Looking for my maternal grandfather -- Emperor of Chinese Cinema, Jin Yan

Author: Park Gyuyeon (Korean)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Ten years ago, I had the rare opportunity to visit my parents' house with my husband. Coincidentally, my sister and her husband were also at home, and we spent a precious time together. Gathering the whole family like this is truly not an easy thing. After lunch, the family gathered to chat and catch up on the news about the children. At this moment, my mother suddenly said in a very serious tone, "Children, since we are rare to gather like this, I want to tell you some things I have long wanted to say."
"What kind of things?" Her expression showed a certain seriousness, different from the cheerful tone she had when talking about other matters earlier. Although I couldn’t visit my parents often after getting married, I was still the eldest daughter at home. "Perhaps it’s because I’m getting older, but these days I often think about the elders of my maternal grandfather’s family."
"The elders of my maternal grandfather’s family?" "Yes. Your maternal grandfather’s family has produced many outstanding individuals. Having five Independent Heroes in one family is not an easy thing, is it? Although I dare not say for sure, I believe it should be unique in our country as well. Only because they were humble and indifferent to fame and fortune, they were rarely known to the world."
Although my mother’s expression was very serious, I only remembered the names of those elders who had been mentioned to me many times before, as well as the medals they had received as Independent Heroes. Among them were Dr. Kim Kwi-jik, who once served as the Vice President of the Temporary Government of Chongqing, as well as Kim Chun Ae, Kim Maria, Seo Byeong-ho, and Seo Jae-hyun.
"However, apart from these five Independent 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 to my mother’s words with very serious expressions.
"Who is it?" I asked as the eldest daughter.
"It was your great-grandfather, Kim Byeok-chun. He was a graduate of the th World Cup, and one of the earliest people in our country to practice Western medicine. Moreover, those Independent Heroes who received the title of Independent Hero were all influenced by him and participated in the independence movement."
"Why was such a person forgotten?" We turned our attention back to my mother’s face. Since getting married, I had not been particularly concerned with my parents’ affairs. I had focused all my attention on taking care of my husband and children, and 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 records of his heroic deeds, but unfortunately, all the records were lost in the war. Later, due to the lack of materials, it was postponed again and again. Moreover, since it was the early 20th century, the people who could prove his activities had all passed away, so it was still postponed until now. In fact, he was the earliest member of our family to participate in the independence movement and also a core figure in it."
If that were the case, at least we should have heard about it a few times in the past. However, at the age of over forty, I had never heard that he had been a graduate of the th World Cup and 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 simply because as I get older, I believe that a true record of what he did should be kept, 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 story of our family’s elders to a television station. P3-4