Looking for my Grandpa - Chinese Film Emperor Jin Yan

Author: Park Gyuyeon
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Ten years ago, I had the rare chance to visit my parents' house with my husband. Coincidentally, my sister and her husband were also at home, and we spent a wonderful time together. Gathering the whole family like this is truly not easy. After lunch, the family gathered to chat and catch up on each other's lives, talking about the children. At this moment, my mother suddenly said in a very serious tone, "Children, since we're rare to gather like this, I want to tell you some things I've been wanting to say for a long time."
"What kind of things?" Her expression showed a certain seriousness, more so than when she was just chatting and laughing about other matters. Although I haven't been back to my parents' house often since getting married, I am, after all, the eldest daughter at home. "Perhaps it's because I'm getting older, but I've been thinking about the elders of your grandfather's family lately."
"The elders of your grandfather's family?" "Yes. Your grandfather's family has produced many outstanding individuals. Having five independence heroes in one family—could that be an easy thing? Although I can't be certain, I believe it should be unique in our country as well. Only because they were humble and indifferent to fame and fortune did they remain largely unknown to the world."
Although my mother's expression was very serious, I could only remember the names of those elders I had heard mentioned a few times, as well as the medals they had received as independence heroes. Among them were Dr. Kim Kwisik, who once served as the Vice President of the Temporary Government of Chongqing, as well as Kim Chuna, Kim Maria, Seo Byeongho, and Seo Jaehyun.
"However, aside from these five independence heroes, there was actually one more hero." I had never heard this before—not only my sisters but also my husband and my sister's husband, who were sitting beside me, listened intently to my mother's words with very serious expressions.
"Who is that?" I asked, still the eldest daughter.
"That is your great-grandfather, Kim Byeokchun. He was a graduate of the first class of Seo Woori, and he was one of the earliest people in our country to practice Western medicine. Moreover, those independence heroes who received the title of independence hero were all influenced by him to join the independence movement."
"Why was such a person forgotten?" We turned our attention back to my mother's face. Since getting married, I hadn't paid much attention to my parents' house. I had focused all my energy on taking care of my husband and children. Even when I mentioned things at home, I had never shown this level of concern before.
Later, I learned that before the June 25th War, the relevant national authorities had compiled his records of heroism, but unfortunately, all of them were lost in the war. Due to the lack of materials, the matter was postponed, and since it was the early 20th century, the people who could prove his activities had all passed away, so it was left until now. In reality, he was the earliest member of our family to participate in the independence movement and also its core figure."
If that were the case, at least we should have heard about him a few times. But at the age of over forty, I had never heard that he had been a graduate of the first class of Seo Woori or that he was one of the earliest people in our country to practice Western medicine.
"I’m saying this not to add any glory to the family, but because as I get older, I believe there should be a truthful record of what he did, so I wanted to tell you about it. Especially while I’m still not too old and still have some memory." It seemed that my mother had already thought everything through before we arrived, even suggesting the idea of telling the TV station about the stories of our family's elders. P3-4