In Memory of "Horae" Dr. Zo Zayong, a Great Korean

a new edition of a eulogy written by David A. Mason, Spring 1999 previous versions or parts were published in various Korean newspapers, the Acta Koreana Journal of Korean Studies, and posted on the internet: Dr. Zo Zayong [Jo Jayong] collapsed and died of a heart attack on January 30th 2000, or the 24th day of the 12th moon in 4332, by the Korean calender.  He was 74 years old, but still energetically doing the work he loved.  All those who love the traditional culture of Korea know and honor his name. We his students and followers call him Horae seon-saeng-nim.  "Horae" is an affectionate term for a tiger, referring to his physical resemblance to Korea's national animal, his fierce devotion to preserving traditional culture, and his harsh but loving temper.  In the 1970s he first became famous for his promotion of unique Korean folk-paintings of tigers, and now his body lies entombed beneath a huge rock-outcropping [bawi] which resembles a tiger's face.  "Seon-saeng-nim" is a highly honorific title of a teacher, and our Horae was one of the best -- educating the spirits of all, regardless of nationality or social standing.

Besides this, he was a pioneering researcher and curator dedicated to excellence, a hard drinker and big talker, a self- sacrificing preserver and propagator of culture, a wild mask-dancer and buk-drummer, and a broadly-enlightened warm-hearted human being of the first rank.      I first met Horae Seon-saeng-nim on the day of the Closing Ceremony for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. That was October third, also the "Opening of Heaven" holiday when Korea's ancient-nationalist traditions are celebrated.  Horae had just finished construction of a new shrine in the center of his Emille compound, and was holding a public festival to inaugurate it.  Four large carved wooden tablets were set up under a simple roof.  Three of them stood for the Sam-shin, and the last for the Sam-shin-halmoni.  Together they represented the collective ancestors of the Korean people, their collective ideals and identity as a single nation.

In the early evening Horae gathered us all in a semi-circle in front of the shrine, and set up a television set facing towards the tablets (and another one that we could watch).  He played the Olympic Closing Ceremony to the national spirits, explaining fluently in Korean, English and Japanese that it was a venerable custom to report the family news to the ancestors.  In this way he propagated old Korean traditions by employing modern technologies to make them accessible and enjoyable for everyone of any race or nationality.  We all felt tremendous pride in the grand success of the Seoul Olympics, as well as a deep connection to tradition through Horae's technique.  I had an overwhelming feeling of joy, that maybe just maybe this was the beginning of the ending of Korea's long under-expressed bitter suffering [han]. Dr. Zo Zayong [he always used this spelling although Jo Ja-yong would be more correct], grew up at the end of the Japanese-colonial period in Korea, suffering first-hand the attempted cultural suppression of those years.  A brilliant student, he took advantage of a rare chance to study architecture and engineering at Harvard University during the 1940's.  After being awarded his PhD he established himself as a successful architect, by designing several major buildings in Los Angeles and Seoul in the 1950's and 60's, including the U.S. ambassador's beautiful Korean-style residence behind Toksu Palace and the YMCA building on Seoul's main avenue.

David Mason ( right) with a clean-shaven Zo Zayong (center) and someone else, with Zo's own "Jang-seung [guardian-spirit poles] of the Five Directions", in the Emille Museum compound, October 4th 1988.

However, right after the Korean War he became horrified by the destruction and loss of South Korea's folk art, customs and culture under the pressures of poverty, Christian missionaries and President Park�s 1965-85 "New Village Movement", both of which actively sought to replace Korean traditions with "western"� modernism.  He gave up his lucrative career in order to become a rescuer, preserver and advocate of folk culture [min-sok-mun-hwa].   In doing so he became one of the first Koreans to publish scholarly books about Korean culture in English -- a pioneer of Korea's "globalization".

For many years it was a lonely struggle.  He pulled century-old paintings and other artifacts out of garbage-piles and demolished shrines, or bought them cheaply from antique dealers.  In those days Korea's folk-art was considered low-class, superstitious, trashy and shameful by the ruling elite.  The government defined "Korean art" as only the aristocratic art that followed Chinese conventions.  Dr. Zo was sternly opposed and even threatened when he tried to exhibit his growing collection to foreigners or publish bilingual books about it.     MORE...