Umsong

                                         Won Ho Chang - February 2012
 
In the first chapter, I wrote about the miracle of Seoul, which is one of Korea’s most exciting developments of this century. However, the other side of the coin, many rural towns haven’t changed much, including my old hometown, Umsong, Chungbuk Province, where I was born and spent my younger days.

Umsong, population 20,000, is where the county government is located. It’s bordered by two rugged mountains, Kayup and Sungjae. The town became a booming industrial center in 1920, when Japanese authorities began cultivating tobacco in Umsong County and the two adjacent counties, Chungju and Jinchon.

Umsong was known for its yellow tobacco, which was harvested green, dried by a government agency, and then exported to Japan. Due to the strength of the tobacco industry, Umsong was modernized earlier than most towns as the Japanese systematically exploited Korean resources across the country.

The Umsong railroad station is on the west side of town and a steam engine used to wake the entire town by blasting its whistle early every morning. From 1920 to 1945, tobacco was one of the major agricultural products the Japanese grew on the colonial peninsula. The soil was well suited for tobacco and the Japanese urged Korean farmers to participate by offering a number of financial incentives. Tobacco was also a labor-intensive product, so there were plenty of jobs available in the area.

In the autumn, tobacco leaves were collected and dried in a wood-burning drier before being sent to twenty huge warehouses near the railroad station. Farmers brought their tobacco to the Japanese authorities and traded it for a relatively large amount of cash—something most rural townspeople had never seen before. The people had an opportunity to see what modern industry could bring to a town, and some wealthier families even sent their children to school in Japan. My own parents repeatedly urged me to go and study in Japan.

However, the tobacco industry also had its unsavory side. Umsong was eventually invaded by gamblers, pimps, and prostitutes, and many locals lost their farms through business dealings with unscrupulous individuals who were eager to cash in on the tobacco boom. My grandparents were often visited by friends who told sordid stories of gambling and prostitution. My grandfather was shocked by my desire to hear the “bad stories,” but I listened to them anyway.

Umsong is still my hometown in my dreams, and the last time I visited my youngest brother, who still lives there, I was shocked to see that it hadn’t changed at all, except for the fact that didn’t see many young people. They had all moved to Seoul for more exciting opportunities. As a matter of fact, three of my brothers and three sisters all moved their families to Seoul, leaving only one brother and a sister still living in Umsong—but even their children had left Umsong for the big city lights.

None of my old friends were still living there, and I felt bad that I didn’t see smoke rising from Umsong’s traditional Korean chimneys, something that has also remained a part of my cherished memories of my old hometown. However, I did get to visit the graves of my parents and grandparents to pay my respects and to offer my appreciation for their devotion to the lives of their children and grandchildren. As we get older, we tend to forget such love and affection, but it’s important to remember our ancestors.

“Turn your head toward the old hill with the mind of your youth,” says an old Korean adage. In a legend from the Han Dynasty of China, two brothers turned their heads toward the town where they were born and raised and where they wished to be buried. All of my brothers and sisters have thought about that story many times, and my brothers have even gone so far as to purchase gravesites for my wife and me next to our beloved parents.

     I was taught to believe my ancestors are watching me do well for the honor of my family, and the first agenda item of our trips to Korea has been always to go to the mountain where our ancestors are buried to express our gratitude for their care and sacrifice. We were taught to believe that parents should give their utmost their children and watch over them, even after death. For their part, children are to a sunny, open side of a mountain for the gravesite of their parents and then maintain the graves in order to receive their dead parents’ blessing. 

     I’m a strong believer in filial piety, one of the Confucian virtues, which tells us to be good to our parents by treating them with respect and by doing good works outside the home. Dr. Ilshik Hong, former president of Korea University, is one of the most prominent scholars in this field and established an international society for the study and promotion of the idea. He says that filial piety is an important value in today’s problematic world.