This essay touches on such a huge subject, and I read it with great interest. I think every immigrant child carries the burden of our ancestors' history with us, whether we are fully aware of what happened or not. Much of their trauma got passed down to us in the forms of our emotional makeup. It was fascinating to learn about the Korean word "han" and the meaning behind it. Do you happen to know how it looks in written form? I'm wondering if there is a Chinese character equivalence to that word, since Chinese characters used to be incorporated in the Korean language just as kanji is in Japanese. Seeing the word would help me grasp the meaning in a much more profound way.
I think it's healthy to feel anger on your ancestors' behalf... it's a kind of righteous anger for the injustices done.
But in our culture and my own upbringing, anger was an emotion that was not allowed to be expressed openly. It signaled bad character and danger, so for the longest time, it was my emotional kryptonite--until something major happened in my life, and I learned to finally express anger in a way that saved me.
I've met people who are afraid to talk about such things because there's such a sordid history of epigenetics being (mis)used to justify racism and discrimination. But it's also unfair to deny that intergenerational trauma is a thing — people can be affected by the past, including the experiences of their ancestors.
Thanks for showing me the Korean character. I cannot read it. I tried google translating it into Chinese and it says "一" (one). This doesn't seem right. I'm at a loss.
Regarding epigenetics, I've been interested in it for years. A doctor whose work I used to read frequently has said that stress hormones in a mother's body can pass down for three generations. Recently I've heard that it might be more generations. The article you shared is really fascinating! It helps me understand my mom's metabolic troubles (diabetes). My grandma lived through the Japanese invasion when she was pregnant with my mom. The scientific explanation in that article makes a lot of sense.
I am aware of the sordid history of eugenics. It should not be conflated with epigentics. I certainly agree with you that understanding what our ancestors went through--trauma included--is key to understanding who we are.
"Anger is a beautiful thing"—what a profound observation! I've only heard this expressed once elsewhere and really like this reframing of anger as something to learn from and use as fuel in fighting oppression.
Always love your posts, Kristin. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
A powerful and moving post. It's hard for me to balance the fact that internal anger over issues which can't be changed is itself a kind on ongoing harm, but also letting a wrong just fade away or be forgotten feels like simply compounding that wrong. It's a lose-lose situation on the surface, but deeper explorations of this theme, like you provide so well in this piece, are one way of helping others get through similar issues and cope and find strength and resilience. I know your great grandmother would be tearfully proud that you are writing about her story, that you have survived and thrived and have a loving family and successful career. You are the proof that her strength and resilience was worth it, that she won in the end, that even grave injustice cannot rob the world of joy and hope and progress. You have a beautiful life and you are proof that Han does not have be unbearable, and that you can balance knowledge of past injustice with the resilience and love it takes to move forward in an often cruel world.
This essay touches on such a huge subject, and I read it with great interest. I think every immigrant child carries the burden of our ancestors' history with us, whether we are fully aware of what happened or not. Much of their trauma got passed down to us in the forms of our emotional makeup. It was fascinating to learn about the Korean word "han" and the meaning behind it. Do you happen to know how it looks in written form? I'm wondering if there is a Chinese character equivalence to that word, since Chinese characters used to be incorporated in the Korean language just as kanji is in Japanese. Seeing the word would help me grasp the meaning in a much more profound way.
I think it's healthy to feel anger on your ancestors' behalf... it's a kind of righteous anger for the injustices done.
But in our culture and my own upbringing, anger was an emotion that was not allowed to be expressed openly. It signaled bad character and danger, so for the longest time, it was my emotional kryptonite--until something major happened in my life, and I learned to finally express anger in a way that saved me.
I believe the character is: 한 Does that tell you more about it?
And YES. There's a lot of really interesting research on how traumatic experiences get passed down to generations in the form of altered stress hormones. Fascinating: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/descendants-of-holocaust-survivors-have-altered-stress-hormones/
I've met people who are afraid to talk about such things because there's such a sordid history of epigenetics being (mis)used to justify racism and discrimination. But it's also unfair to deny that intergenerational trauma is a thing — people can be affected by the past, including the experiences of their ancestors.
Thanks for showing me the Korean character. I cannot read it. I tried google translating it into Chinese and it says "一" (one). This doesn't seem right. I'm at a loss.
Regarding epigenetics, I've been interested in it for years. A doctor whose work I used to read frequently has said that stress hormones in a mother's body can pass down for three generations. Recently I've heard that it might be more generations. The article you shared is really fascinating! It helps me understand my mom's metabolic troubles (diabetes). My grandma lived through the Japanese invasion when she was pregnant with my mom. The scientific explanation in that article makes a lot of sense.
I am aware of the sordid history of eugenics. It should not be conflated with epigentics. I certainly agree with you that understanding what our ancestors went through--trauma included--is key to understanding who we are.
"Anger is a beautiful thing"—what a profound observation! I've only heard this expressed once elsewhere and really like this reframing of anger as something to learn from and use as fuel in fighting oppression.
Always love your posts, Kristin. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Thanks for reading, Joyce :) Happy New year!
A powerful and moving post. It's hard for me to balance the fact that internal anger over issues which can't be changed is itself a kind on ongoing harm, but also letting a wrong just fade away or be forgotten feels like simply compounding that wrong. It's a lose-lose situation on the surface, but deeper explorations of this theme, like you provide so well in this piece, are one way of helping others get through similar issues and cope and find strength and resilience. I know your great grandmother would be tearfully proud that you are writing about her story, that you have survived and thrived and have a loving family and successful career. You are the proof that her strength and resilience was worth it, that she won in the end, that even grave injustice cannot rob the world of joy and hope and progress. You have a beautiful life and you are proof that Han does not have be unbearable, and that you can balance knowledge of past injustice with the resilience and love it takes to move forward in an often cruel world.
Thanks for this kind and thoughtful comment!