Korea's Wonders
The Koreans are people who admire chrysanthemums blooming in the frost, plum blossoms in the snow, pine and bamboo in the wind, and lotus emerging from the muddy bottom of the pond. With such sentiments and resilient racial characteristics, they have created a culture uniquely their own while synthesizing that of others from ancient times.
Throughout her long history, because of her geographical location, Korea encountered external threats to her very existence, often suffering alien domination. However, the Koreans have succeeded in surmounting various hardships and preserving their racial and cultural heritage.
Speaking of Korea which had fallen under an alien yoke, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), an eminent Indian philosopher and Nobel Prize winner once said:
"In the golden age of Asia
Korea was one of its lamp bearers.
And that lamp is waiting
To be lighted once again
For the illumination of the East."
The liberated Korea was first partitioned, and then two states emerged there, creating serious problems for the people whose country had been a unified nation for centuries. However, the Korean people have in the recent past brought about a remarkable modern transformation of their homeland.
The people in the Republic of Korea, in particular, have achieved an astonishing success in economic development which they proudly call
"the miracle on the Han River,"
and they have brought about rapid cultural growth and social reconstruction with their creative psychology, re-lighting the lamp which illuminates not only the East, but also places beyond.
- EPILOGUE of " A Panorama of 5000 years "
