
particularly inspiring to me. After reading it, I questioned whether I could
sacrifice my life for one of my parents, like Sim Chong did for the sake of her
father’s sight. I pondered whether I could give up my happiness to make my
parents happy, as they would do for me. I hope that I will never have to choose
between my well being and that of my parents. But I hope that if the situation
presents itself that I will have enough strength and devotion to protect them and
make them happy at all cost. Western culture emphasizes the sacrifices parents
should make for their children, but fails to assert that children should likewise be
willing to sacrifice for their parents. Reading Chung Hyo Ye has given me a

whole new perspective on the way I treat my parents, who gave me life and
provide me with love and happiness.
Reading about the virtues of traditional Korean culture has also allowed
me to reflect on the way I treat my younger sister. I have begun to think about
how my practice of fraternal love has been lacking. In the past my sister and I
fought and said hurtful things to each other. As her older sister, it is especially
important for me not to fight with her, but to treat her with dignity and respect.
I should be building her up instead of tearing her down. In the tale “Hung-bu
and Nol-bu”, I saw that continually treating your siblings with respect, even if
they do not treat you in kind, will eventually be beneficial. Kindness breeds
kindness, and showing love to siblings will urge them to respond with like
kindness. I have seen first hand that when I respect my sister, she respects me.
Through reading the Chung Hyo Ye I learned that a relationship of respect and
devotion between my sister and I can help us develop a spirit akin to that of the
brothers Yi Song-man and Yi Soon, who cared and sacrificed for each other.
In addition to loyalty and respect to the family, the Chung Hyo Ye has
helped me to better understand societal devotion. Unfortunately war has been a
component of every civilization, and the United States is currently submerged in
conflict. I have never supported war and violence, and many times question why
citizens, even members of my own family, would be willing to risk their lives for a
cause they do not support. Through reading this book, I began to understand
that military service is not necessarily about one’s personal opinions of the

current conflict. Instead, it is about faith in one’s country and their willingness to
defend it, even if the reasons or motives of the conflict are unclear. The story of
“Hwarang Kwisan and Chuhang” reiterates for me the honor in fearlessly
defending one’s country. While I do not choose to fight in wars or to join the
military, I have gained a new respect for those who do, because of their sacrifice
to their country and to their fellow citizens. I have also learned that I can do my
part in being devoted to my society, by being kind and respectful to the people I
meet.
Perhaps the most important thing I have learned from reading the Chung
Hyo Ye is the true meaning of virtue and frugality. In western culture, whoever
has the most material wealth is considered the richest.
However the true
measure of wealth is not material gain, but one’s contentedness with what they
have, and their ability to share. This is especially important for me to keep in
mind as I journey off to college. I have always aspired to have a successful
career, and to make a lot of money. I hope that if I am blessed enough to be
wealthy, that I can be wise enough to give my wealth to the needy, and to use it
to make my family comfortable. I know that humility will give me clarity, which
will help me to keep sight of how I should live my life. I admire the spirit of the
Paekgyol Sonsaeng, or “The Hundred Patches Scholar”. Instead of accumulating
personal wealth in his high position, he was happy with what he had. He saw
the virtue of living a simple life free of the distractions of materialism.
Before reading this book, I felt that I was living respectfully and virtuously.

While I had been practicing some parts of these qualities, I failed to truly
understand them. The Chung Hyo Ye has aided me in developing a deeper
perspective on humility and virtue. It has given me a new-found respect for
Buddhist teachings, and their value for people of all walks of life. I knew that
humility, respect, and devotion were important aspects of life, but after reading
this sampling of Korean culture; I feel that I have gained a new clarity of how
they are important for my life, and how I need to change. Simply claiming to
have these qualities is not enough. I must practice them in my everyday life,
and always seek a better understanding of my relationship with those around me.