―The Changing Morals of Korean Student students call for the total abrogation of such ritual but many
n of such ritual but many favor
Excerpts shortening the traditional three-year period of mourning and abandon-ing
It is well known that Korea‘s traditional morality has been strongly the custom that prescribed ―circumspection in penance for sin (the death
influenced by Confucianism centered around the family. On the other hand, of parents was traditionally attributed to the sins of sons and daughters).
today‘s Korean Student has the preconceived notion that Confucian moral This is interpreted as meaning that students reflect common sense that
philosophy is ―obsolete‖ and that the family-first trend should also be ritual should always befit the social, and particularly the economic realities
drastically revised. However our survey on the students‘moral views of society.
unexpectedly shows that he is conservative and that he is actually not so Another characteristic peculiar to Korea‘s traditional moral values
far away from the traditional moral views of Confucianism as he thinks he conditioned by Confucianism and Buddhism is the predominance of
is. The Korean student agrees in principle that he should uphold filial spiritual values over material or physical values, the Korean students seem
duties and he does not dare deny parental merits of his duty to support his to have inherited this intact. Most of them believe that it is better to
parents in their old age. become a man of character replete with knowledge and the virtues than to
It is difficult, based on man‘s behavior, to conclude that he takes be-come a technician skilled in one particular field only. They also believe
more care of his parents than he does of his wife and children, Thirty years that even if they live on the verge of starvation, they will become just and
ago the young Korean man not only thought he did but actually he did care honest men and that at the same time they treasure such spiritual values
for his parents more than his wife and his children. But the actual behavior as the arts and friendship more than mere material values. Their ideal is
of today‘s young man shows he is not so strictly bound by his moral the person who lives in poverty but who has knowledge and integrity and
obligations even though he continues to think he is. not the man who enjoys wealth and power but lacks knowledge and
The Korean college student agrees in principle with filial duty on the one character…
hand but, on the other, he is not blindly devoted to his parents as It is probably in sex that Korean students have managed to free
Confucian morals would dictate. Instead, he believes that impractical themselves completely from the traditional moral code: As the old saying
elements should be eliminated from the traditional notion of ―filial duty. ―Boys and girls cannot sit in the same place after they turn seven‖
For instance, the average Korean does not think it is right to sacrifice the indicates. Confucianists were most strict concerning sexual morals. Such a
freedom of his children for the sake of filial duty or to abandon an conservative opinion has been maintained according to the letter but it has
opportunity to study abroad in order to care for his parents, and he does undergone such drastic changes that in actual practice few take feudalistic
not agree with the unscientific notion that failure to produce male children sexual morals without question. Some thirty years ago it was commonly
is contrary to filial duty. In the matter of marriage, today‘s Koreans youth considered ―bad for a student to befriend a girl, but few retain such an
trespass the original notion of Confucian filial duty in that they believe attitude nowadays…
that the final decision concerning marriage should be made by the couple Although the opinions on sexual morals are said to be quite free
involved. from tradition they are still conservative in comparison to their Western
Funeral and memorial services for one‘s parents and grandparents counterparts. For instance, Korean stu-dents do not think it is good to
are extensions of the Confucian concept of filial duty. However, few have premarital sexual relations…
We can draw the conclusion that today‘s Korean college students
does not desire to adhere blindly to the Confucian tradition concerning
morals nor does he want to abandon tradition entirely…
As for political matters, Korean students appear to have inherited, at least
partially the Confucian ideal of rule by virtue and favor, a form of
democracy based on the teachings of Mencius…It is thought that the
reasons why students still pay respect to the political ideas of Confucius
and Mencius is, more often than not, that they believe man‘s inherent
noble spirit is in conformity to rule by virtue and democracy
Due to that fact that Confucian political ideology is founded upon feudal
society, it is something different from modern democratic ideals, for it
allowed good intentioned dictator-ship…They are very skeptical about
formal democracy or sham democracy which brings only hardship.
….It may be common to all people of all ages that there is a gap
between what one thinks and what he actually does, but such gap appears
to be unusually wide in the Korea of today. It is indeed, one of the most
important tasks people in a new age face to endeavor-or to narrow the gap
between ideas and actions; in some cases the idea must be changed and in
others the action must be geared in another direction; Herein lies the
urgent need to establish a new morality with which our actions can be
accord.
Source: Reading and Writing the Essay
by Ramos and Valeros, pages 87-89
