[Kim Seung-jong's Literary Miscellany (178) 'The Heart of Nurturing, The Heart of Loving'

I read a poem by Park Kyung-ni (1926-2008) again. Like Sima Qian (司馬遷: B.C.145?~B.C.86?), she bore "the koan of whether the Way of Heaven is right or wrong (天道是耶非耶)" and sustained herself through years of hardship by writing "The Land (土地)". On sleepless nights, she engaged in sewing, and during the day, she tended to her kitchen garden. This was a major part of her daily life and a means of nourishing her body and mind. As seen in the following poem, while caring for cabbage, she awakened to "the heart of nurturing, the heart of loving," and confessed that "I was not lonely."

Jujube trees, chestnut trees, pine nut trees

Their leaves competing to fall

Tonight surely frost will descend

Walking through fields layered with fallen leaves

Gently and tenderly I gather the cabbage

And tie it up with straw

When it thirsts, I water it

When green insects trouble it

I put on magnifying glasses and catch them

I brush away the fallen leaves

I dig into the soil and bury compost

The breath of the cabbage

The frailty of living things

And at times their strength I feel

The heart of nurturing, the heart of loving

Through one summer season I was not lonely

- "Cabbage" / Park Kyung-ni

At the signs of frost approaching with the changing season, the poet "gathers/ties the cabbage with straw." She "waters" it, "catches" the "insects," "brushes away fallen leaves," and "buries compost"—a succession of tasks all done "gently and tenderly," as we can infer. We may regard the poet's attitude as a form of practice (修行) that proceeds quietly and slowly without ostentation, formed from a conscious bond to communicate and exchange with her subject. The confession in the fourth stanza's conclusion, "Through one summer season I was not lonely," represents the culmination of this connection. That is, the poet was solitary yet thereby not solitary. It seems we may extend this beyond the single season spent with cabbage to the poet's entire life. Is it not so? Because she could nurture and love "the heart of nurturing, the heart of loving." One cannot truly be lonely amid any circumstance or conflict.

Furthermore, we must savor a more crucial moment: "The breath of the cabbage / the frailty of living things / and at times their strength." Is this "breath" not a subtle "vital energy of life" that can only be felt through genuine participation in the world's rightful order? Anyone may partake of it, yet not everyone can.

"The heart of nurturing, the heart of loving" can primarily be seen as the poet's awakening to principle brought about by this experience. Yet considering the state and context of the poem more deeply, it seems the poet feels that the cabbage too maintains such a "heart" toward her. In other words, this "heart" is not one-sided but reciprocal. Thus the poet's confession that "I was not lonely" carries an implicit sense of companionship.

As a postscript, I wish to read one more poem that can be seen as speaking to this "heart."

Past sixty years old

Gazing toward

What cannot be seen

A friend singing songs of love

With autumn's lingering shadow cast

Eyes rippling with emotion

My friend

Among all the loves in this world

The love between men and women is but one part

He is startled, looking at me

As long as hibiscus flowers fall

Silence flows

Then he says, "That's so,"

In a low voice

A sigh swallowed down

- "Love"

Even having passed "sixty years old," a friend recalls unrequited love from youth gone by, his "eyes rippling with emotion, autumn's lingering shadow cast," stirring our own eyes to waver and drawing us to "gaze toward what cannot be seen" in longing. Yet in the third stanza, the poet tells this friend that "among all the loves in this world, the love between men and women is but one part." Why not offer sympathy instead? Was the friend's state such a pitiable illusion that she poured the cold water of friendship upon it? In the fourth stanza, particularly in its conclusion where the poet describes the friend's reaction—"a sigh swallowed down"—the poet's own complex emotions are projected. If it were mere friendly intervention, the friend's quiet acceptance would suffice, yet the poet's depiction of even this lingering attachment suggests that underlying it all is the poet's own recognition of the long attachment of love. Is not such consolation and comfort also a manifestation of "the heart of nurturing, the heart of loving"?

Reading Park Kyung-ni's poems, I repeatedly recall Sima Qian. Unlike in the classical texts, in this secular world, self-interest easily precedes right and wrong. When self-interest openly precedes right and wrong, it mocks justice and injustice corrupts righteousness. In such a world, Sima Qian posed the question "Is the Way of Heaven right or wrong?" and his work is marked by sorrow and anger. The "Records of the Grand Historian" (史記) is surely a historical record written with the will that events must ultimately tend toward the right (事必歸正). Park Kyung-ni's "The Land," written in reliance upon Sima Qian, is similarly applicable to our modern and contemporary history. In fact, anyone can, like Sima Qian, witness the chaos of the secular world and live according to that vision. Anyone can, together, feel that the Way of Heaven of life and love operates in "the frailty of living things and at times their strength" and participate in that path.

For reference, the teacher's son-in-law Kim Ji-ha (1941-2022), as is well known, began pioneering the path of life movements when, in despair in a prison cell's isolation, he witnessed young grass growing through cracks in stone. This aspect bears resemblance to the narrative in the teacher's "Cabbage" and draws attention. Kim Ji-ha presented life movements through concrete action items including anti-war efforts, peace, environmental and ecological conservation, and consumer cooperatives, calling for transformation of this secular world. One must say, as the mother-in-law, so the son-in-law. Today, with the Israel-Palestine war (approximately 1,190 Israeli deaths, thousands of wounded; approximately 73,000 Palestinian deaths, 174,000 wounded), the Russia-Ukraine war (approximately 2 million casualties on both sides), the bleak standoff between North and South, and unrepentant domestic left-right conflict, shameless attempts at understanding that precede self-reflection continue endlessly toward mutual annihilation through hatred and communication breakdown. We must think more deeply and without unnecessary words about the thoughts of these two figures. Only then can we truly hope for the future.