Jogye Order Research Articles

Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese “Comfort Women.” by Joshua D. Pilzer (review)

Reviewed by: Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese “Comfort Women.” by Joshua D. Pilzer Jessica Payette (bio) Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese “Comfort Women.” By Joshua D. Pilzer. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 168pp. Presented in conjunction with a companion website, http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199759576. From Angry Anthems to Tragic Teuroteu: Listening to the Recalibration of Selfhood in Songs of Korean Sexual Trauma Survivors On December 14, 2011, activists for the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Sexual Slavery by Japan (henceforth abbreviated as the Korean Council), in Seoul, and the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, as well as an assortment of other human rights advocacy organizations, gathered in front of Japanese embassies around the globe to hold their 1,000th Wednesday demonstration protesting the refusal of the Japanese government to offer a public apology and legal reparations to the survivors of the military sexual slavery system that was implemented during the Asia-Pacific War (1930–45). During this period an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 women were falsely promised education or stable employment by the Japanese military; they were abducted or voluntarily left their homes with no inkling of the horrors that they would face as “comfort women” (ianfu in Japanese). Imprisoned in “comfort stations,” they were forced to have sex with soldiers and affiliated civilians or face brutal [End Page 81] beatings if they refused.1 While some women were the private sexual slaves of high-ranking officers, others were confined to tiny rooms where they had no choice but to submit to the demands of many soldiers per day. Many of these women died or committed suicide after being liberated in 1945, and the ones who lived faced societal pressure to remain silent about their experiences. For over four decades, former “comfort women” who suddenly found themselves deposited back into mainstream society in Korea and elsewhere did not openly acknowledge their past or receive therapy; they existed as an anonymous conglomerate whose nondescript story was guarded as a national secret. The terrible memories that vividly haunted survivors in their dreams could only be verbally expressed through metaphor, which is why many of them were drawn to the expressive medium of song. In 1991, encouraged by a spirit of growing nationalism and critical reevaluation of Japanese colonization that propelled the gradual democratization of South Korea, survivor Kim Haksun delivered the first public testimony, in which she spoke about being maltreated and witnessing the deaths of other women. This prompted the organization of the first Wednesday demonstration, for the 1992 Korean visit of Japan’s prime minister, Miyazawa, and the filing of a petition to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which brought global attention to the issue. In addition to serving as a constant reminder that Japan has not yet complied with international mandates, the Wednesday demonstrations also continue to provide a forum for survivors to interact with each other and the public as they strive to educate younger generations whose history books fail to expose them to the thousands of women who continue to be deprived of basic human rights upon being taken captive by sexual slavery systems. In 2001 ethnomusicologist Joshua Pilzer nervously attended a Wednesday demonstration in Seoul, hoping to establish a connection with survivors despite feeling that he was “tailor-made to the worst possible subject position from which to take on the project, radically separated from these elderly Korean women survivors of sexual violence and war by gender, generation, culture, class, and experience” (ix). His knowledge of the Korean language and traditional folk songs helped him to gradually form bonds with some of the Korean survivors, who welcomed him to the House of Sharing—a rest home and museum for survivors founded by monks and followers of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism—and granted him the opportunity to listen to and record cherished songs that were sung in public and private settings. When the House of Sharing moved from Seoul to a more spacious suburban site in 1995, it was designed [End Page 82] to be...

Consideration on the Association of Self Reflection and Renovation - Focusing on the Possibility of Establishment and Meditational Practice

Consideration on the Association of Self Reflection and Renovation - Focusing on the Possibility of Establishment and Meditational Practice

A Study on Enforcement Measures for the Social Welfare Delivery System of District Head Temples of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

사회복지 전달체계의 궁극적인 목적은 클라이언트에게 사회복지 서비스가 효율적?효과적으로 전달되게 하는 것이다. 이를 위해서는 사회복지 전달체계의 행정체계와 집행체계가 원만히 작동되어야 한다. 하지만 조계종의 사회복지 전달체계에 있어서는 종단 소속개별 사회복지법인 및 시설에서 클라이언트에 이르는 집행체계는 원만히 작동하고 있으나 조계종 사회복지재단에서 교구본사를 거쳐 종단 소속 개별 사회복지법인 및 시설에 이르는 행정체계에는 문제점이 있다.<BR> 조계종 사회복지 전달체계에 있어서 문제의 핵심은 행정체계의 중추이자 고리인 교구본사가 그 역할을 다하지 못하고 있다는 것이다. 보다 구체적으로 거론하면, 교구본사의 사회복지 허브 역량 부족, 교구본사의 교구 소재 사회복지법인 관리권한 미약, 그리고 종단?교구본사?말사 간 사회복지 연계사업 미흡을 들 수 있다. 이에 향후 교구본사의 사회복지 전달체계를 강화하기 위해서는 우선 교구본사가 직영하는 사회복지법인의 설립을 확대하여 중간 전달 기능을 강화할 필요가 있다. 또한 로컬 거버넌스 차원의 교구사회복지 협의체 결성과 종단 종적 연계 사업 개발이 수반되어야 한다. 그리고 불교의 정체성이 투영된 사회복지서비스를 개발하고 보급하는 것도 전달체계의 결속력을 제고시켜줄 수 있을 것이다.

The Characters and Prospects of Education in Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

The Characters and Prospects of Education in Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

Buddhist Daily Rituals in Korea: Their Structure and Meaning - Focusing on Sasi bulgong

This paper examines the structure and meaning of sasi bulgong, a Buddhist daily ritual performed to offer rice to the Buddha in late morning, that targets lay Buddhist followers at the Three Jewel Monasteries affiliated with the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, the mainstream Buddhist order in contemporary Korea. An in-depth analysis was conducted of the spatial, temporal, and contextual structure of sasi bulgong as well as the functional, ideological, and practical meaning of the ritual. This research led me to conclude that sasi bulgong is highly stratified both spatially and temporally and no clear evidence was found to support the contentions that it functions to solidify the identity of monastic members and is an outward expression of key Buddhist doctrine. Rather, the ritual currently used is a product of uncritical acceptance of “tradition,” serving as a kind of performance itself that contained the lay participants’ wishes for the betterment of their family, both living and dead.

Reform of 'The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism' as Social Movement

Reform of 'The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism' as Social Movement