Geographic Gateways to Seeing and Understanding Korea

RESOURCES ESSAYS

4. Susan Hanley, Everyday Things in Premodern Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 51–76. Geographic Gateways to seeing 5. See Mikiso Hane, Premodern Japan: A Histor- by David Nemeth ical Survey (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991), and Understanding Korea 52–54, 74–82, and W. Scott Morton, Japan: Its History and Culture, 3rd Ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), 36–37, 61–63, for an introduction to important Buddhist sects that came to Japan during the Heian and Kamakura his article introduces what I call a Whose margin fades periods. “Gateways” approach to teaching For ever and for ever when I move. 6. See Martin Collcutt, Marius Jansen, and Isao about places, and uses Korea as its Tennyson’s “arches” are enticements to Kumakura, Cultural Atlas of Japan (New example. I developed the Gateways discovery; Gateways through which a York: Facts on File, 1988), 105, for a useful T approach around the assumption that popular teacher can lead a room full of curious stu- map of these attacks. 7. John Keay, The Honourable Company: A His- support for geography in the schools is, and dents toward vicarious and participatory tory of the English East India Company (New always has been, rooted in its ability to repro- experiences in imaginary places. The York: MacMillan, 1991), 52–60. duce in the classroom the vicarious experi- teacher’s challenge is to offer to take stu- 8. David L. Howell, Capitalism from Within: ence of geographical exploration. I take the dents somewhere interesting—for example, Economy, Society, and the State in a Japanese mainstays of the popularity of geographical to the Korean peninsula—and to facilitate a Fishery (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), 28. exploration to be a combination of human classroom conversation that can keep them 9. Amino Yoshihiko, Rereading Japanese Histo- curiosity and mobility. On this basis, I sug- moving on the momentum of their own sus- ry, Alan Christy, trans. (Ann Arbor: University gest that teaching geography in the classroom tained curiosity. of Michigan, 1996), 1–22. might try to be more of a “moving” experi- Since humans are naturally curious, the 10. Howell, 35. ence as it seeks to increase its popularity and potential already exists to get the class moti- 11. Howell, 45. effectiveness among contemporary students. vated, that is, moving. To do this, the 12. Kayano Shigeru, Our Land Was a Forest: An My model for the Gateways approach to teacher need not tell the student that he or Ainu Memoir, Kyoko Selden and Lili Selden, trans. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994), 60. teaching is a hypertext environment, for she is entering a strangers’ world, for that See also Oswald Iten, “Japan’s Injustice to the example, that complex hypertext world creat- might cool their curiosity by triggering their Ainu,” Swiss Review of World Affairs, Febru- ed by tens of thousands of people with home unwanted and unnecessary caution and hesi- ary 1996, 15–20, for more information on the pages on the Internet. The Internet has moti- tation. One reason that exploration on the Ainu. vated curious students everywhere to enter Internet is so enticing to students is that it 13. Shigeru, 23–36. 14. See, for example, Shim sh¬ k¬t¬ chizu. (Tokyo: into those infinitely digressive explorations creates a romantic illusion that they them- Teikoku Shoin, 1995), 85, and Global Access. we term “surfing the web,” and it is this type selves are the strangers; invisible strangers Tokyo (Shobunsha, 1996), 29. Japan considers of journey through hypertext-like Gateways moving from place to place. This illusion Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai that I explore in this article. advantages a sense of anonymity and immu- islands as “Japan’s Northern Territories.” See Of all the senses that can be exploited by a nity that empowers Internet users to enjoy a Jacquelyn Johnson and Lynn Parisi, Faces of Japan II (Lakewood, Colorado: Pacific Moun- teacher during a class on place geography, more enriching journey in cyberspace. How- tain Network, 1990), 23–24. The maps on these the most underrated and underutilized may ever, using the Internet is not the same as pages clarify the Japan Ministry of Foreign be the sense of movement itself—the kinetic learning from the Internet. Affairs’ position on the sovereignty of these sense. The Gateways approach to teaching islands. about places, therefore, is characterized best Gateways empower 15. See Kären Wigen, The Making of a Japanese teachers in classrooms Periphery, 1750–1920 (Berkeley: University of by its attempt to annihilate as much as possi- The classroom has something important that California Press, 1995), for a thorough histori- ble the distance between the student in the the Internet still lacks as a learning environ- cal geography of the Ina Valley in southern classroom and another place. The Gateways ment—the teacher. Adapting the hypertext Nagano Prefecture. approach to teaching about places creates an environment to a classroom situation is a 16. See E. Patricia Tsurumi, Factory Girls: Women illusion that a student can not only experi- real challenge and opportunity for geogra- in the Thread Mills of Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), for a com- ence another place firsthand without leaving phy teachers. This is because the traditional plete study of treatment against workers. the classroom, but that the student is also in classroom, though it persists as the standard 17. Wigen, 151. control of the experience as it unfolds. institutional learning environment, is being 18. See Hardwick and Holtgrieve, Geography for Educators, 314–321, for more good ideas about What is thetennyson’s Gateways approach, arches and how teaching the geography of Japan. Glenn T. Tre- does it create this illusion? For an inspira- wartha, Japan: A Geography (Madison: Uni- DAVID “Jim” NEMETH teaches “Geography versity of Wisconsin Press, 1965), includes tional insight into the idea behind the of Asia” in the Department of Geography many useful tables that teachers can compare method, we can turn to that great poetic ode and Planning, University of Toledo. He is a with current data, such as those found in the to exploration, “Ulysses,” by Alfred Lord cultural geographer whose teaching and Keizai Koho Center’s booklet, Japan: An Inter- Tennyson (1809–92), in which he writes: research interests in Korea began with Peace national Comparison (Tokyo,1997). Corps service on Cheju Island during the For all experience is an arch early 1970s. He is the author of The Architec- where through ture of Ideology: New-Confucian Imprinting on Gleams the untravell’d world Cheju Island, Korea (1987).

47 RESOURCES ESSAYS

elaborating (with fore- the classroom “journey” proceeds, Gateway KOREA thought, or ad hoc) on by Gateway. Now I will turn to the Korean student experiences dur- example to demonstrate how the Gateways GATEWAYS IN THE LANDSCAPE (Moving northward from Halla Mountain ing their journeys approach works. to Paekdu Mountain) through Gateways to other places. The Gatewaysa place approach liKe is Korea humbly inquisi- 1. Halla Mountain In particular, the Gate- tive to the extent that it assumes any place ways approach offers like the Korean Peninsula is not a complete, 2. an ancestral tomb 13 teachers and students the knowable entity, but a mysterious “black opportunity to learn to box” about which interesting stories can be 3. a walking tractor understand and appreci- told. This does not mean that Korea— ate a place “conditional- though long stereotyped by outsiders as a 4. a pigsty-privy ly” as well as “with cer- “Hermit Kingdom”—is any more or less tainty.” This opportunity mysterious or scrutable than other places. 5. a diving woman to enrich teaching Rather, it implies that any place is approach- 12 through the Gateways able through myriad Gateways as a mysteri- 6. the old 11 approach as an interpre- ous and exciting exploration. In each case star-gazing Pavilion 10 tive art as well as an the teacher “enters” the black box through explanatory science is selected Gateways of his or her own choos- 7. magpies 9 appropriate to the spirit ing, enticing the students in the classroom to of infinitely digressive follow “as if” on a journey, and to make 8. kimch’i pots explorations. It gives comments and ask questions along the way. 8 geography teachers more My own choices of Gateways to seeing and 9. Seoul City’s creative flexibility than understanding Korea are inspired by my 7 condominium towers if they preoccupied studies of and experiences in Korea over a 6 themselves mainly with period of three decades. 10. the DMZ teaching “the geography In my example, I have created thirteen of a place” using more Gateways—thirteen peepholes and creep- 11. P’y`ongyang City traditional and straight- holes in the black box called “Korea”—in forward approaches (for order to entice students to look inside and 12. Tan’gun’s shrine example, rote memoriza- wander about and discuss. These Gateways 5 tion). reveal and advantage my own long-term 13. Paekdu Mountain interests, experiences, and research proclivi- 1 2 3 4 Gateways ties as a student of Korean geography. How- empower ever, teaching about Korean geography by stUdents Figure 1. Thirteen selected Gateways for seeing and The Gateway approach is an especially entering through Gateways facilitates understanding Korea. timely and effective teaching tool in a multi- digressions into conditions and issues that cultural classroom because it aims at educat- most traditional systematic or topical geo- ing through empowering students. The graphies of Korea also cover, e.g. physical, rapidly reshaped by social and technological worst of geography classroom lectures, no social, economic, cultural, political, environ- change—as are the role and autonomy of the matter how profusely illustrated with media mental, and so on. My Gateways approach teacher within it. materials, have usually disseminated knowl- has no strong intention of comprehensive The Gateways approach reinforces the edge in an inflexible linear fashion, proceed- coverage of Korea, nor of a beginning or need for geography teachers in classrooms, ing on the assumption that students “don’t end to the learning project. Its more modest while offering them more choice and flexi- know what they don’t know” about places. goal, its weaker intention, is to create a bility in constructing knowledge. At mini- In such classrooms students were never sense of classroom community through mum, the classroom geography teacher can asked to teach others about places based on enticing students to join in conversations facilitate place knowledge acquisition from their own backgrounds and experiences. about Korea and Koreans. This learning within and between Gateways. S(he) can Today, in contemporary multicultural public process is driven by the cooperative inter- choose to do so in both expected and unex- school classrooms in the United States, stu- play of questions and responses that the vic- pected ways: for example, by helping students have multiple place backgrounds and arious Gateways journey generates. Knowl- dents to think critically about the nature of experiences to share with others. Place edge acquisition through my selected Gate- geographical information and knowledge knowledge can be constructed in the class- ways is linear only to the extent that its first (and the need to sort out valid and authorita- room by drawing these multicultural stu- Gateway is located at one end of the Korean tive geographical facts from misinformation dents as invaluable repositories of knowl- peninsula, and its last Gateway is located at and “noise”), by offering and soliciting edge resources. The Gateways approach the other end of the peninsula. The class- explanations and interpretations, and by taps into their place knowledge randomly as room conversation that constructs geograph-

48 EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA Volume 3, Number 1 Spring 1998 RESOURCES ESSAYS

Way.” Cheju Island (which, to mainland Koreans translates liter- ally as “That Place Over There”) is a volcanic island formed by the successive eruptions of Halla Mountain over many millenniums. Mount Halla is a long-dormant volcano, last active in A.D. 1007. Cheju Island was once regarded with awe. Early Chinese histories and legends describe Halla Moun- tain as inhabited by “immortals.” Figure 2. A walking tractor. This photo is by the The name of the mountain is related to the author, and copies are available legends, as is “White Deer Lake,” a shallow on request. pond located within the crater at the peak of Halla Mountain. From the peak of Halla Mountain the “Old Man Star” was once Figure 3. Ch’òmsòngdae, an old star-gazing pavilion. ical knowledge about Korea along the way viewed above the southern horizon during Drawing by Jim Ashley. is a journey that can take many unexpected annual pilgrimages. Sógwip‘o City is on the twists and turns, depending on the types of south coast of Cheju Island. Its name means questions and responses generated by the “Port of Return to the West” and derives GATEWAY #4: The Cheju Island pigsty- Gateways themselves. from a time when early Chinese emperors privy. Traditional islanders and their pigs It is the casual conversation about Korea, sent voyagers into the East China Sea in were once essential parts of a functioning not the rigor, significance, or veracity of its search of the “Blessed Isle” and its plants of biological community. Pig-keeping in priv- content, that means everything to the success immortality (which were once believed to ies has been banned by the South Korean of the Gateways approach. This reveals it as a grow on Halla Mountain). government as a health hazard, but the gov- somewhat radical teaching method insofar as GATEWAY #2: An ancestral tomb in a ernment’s argument seems spurious in parts its “as-if” or “virtual” journey through Korea strawberry field on Cheju Island. Should the (Nemeth 1989). Rather, privy-pig keeping is idiosyncratically investigative rather than farmer move the tomb and grow more seems a good example of an efficient waste- carefully planned out. Moreover, the Gate- strawberries? Traditional “wind and water recycling system, and provides an interest- ways approach exploits the teaching potential geographical theories” persist in East Asia, ing Korean Gateway for exploring issues in in pluralistic methods; for example, in the including Korea, and their advocates argue cultural geography, economic geography, contentious realm of “counterfactual geogra- that tombs whose locations were selected by environmental geography, and medical phies” (e.g., “Let’s imagine and discuss a traditional geographers (geomancers) should geography. Korea without mountains”) by challenging not be moved. Modern geographers argue GATEWAY #5: The Hae’nyò (diving the assumption that learning the geography of that traditional theories for grave siting are women) of Cheju Island. The woman diver Korea is a lesson that can be reduced to dis- just superstitions, and that such tombs tradition is dying in South Korea. It is a cerning right from wrong answers (see should be moved if they interfere with eco- remnant of an isolated example of gender Langer [1997], who discusses common learn- nomic growth. equity in traditional Korea’s male-dominat- ing “myths” across the disciplines). GATEWAY #3: A walking tractor (Figure 2). ed society, and provides a unique Korean On Cheju Island, as throughout South Gateway for discussing issues in gender thirteen Gateways to seeinG Korea, the systematic introduction and rapid geography. and UnderstandinG Korea I will briefly introduce here my thirteen spread of the walking tractor led to rapid GATEWAY #6: Ch’òmsòngdae (Old Star- Gateways to seeing and understanding Korean modernization and industrialization. gazing Pavilion) near Kyòngju City in South Korea. Their locations on the Korean penin- The farmer still walks behind the plow, Korea (Figure 3). This is the oldest astro- sula are indicated on Figure 1. A few of the though the modern internal combustion nomical observatory extant in East Asia. It Gateways are conversations that begin with engine has replaced the traditional biologi- is approximately thirty feet in height, and photographic images or drawings. Due to cal engines of the ox (on the mainland) and was built in the seventh century by Queen space limitations, I have provided here only horse (on the island). The walking tractor is Sòndòk of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.–935). a few of these as examples. There are many a catalyst of change, both a symbol of the Premodern Koreans—like the Chinese— supplements to lantern slides with which to “miracle” of Korean economic growth after were obsessed with heavenly objects, espe- begin Gateway conversations, including: 1960, and the simultaneous tragedy of rural cially with the Pole Star. Contemporary videotapes, Internet homepage materials, depopulation and the rapid decline of Kore- South Koreans are obsessed instead with newspaper clippings, and souvenirs that can an village self-sufficiency. This story of the watching the “Gold Star” (a brand-name be passed around in class. walking tractor is published (Nemeth, Korean television, that is). Ch’omsòngdae is GATEWAY #1: Halla Mountain; in transla- 1988), and I will provide copies of this pho- also a cosmological model of the universe; tion: “The Peak that Pulls Down the Milky tograph to teachers by request. the number and placement of every brick

49 RESOURCES ESSAYS

the pots, and learn the traditions of their GATEWAY #11: P’yòngyang City. Figure 6 manufacture and details about what is stored is a contemporary North Korean painting of within them, consult “Things Korean” on the capital city. The site and situation of the Internet, at http://soback.kornet.nm.kr/- P’yòngyang was so advantageous in ancient pixeline/heeyun/korea/onggi.html. times that it has the longest history of all GATEWAY #9: A condominium on Yòido Korean settlements. P’yòngyang is an inland Island, in Seoul, located in the middle of the city located at the convergence of several Han River. In contemporary Seoul, the pri- rivers, but is accessible by river to sea-going mate city of South Korea, even the richest ships. According to geomantic theory, Figure 4. The Korean magpie. Drawing by Jim Ashley. apartment-dwelling residents cannot look P’yòngyang itself is shaped like a ship. The upriver without anxieties. Urban apartment artist may have attempted to capture the tradi- towers are Korean Gateways to geographi- tional sense of confidence and tranquillity that cal discussions about population, resources, political leaders in the North have proclaimed has cosmic meaning. For example, the num- economic growth, location theories, pollu- as at the heart of North Korea’s stridently ber of bricks in the construction is the same tion, and relations with North Korea. self-sufficient industrial society. Students number as the days of the year (366 GATEWAY #10: The Demilitarized Zone exploring this Gateway might be encouraged bricks/days). Also, the structure has a height (DMZ). There is more to discover about the to discuss topics like Korean reunification, of twenty-eight rings of bricks; one ring for historical geography, or the social, political, each constellation in the firmament. A spir- and economic implications of a strict policy ited conversation in religious geography of national self-sufficiency in an era of global might begin with this Korean Gateway. trade and expanding markets. GATEWAY #7: The Korean magpie (Figure GATEWAY #12: Tan’gun’s shrine. Tan’gun 4). Magpies are often associated with tigers is the legendary founder of Korea. His in Korean folk tales and art objects. The dis- shrine is located near P’yòngyang. The cussion of the magpie as a cultural icon Tan’gun myth and shrine can be exploited offers this Gateway’s insight into Korean by contemporary North Korean leaders to history and behavior. The song of the mag- argue their continuous bloodline from Tan’- pie in the morning is supposed to bring good gun, thereby validating their own “Great- luck. Comparative scientific studies on mag- ness” and authority. This Gateway can lead pies from industrial cities and from rural vil- to a conversation about the role of founding lage sites can also be researched and dis- myths in the construction of Korean national cussed by geography students to reveal identity and sense of place. some of the ravaging effects of urban air and GATEWAY #13: Paektu Mountain. The water pollution on bird life in Korea. For highest peak on the Korean peninsula, locat- example, the egg size of the city magpie is ed at the northern margin of North Korea. smaller than the egg size of the country Traditionally, Paektu Mountain was thought magpie. Also, a smaller percentage of mag- to be the conduit for heaven’s life force into pie eggs hatch in cities than hatch in the Figure 5. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Anonymous Korea. Today, Mt. Paektu is a North Korean countryside. linoleum print, circa 1980. Copies are avail- tourist mecca. GATEWAY #8: Kimch’i pots. Some Korean able from the author on request. By the time the class has explored and dis- traditions change more rapidly than others. cussed these thirteen Gateways, the Korean Evidence on Korea’s kimch’i (spiced and peninsula and its peoples are better under- pickled foods) culture is still everywhere DMZ than the significance of its political stood and appreciated, even though most throughout South Korea. Ubiquitous Kim- and military geography. This particular issues in Korean geography are irresolvably ch’i pots, as a traditional style of Korean Gateway (Figure 5) inspires a conversation ambiguous and tentative. Teachers and stu- pottery, combine the useful functions of that explores beyond the “38th parallel” to dents through their cooperative journeys pantry and refrigerator to store sauces, discuss the DMZ as a temporary natural have learned to see many things, from many pastes, peppers, grains, and dried fish—as wildlife refuge unintentionally created in points of view. This humbly inquisitive well as kimch’i. Some pots are as large as demilitarized space. A Korean proverb that Gateways experience can satisfy geography six feet tall! Kimch’i is now mass produced might be introduced in class during a con- teachers and their students by leaving them for a global market, but Korean clay kimch’i versation about the biogeography of DMZ humbly knowledgeable about Korea and pots are rarely found in households outside is: “The sun shines even in a mouse hole” Koreans. Their knowledge about Korea and of Korea. As a Gateway, these pots can (Ha, 1970). Figure 5 is an example of their ability to think critically can be entice students into free-wheeling conversa- anonymously mass-produced and distrib- assessed and enriched through further con- tions about such diverse things as Korean uted “protest art” drawn—probably by a versations. Of course, the knowledge about climate, folk and popular geography, and South Korean college student—during the Korea constructed by one geography class international marketing. To view images of early 1980s. using the Gateways approach may differ

50 EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA Volume 3, Number 1 Spring 1998 RESOURCES ESSAYS

‘have Fun in china,’ she said as i left

for Japanby Roman Cybriwsky

he course I teach most often at Tem- ple University is the “Geography of South, Southeast and East Asia.” It T is an introductory level course enrolling mostly freshmen and sophomores and a total of as many as eighty to one hun- Figure 6. P’yòngyang, North Korea. Source: Pak, 1984: 20. dred students per section. Some of the students enjoy Asia and go on to be Asian Studies majors. Others use the course as an introduction to geography and continue with from the knowledge constructed by another BIBLIOGRAPHY other courses in that field. However, most class. But this only demonstrates that what Academy of Korean Studies (Compilers). Selected students by far enroll because they are constitutes Korea as a place is the diversity Bibliography of Korean Studies. Seoul: The Korea required to take a certain number of “inter- in the many interesting and informative sto- Foundation, 1995. national studies” courses in the university’s ries told about it. The conversation always Bartz, Patricia. M. South Korea. Oxford: Clarendon core curriculum, and choose this particular continues, and the absolute truth about Press, 1972. course because it offers a convenient time Korea remains quite elusive. California Department of Education. Handbook for slot, empty seats, and a teacher who is Teaching Korean-American Students. Sacramento, known for darkening the room to show conclUsion CA: California Department of Education Bilingual I have successfully used the Gateways Education Office, 1992. slides. In other words, they do not all come approach in my regional geography classes, Coleman, Craig S., ed. A Guide to Korean Studies because of an interest in Asian geography. and have presented the approach successful- in the United States. Los Angeles: The Korea Soci- Three or four years ago, while teaching a ly to teacher workshops sponsored by Geo- ety, 1993. small group of students in this course in a graphic Alliances from California to Florida. Ha Tae Hung. Maxims and Proverbs of Old Korea. summer session, I departed from my usual Teachers have told me time and again that Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1970. outline and emphasized Japan much more successfully enticing students to move vic- Korean Culture. Korean Cultural Service, Los than I normally do. I did so at the expense of Angeles, California. Published quarterly. ariously through and beyond Gateways into other countries, but Japan is my research KOREANA: Korean Art and Culture. Seoul: The places, and discussing these places as they Korea Foundation, Published quarterly. area and I was about to embark for Tokyo journey along, offers a memorable learning Langer, Ellen J. The Power of Mindful Learning. after the final exam to gather data for a par- experience for them. This is mainly because Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997. ticular project and do some writing. Japan the Gateways approach seeks to avoid the Lautensach, Hermann. Korea: A Geography Based was on my mind that month, the students tedium that students often suffer from when on the Author’s Travels and Literature. Translated knew it, and they knew that I was anxious to they are immobilized in the classroom by a by Katherine and Eckart Dege. Berlin: Springer- get going as soon as I finished teaching. It lecture format; that is, by having to “learn Verlag, 1988. was a friendly class. Students offered polite Nemeth, David J. “The Walking Tractor: Trojan about a place, in place.” Teachers who make Horse in the Cheju Island Landscape.” Korean comments as they turned in their finals and “mindful” choices about their Gateways are Studies 12, 1988. left the room for the last time. I will never those who may be able to use this approach Nemeth, David J. “A Study of the Interactions of forget one of these exchanges: one student, most successfully (Langer, 1997). To con- Human, Pig and Human Pork Tapeworm [Taenia to whom I gave a C+ or B- in the course, clude with a caution: A student in a geogra- solium].” Anthrozoös 3, 1, Summer 1989. phy class that offers the Gateways approach Nemeth, David J. “Korea.” In Franklin Ng, ed. The to learning about a place is not unlike a tiger Asian American Encyclopedia. vol. 2, 841–44. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1995. ROMAN CYBRIWSKY is Professor and Chair of in a circus ring who, reluctant at first, is Geography and Urban Studies at Temple Uni- Pak, Chun Gyu. “The Potong River in the Evening.” versity. His specialties are Japan and the mega- enticed to jump through the hoop and is In Anonymous, “From the Prints at the National cities of East and Southeast Asia. His books rewarded by the experience. After all, if the Landscape Exhibition.” The Democratic People’s include Tokyo: The Changing Profile of an Urban Republic of Korea 3, 332, 1984. tiger doesn’t jump through the hoop, then Giant (Belhaven, 1991), Historical Dictionary of the circus is over. n Tokyo (Scarecrow Press, 1997), and Tokyo: The Shogun’s City at the 21st Century (Wiley, 1998).