By Bernard Rowan
Recently, I decided to celebrate the start of the last third of my life by returning to a "normal body weight." I've lost 40 pounds thus far and have about 15 more to go ― the harder part of this journey. However, I'm optimistic and determined. Part of my reason for success is kimchi. That's right! Besides much water, smaller portions, few to no carbohydrates and only five to seven ounces of fish or lean meat a day, I've been eating kimchi with my salads.
I want to write about the current "war" or controversy surrounding the Chinese application for international recognition of pao cai. False media claims that the Chinese invented kimchi do irritate. Given that my wife is Chinese, and I write for a Korean newspaper as well as have good friends who are Korean, I can't hope to win. However, "winning" isn't the issue.
I've written about kimchi in the past. Andrew Salmon and I debated the merits of the food, given processed varieties have nitrates. Nonetheless, I stand by claims that as part of a balanced diet, kimchi promotes good health and complements a wide variety of foods. Its varieties increase kimchi's utility as a food technology.
My mother pickled cucumber slices, watermelon rinds and squash over the years. Americans often eat coleslaw, which is a form of mul kimchi in some sense. People throughout the world ferment vegetables for preservation, taste and other benefits. Think of sauerkraut. Fermented cabbage doesn't belong to or need ownership by any nation or its people.
When I visit Chinese grocery stores with my wife in Chicago, I find Korean kimchi on the shelves. I don't usually look for pao cai, though I've seen it and tasted it a bit. In our favorite Chicago restaurant, Potsticker House, there's a wonderful dish from Northeast China featuring sauerkraut or suancai, pork belly and sweet potato noodles.
I've quoted and again will note the work of Marshall G. S. Hodgson, the late Quaker scholar of Islam, about historical writing and bias. We all are biased. Human artifacts aren't facts, and this will never be otherwise. Culture wars over shared heritages are futile. The Joseonjok or Zhonghua minzu descend from many Asian peoples that settled in China, North Korea and South Korea. The Korean Chinese or Korean peoples of China divide only partially by nationality from Koreans. All peoples shouldn't erode shared cultural heritages.
This includes the diffusion of pickled and fermented foods, including the foods known as pao cai and kimchi. These vegetable delicacies are a beautiful example of how people coming together in space and time create lasting inventions through their relationships and behavior. I think we should all pause to ask if the peoples who occupy Korea and Manchuria ever fought and contended over the ownership of pickled vegetables. Their spirits are laughing at us ― or perhaps are disgusted intellectually. Eat kimchi and pao cai, but don't fight over who started it all.
Thanks to the people of South Korea, the United Nations has listed kimchi as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I see that North Korea did the same. This isn't the first or last "dispute" over kimchi, I'm afraid. The Wikipedia page on Kimchi records other disputes with Japan. The page also summarizes the health benefits of kimchi.
I recently viewed several movies featuring the much-acclaimed actress Frances McDormand, including "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." This film teaches many lessons.
However, I choose to recommend the film as a way of seeing how human behavior often involves projection of anger and frustration onto convenient scapegoats. All lovers of kimchi and pao cai need to realize the "war" stems from other conflicts and issues. An article by Andrei Lankov on the so-called "Kimchi War" that was featured in The Frontier Post (June 4, 2021) says as much.
South Korea's status as China's satellite state is no more, and China's rise to world leadership won't succeed on the heels of petty cultural efforts at control. We'd do well to mirror the spirit of Yoon Dong-ju, the great Korean poet who lived in Manchuria and died at the hands of Japanese imperialists for his poetry. He writes in "On a Day Like This" about the way children don't understand contradictions to live beyond them. Are we still no better?
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
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I want to write about the current "war" or controversy surrounding the Chinese application for international recognition of pao cai. False media claims that the Chinese invented kimchi do irritate. Given that my wife is Chinese, and I write for a Korean newspaper as well as have good friends who are Korean, I can't hope to win. However, "winning" isn't the issue.
I've written about kimchi in the past. Andrew Salmon and I debated the merits of the food, given processed varieties have nitrates. Nonetheless, I stand by claims that as part of a balanced diet, kimchi promotes good health and complements a wide variety of foods. Its varieties increase kimchi's utility as a food technology.
My mother pickled cucumber slices, watermelon rinds and squash over the years. Americans often eat coleslaw, which is a form of mul kimchi in some sense. People throughout the world ferment vegetables for preservation, taste and other benefits. Think of sauerkraut. Fermented cabbage doesn't belong to or need ownership by any nation or its people.
When I visit Chinese grocery stores with my wife in Chicago, I find Korean kimchi on the shelves. I don't usually look for pao cai, though I've seen it and tasted it a bit. In our favorite Chicago restaurant, Potsticker House, there's a wonderful dish from Northeast China featuring sauerkraut or suancai, pork belly and sweet potato noodles.
I've quoted and again will note the work of Marshall G. S. Hodgson, the late Quaker scholar of Islam, about historical writing and bias. We all are biased. Human artifacts aren't facts, and this will never be otherwise. Culture wars over shared heritages are futile. The Joseonjok or Zhonghua minzu descend from many Asian peoples that settled in China, North Korea and South Korea. The Korean Chinese or Korean peoples of China divide only partially by nationality from Koreans. All peoples shouldn't erode shared cultural heritages.
This includes the diffusion of pickled and fermented foods, including the foods known as pao cai and kimchi. These vegetable delicacies are a beautiful example of how people coming together in space and time create lasting inventions through their relationships and behavior. I think we should all pause to ask if the peoples who occupy Korea and Manchuria ever fought and contended over the ownership of pickled vegetables. Their spirits are laughing at us ― or perhaps are disgusted intellectually. Eat kimchi and pao cai, but don't fight over who started it all.
Thanks to the people of South Korea, the United Nations has listed kimchi as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I see that North Korea did the same. This isn't the first or last "dispute" over kimchi, I'm afraid. The Wikipedia page on Kimchi records other disputes with Japan. The page also summarizes the health benefits of kimchi.
I recently viewed several movies featuring the much-acclaimed actress Frances McDormand, including "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." This film teaches many lessons.
However, I choose to recommend the film as a way of seeing how human behavior often involves projection of anger and frustration onto convenient scapegoats. All lovers of kimchi and pao cai need to realize the "war" stems from other conflicts and issues. An article by Andrei Lankov on the so-called "Kimchi War" that was featured in The Frontier Post (June 4, 2021) says as much.
South Korea's status as China's satellite state is no more, and China's rise to world leadership won't succeed on the heels of petty cultural efforts at control. We'd do well to mirror the spirit of Yoon Dong-ju, the great Korean poet who lived in Manchuria and died at the hands of Japanese imperialists for his poetry. He writes in "On a Day Like This" about the way children don't understand contradictions to live beyond them. Are we still no better?
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
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