Kibun: Sense of Personal Well-Being, Dignity and Pride - Korean
On the importance of preserving our dignity
You never win with violence. You only win when you maintain your dignity. Dignity always prevails.
Don Johnson (from the movie Green Book)
We talked about a Korean word in the past week: Nunchi. Nunchi is a very valuable concept in Korean culture, which means understanding and respecting others.
This week, we'll continue with a word that can be thought of as a continuation of it: Kibun
Kibun is Korean for dignity and well-being. According to Korean culture, everyone has a personal asset called Kibun that they must protect, and everyone is expected to respect the Kibun of others. Kibun is a concept that anyone who lives in Korea or wants to do business with Koreans should learn. Because Koreans are sensitive about this issue, you should be sensitive when contacting them; that is, you should behave in accordance with the concept of nunchi.
Kibun is undeniably important to Koreans, but I believe it should be valuable to every single person in the world, to all of us, because it is the most valuable asset of all of us, even the only thing given to us outside of our bodies upon our birth.
To put it another way:
Kibun is the thing that will keep us safe if we are captured.
If, like Viktor Frankl, we end up in a concentration camp, kibun is the only thing that can get us out alive.
Kibun is what gives you the courage to pursue what you believe to be true, even if no one else agrees.
The kibun is what is desired to be preserved in the essence of Stoic philosophy, which has been on the agenda of the world for thousands of years since Ancient Greece.
We could provide dozens more examples.
Notes & Reads:
The film Green Book I came across it while researching kibun, which reminded me that we all have kibun inside of us that we should protect and understand the value of. I would highly recommend it if you’ve not watched it yet.
Another film about three female and African-American mathematicians working at NASA is Hidden Figures. The film is based on a true story and shows real examples of people preserving their kibun.
The news from the Middle East will make us all happy next week. I'm excited to get started on it.
Have a great week and weekend.
— Gulsun
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Another nuanced word. I am afraid that the younger generation's awe to follow Western culture(especially American) to fit in might have an impact on Kibun, Nunchi, Taarof, and several others. These culturally nuanced feeling & customs seems to be slowly disappearing. Hopefully, the "consideration" part which is the essence of several Asian cultures remains.
Hidden Figures was a brilliant movie. Thanks for introducing another movie- Green Book. Will surely watch it.