[KS] Eulogy for Zo Zayong

[Yong-ho Choe]

I am saddened by the news of Zo Zayong's death.  He was a teacher and good friend to me.  Only last September, my wife and I visited him and his wife, when he greeted us with his typical gusty exuberance.  In the 1970s, he took a picture of my little boy standing in front of a wooden crate (which brought roof tiles for the Center for Korean Studies building at our university) with the sign of "Made in Korea." When photo was made, he told all around him with his large husky voice that "although the boy was born in Hawaii, he was 'made in Korea' as the sign says."

>From him, I learned to appreciate all the items of daily use I grew up with in Korea's countryside--things which I had been told to be backward, primitive, or even ugly.  He opened my eyes to the beauty of the "real" Korea that had been concealed under the glare of modernity.  I shall cherish for long time his lecture on Samshin at our last encounter. 

Although I mourn the passing of a great iconoclast, I am grateful that he lived among us and did what he did.

Sincerely,


Yong-ho Choe, Professor
Department of History
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, HI  96822

Tel: 808 956-6762
Fax: 808 956-9600
E-mail: choeyh at hawaii.edu



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