Chapter 13 Legend and Nationality

One of the biggest headaches for Chinese people who deal with Koreans a lot is that some Koreans don't keep their promises.Being late or missing an appointment is a common occurrence, and what is said doesn't count in the blink of an eye.Changing orders day and night, changing their minds and breaking their promises, they do it as naturally as eating and sleeping.And they do this not because they have any malice towards you, but because it is a habit.They also say sorry sometimes, and they still go the same way after they finish speaking, which makes you dumbfounded.The Japanese exaggeratedly cursed the Koreans as "a nation that lies every day."A certain Chinese organization in South Korea warns Chinese who have just arrived in South Korea. The first sentence is: "Don't take what the Koreans promise you seriously." There is no light.However, since a custom has become a universal national character, it may be closely related to the history and culture of this nation.I tried to find out some of the mysteries in the ancient Korean legends.

The earliest surviving fable in Korea is the famous "Tales of the Tortoise and the Hare".When Baekje attacked Silla, Kim Chunchu, an important minister of Silla, sent an envoy to Goguryeo to ask for help.King Goguryeo took the opportunity to ask for the territory of Silla, but Jin Chunqiu refused, so he was detained and died.Jin Chunqiu bribed a courtier of Goguryeo, and the courtier told him the story of the tortoise and the hare: Dragon girls in the East China Sea are sick and need rabbit liver, a big turtle comes ashore, lies to the rabbit that there is a fairy island in the sea, and it swims to the deep sea with the rabbit on its back. Only then did I tell the truth.The rabbit said, I am a god rabbit, I can live without a liver, but just took out the liver and washed it, and put it on the rock, let's go back and get it.Once on shore, the rabbit ran away.After Jin Chunqiu heard this, he agreed to the territorial request of the King of Goguryeo, and after he was sent out of the Goguryeo border, he said that my words did not count, and that I just wanted to save myself.Later, Jin Chunqiu went to the Tang Dynasty for help. With the help of the Tang Dynasty, Baekje and Goguryeo were destroyed, North Korea was unified, and he became the 29th king of Silla.

Koreans have always regarded this legend as a model of "wisdom" and passed it down from generation to generation. Later, various forms and versions such as "Legend of Rabbit" appeared.But they may not have thought of the hidden downside.This legend actually contains a dangerous logic: in order to survive, you can lie.The tortoise and the rabbit, the Goguryeo king and Jin Chunqiu, all put survival above faith. They only differ in intelligence, but they are the same pragmatic opportunism in morality.In contrast, the theme of most Chinese legends is "faith is more important than life".No matter how great the sacrifice is, the promised things must be fulfilled.Wei Sheng died holding the bridge to keep the promise; Shang Yang made a promise and paid a hundred gold; Xiang Yu did not keep the promise and lost the world;From the pre-Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties to New China, building a country with faith has always been the foundation of the Chinese nation.Of course, China is a huge country, and its benevolent, righteous and generous kingly style is also formed in history.South Korea has been a country that has suffered a lot since ancient times. It has always survived in the cracks between big and powerful countries. Sometimes it is understandable to play a little clever.But today's South Korea has jumped to the top 20 in the world economically, and is now sparing no effort to promote "the best Korean culture in the world". Therefore, under the background of this new century, it seems that the Korean people should take a more broad-minded approach. Vision, abandoning the little wisdom of the tortoise and the hare, admiring Honghu and soaring high.This is extremely important for the improvement of the image of Koreans, the further improvement of the status of the Korean nation, and the further unity and cooperation of the entire East Asia and the entire world.

(There are a lot of materials about the "fraud" behavior in Korean history. According to the Korean history books I have read, except for the theory of the turtle and the hare and Jin Chunqiu defrauding Goguryeo, such as Jinjishang's fraudulent surrender to Japan to release Prince Silla, Ulji Wen De feigned surrender to the Sui army and broke the contract to fight back, and the king used "Shu Tongyao" to cheat his wife, etc. These are all famous examples. South Korea always regards it as "wisdom".)