I admit that my initial understanding of the Korean people was ridiculously shallow.
When I was a child, I huddled on the sofa and watched "Dae Jang Geum", and I thought, ah, it turns out they are like this. They are good at singing and dancing, wearing white clothes that flutter in the wind, and the kimchi they eat is bright red.
At that time, I couldn't tell the difference between North Korea, South Korea, and the Korean people. In my eyes, the map was like a large map with almost the same colors.
It was only later that we learned that this so-called "white nation" was a people who migrated from the Korean Peninsula. It started in the 17th century. Groups of people crossed the rivers and took root here, blooming their own unique flowers on the vast black land of the Northeast.
At first, I just thought they looked good-looking
In particular, the girls I met in Yanbian had fair skin, curved eyes, and smiles as sweet as cakes.
On their ID cards, there was a row of earthworm-like characters on the side of the Chinese characters that I couldn't understand. They were words that belonged to them. At that moment, I seemed to realize that this is another world. It is beside us and can be touched with our hands, but it forms a system of its own.
I still remember the names of those dances
There are gayageum playing and singing, long drum dance, elephant hat dance, etc. These names are long and convoluted. If you need to memorize them in the exam, you will definitely fail.
But I made up my own formula: "Farmland Landscape Sauvignon Blanc" [1].
Farm music and dance are the most lively. I heard that it first started when people were tired from working in the fields, banged the drums, and then started dancing. Imagine the scene. The rice fields have just been planted, and the legs are still soaked in the mud. But as soon as the drums sound, people suddenly become more alive. That kind of vitality comes from the soil and is not rehearsed on the stage.
After checking the information, I found out that they like to wear white clothes because they admire cranes. The men wore short jackets and wide trousers, and the women wore short jackets and long skirts. When they walked, they really looked like cautious white cranes with their wings folded.
But what really hit me was the smell in the kitchen
I once went to the home of an Amai family with Korean identity. Once you step into that space, you need to take off your shoes. A warm and warm air, carrying the sour smell of spicy cabbage, goes straight into the nose.
The small plates on the table are full of red peppers, white radish pieces, and green spring onions. Each type of kimchi has its own character.
She taught me how to make soybean miso soup, explaining that the miso must be fully exposed to the sun, and it must be pressed by stones to allow it to ferment slowly. As I listened, I thought that what she was talking about was not about sauce, but about people.
Isn't this how the days are spent, with the pressure exerted by the stones in life, the taste slowly changing in the container of time, and finally boiled into a pot of soup, warming one's own stomach, and warming the people passing by.
They are particular about eating dog meat, but there are days when they won't touch it
Dogs are not killed during festivals, weddings and funerals.
In addition, they do not eat sheep or fatty pork, and they rarely touch even river fish. I didn't understand it at first, how fragrant it was! Later I realized that it was the habit engraved on the migration journey and the hometown carried in the stomach.
Those rules at the dinner table are really scary. If the elders haven't used their chopsticks yet, then you have to endure it. It is not allowed for father and son to drink at the same table, because they are afraid that they will not be able to control themselves and say something they should not say after drinking, thereby destroying the normal ethical principles. Even when it comes to drinking, you have to do it according to your age. Such a life will really make people feel very tired, right?
However, being so tired can make people feel at ease. In this world, there are always some things whose weight exceeds "what is the state I want to achieve?"
What shocked me the most were those cold numbers.
It has a population of 1.7 million, mostly in the Northeast.
However, behind these 1.7 million people, there are countless lives. During the Anti-Japanese War, there was an average of one martyr for every twenty Korean households in the Yanbian area. For every twenty households, one will fall.
There was a man named Cui Jinshu who went to break out of the encirclement with a seriously ill Han commander on his back. In the end, both of them died together under the enemy's gun. In addition, in the story of "Eight Girls Throwing into the River", there are Korean girls and Han girls, holding hands and walking into the cold river.
I understood it all at once. They are not just neighbors who are good at singing and dancing. They have shouldered guns with us, shed blood with us, and are brothers and sisters who have buried their children on this land.
Now when I look at those celebrities named Jin, I feel different.
Cui Jian, Jin Xing, Jin Zhiwen...
In the past, I only thought that Jin Qiaoqiao had outstanding appearance, while Jin Ruiji was unfamiliar. Now I will think about it, what kind of family past experience is hidden behind the surname "Jin"? Was it the group of people who marched north from the peninsula in the past, who struggled all the way in the subsequent years, and finally sent their children to the dance academy in Beijing and the music conservatory in Shenyang?
The row of Korean characters on their ID cards is by no means just a symbol. It is a way to come, and it is also a way back.
I heard that many young Koreans now go to South Korea to work
The old man at home guarded the empty village, the pickle vat, and the increasingly cold kang head.
Some of the villages in Yanbian have begun to quiet down.
However, the tune of "Arirang" is still being sung. No matter where you go, as long as you raise this tune, you will probably feel warm in your chest.
That day, when I left Ah Mai's house, she handed me a bag of freshly made cakes. It was white in color, soft in texture, and carried the heat of her body.
I didn't look back. I was afraid that she would see my eyes turn red.
In this world, there are some likes, but they are not the kind that people talk about. It is the feeling of being eaten into your mouth, the feeling of being stepped on, and it is a place that will definitely remain in your heart no matter where you go in this life.
Save it for the nation in white.
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