1991년 3월, LA \”The City Planit\”지에 실린 구자문교수의 풍수에 관한 두번째 글입니다.
CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES & POONG SOO THEORY
By: Chamun Koo
My mother-in-law passed away recently, at the age of 55. Her illness started from a small accident in an airplane, and she finally died because of difficulty in breathing, which may not have been related to the accident. Our family did not realize the seriousness of her illness. Until several months ago she was very healthy and active. She was a successful business-woman in her 30’s and 40’s and an evangelist in her 50’s.
Although grieving, I made preparations for the funeral and carefully selected the grave site. I surveyed various grave sites and bought one located in the center of a memorial park which is surrounded by mountains and has a good vied. Far East Asians are strongly influenced by the Poong Soo settlement theory. According to the theory, an appropriately located village, house or grave protects the relatives from evil spirits.
The memorial park custodian told me that the place where my mother-in-law’s grave is located is preferred by Far East Asians. He said that Far East Asians seem to prefer a grave site with good views. He also told me that Far East Asians and Americans differ in the selection of coffins. While Far East Asians prefer wooden coffins which last less than 20 years, Americans prefer steel or copper, which last at least 80 years. Many Americans as well as the ancient Egyptians may hope that their dead bodies can be resurrected someday, thus they want to preserve their bodies as long as possible. As long as I can remember, Koreans want their remains to return to dust as soon as possible, thus their traditional coffin is made of very thin wood panels. I also heard that Eskimos want their remains to be eaten by the polar bears as soon as possible while some people like the Hindu want their remains to become ashes in the fire. Like Koreans, these people also want their remains to return to the earth or chemical elements as soon as possible.
Two days after the funeral, my family visited my mother-in-laws’ grave in the memorial park. It seemed so peaceful there. The other visitors did not seem to be grieving. Children were laughing and running around the graveyard. It was a very different scene from my previous experiences in Korea. When visiting a cemetery in Korea, I felt some fear and other people seemed to be sad. At this time, we were still grieving. How could we forget her face, laughter, jokes, and behaviors so easily?
When I asked my five-year old son where his grandmother was, he answered that she was in heaven, as we were all taught. But he still seems to be wondering where she is. He said, “If grandmother is in heaven, what is in the grave?” When asked about his grandmother, my two-year old son, his baby brother, made snoring noises to describe his last view of his grandmother at the funeral-“She is sleeping.”
My mother-in-law was buried in a good location with good views. Unconsciously, I followed the rule of the Poong Soo settlement theory in selecting the grave site. The theory encourages us to select the location which has good sunlight, wind, and soil. These conditions will be beneficial to the grasses and trees of the graveyard, and more importantly, help the remains to return to the earth as chemical elements as soon as possible as many hope to be. In selecting my mother-in-law’s grave, I only considered her peaceful rest. That was the last thing I could do for her. It came to me naturally, not regarding how it affected my destiny.
The City Planit, March 1991
Los Angeles City Planning Department
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