SOUTH KOREA: South Korean children, worn out by busy school life, attend a Confucian summer camp to learn traditional values such as respecting adults and peers

Record ID: 346616

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: South Korean children, worn out by busy school life, attend a Confucian summer camp to learn traditional values such as respecting adults and peers
  • Date: 31st July 2012
  • Summary: CHEONGHAK-DONG, HADONG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA (JULY 26, 2012) (REUTERS) VALLEY / MOUNTAIN EXTERIOR OF CHUNGLIN VILLAGE SCHOOL, OR SEODANG, IN CHEONGHAK-DONG
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Korea, Republic of
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA6KIOXMIHHOO89Q5NSIF5L0BU1
  • Story Text: Summer holidays are a busy time for South Korean children.
    Some go to science or English camps to enhance what they've learned in the classroom during the school year.
    But some find themselves at a "Confucian Camp" where they learn traditional Korean values such as respecting their elders and peers.
    The camp is located in Cheonghak-dong village, deep in a mountain valley, and around 130 young students aged seven and up are working hard to absorb traditional values and Confucian ideology.
    At the village, 340km (217 miles) south of Seoul, people wear traditional clothes and live in old-style Korean houses.
    The village is known as an "ascetic town" with a population of about a hundred.
    They mostly farm and collect medicinal herbs for a living while living a "utopian" life by adhering to tradition and isolating themselves from the modern, outside world.
    The village has long attracted people interested in this alternative lifestyle.
    It is also famous for its old-fashioned education which emphasises teachings in traditional Korean manners and etiquette, calligraphy and a a moderate lifestyle which is at the basis of Confucian education.
    Confucius was a Chinese philosopher, politician and teacher who lived in 500 BC.
    His philosophy emphasizes personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity.
    The children from the city who come here experience traditional life in an environment similar to that of a village form 300 years ago, during the late Chosun Dynasty.

    "As a village school headmaster, I educate the children to be good by deeply respecting their parents, and to be loyal to their country, and to become a good leader and lead the country with a right and clean mind," said Songwon Lee Kang-han, schoolmaster of Chunglin village school.
    The education seems to be rubbing off on the participants.

    "I learned that I should be good to my parents, as well as that I'm important and special. Also I experienced nature and learned the spirit of team work while playing with other children in harmony," said 13-year-old Bang Jae-wan.

    "When I go back home, I will be good to my mother as I've learned here. Also I will bow to her every morning. I would like to recommend this village school to my friends because they can fix their wrong habits here," said 11-year-old Lee Shin-hae.
    The camp is not only about bowing, sitting correctly in a classroom and listening carefully to an elderly teacher as required by traditional custom. There is time for children to enjoy activities such as swimming in mountain streams.
    The teachers say that this form of play cultivates respect for nature, which is also another element of the education.
    There are about 10 schools in Cheonghak-dong which offer similar summer programs. It costs 350,000 Won (309 USD) per week and children stay for one to four weeks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register