TEDxDaejeon - YongSoon Park - Korean traditional hawk hunting
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Nice to meet you
I'm Park Yong Soon, the 8th person for intangible cultural assets in Daejeon, preserving falconry in Korea
Everyone seemed to be dozing off a little while the first two speakers were sleeping but woke up as they saw my falcon on the stage
I will do it one more time.Falconry is a dynamic sport that you can enjoy with nature
I will wake you up from sleep one more time
"Here it goes~"
Are you up?
Actually, this is my first time in front of the crowd, of course I've done it in front of students but not at an official place
So I'm more natural with hunting... it feels a little strange...
so I thought you will be given a table on the stage and read from the paper I wrote,
so I worked on it for 3 days without sleeping and filled 10 pages of A4 sized paper but it was taken for me before I came up the stage. Hahaha
so now I will tell you the story of 40 years of my life with the falcons
When I was in elementary school, grade 5, I went to play in the mountains and found a smaller version of a real falcon
and I brought it home and raised it, and that's where it all started and until this day, I'm over 50 and I'm still in love with the birds
ormally if you get into a hobby, you keep doing it for a year or two out of curiosity and when others push you to do it, you have to quit because the environment
I think it's like a shaman, you just have to do it. It's given to you
It's like a disease, you can't do anything about it
all my friends..
..
Please understand, it's a natural thing. haha
Anyways, all my friends hold a high position in companies they work in
and if they asked me to trade places with them, I wouldn't do it
Of course the pay would be better, more stable
But if I were stuck in a concrete walled office, not being able to do what I wanted, I would die from sickness or something
Human is somewhat I guess..it's like a habit
it's like a habit
My heart still beats fast when I look into the falcon's eyes
It means I still feel that pounding in my heart like I did the first time when I saw the falcon in grade 5
Heart that does not change
And next you have to categorize what you want to do and what you're good at
So when there's something you'd like to do and you're good at it
you take interest in it and try to get used to it while you're young
and not think of it as a job
as I would have quit already if I thought of this as my job
You just enjoy it
You don't get sick of things when you enjoy it. You get the willpower to do things and get creative ideas while you enjoy it
Actually, I had a paper that contained the history of falconry
but i don't have the paper with me now so I'll talk about it as much as I know
Falconry started from B.C. 4000 from the middle Asia and started spreading to the west east area
It has a very long history and every empire that had a meat eating culture and power in the royal family had enjoyed this sport
So we have a paining on the walls that had a drawing of a falconry while horseback riding in Goguryeo time period
And the Shilla also enjoyed falconry
Baekje's King Ashin, Shilla's King Jinpyeong is told that they enjoyed falconry in the book of History of Three Kingdoms
It's told that falconry is a royal sport
Golf is common now but back in the days it was a royal sport
Likewise, falconry took place between the royal family
And then now into the Joseon dynasty, Lee Sung Gye who built Joseon enjoyed falconry
For one example, the princes fought so in despair, Lee Sung Gye leaves to Hamheung
And then the people sent messengers to Hamheung to bring him back but none of them came back because they were all killed
Until now
we still use the term "Hamheungchasa" to describe the people who were given something to do but has no replies
Anyways, so they prepared a special messenger named
named "Muhak daesa" and "Namje" They played smart
They knew Lee Sung Gye enjoyed falconry so they didn't ask him to go somewhere
but instead they asked him to go falconry in the nature
and then brought him back successfully
Lately, President Lee visited UAE for oil business
and the prince there was holding a falcon
The Arabs also enjoy falconry
They even have falcon pictures on their dollar bills
At the right timing, President Lee pointed out that
we also have falconry
People feel close to each other when they know they have something in common, such as a hobby
So I heard that also helped the business run smooth between Korea and UAE
So falconry isn't just for hunting rabbits and phesants now and then
We still use falconry for foreign affairs.
And when we look at the culture,
do you know the term "sichimi ttenda" ?
Here the tag on the falcon is called "Sichimi"
and it goes on the falcon with a bell and a name tag
And once a while when we hunt, sometimes the creature the falcon is hunting flies or hides under other people's houses
They even dive in the water in an emergency
So in the house owner's eyes, a small bird comes in
Fences in suburb area are quite low enough
so falcons could just fly in and also did pheasants
So, I was going to catch a phesant only but when I get this falcon, I want to keep it
Then he takes off the "sichimi" from the falcon
and when the real falcon owner asks if he's seen his falcon
and then the house owner would ask back if it's his falcon
That's how the word 'Si-chi-mi'was made
We still use that term
Our falconry is an ethnic sport which was enjoyed from the royal family to commoners
And there are people who thinks that our traditional culture is boring
but they should know that we have dynamic sports also
So it's very fun
Teenagers these days are indoors based
They only exercise their fingers in a closed space
So cyber-bullying happens and they think that killing people is also easy in real life like in games. They treat life like a fly
Then they get aggressive
Too aggressive that they can't judge what's real or not
And when they repeat it over and over they get brain washed
and then when their parents ask them to turn the game off, they simply get very angry and kill their parents
This is reality
But if you want to take care of a living creature, you have to have affection for it
If you just beat the falcon it will either die fast or just fly away
But if you make it fly in nature, it will come back to its owner
Because you have given it love and affection
Falconry is not just about skills, it's about love, patience and affection
You also need time to build trust between two human beings,
You have to give something sincere
Like when you open your heart when you have trust
falcons also need trust
At first it's scary for them
because you will seem like a monster which is really big and which grabbed them and took them home
But you have to be extra careful
so it's not surprised and then after the next 2~3 days they're fed nice things
so they start trusting you
Because of love
They come back to human because of that
Humans are also like that
We live together even though we say we hate each other but we have that affection between us
Falcons don't fly away because of that affection
Anyways, I brought up the story with teenagers,
I believe they can revive their exhausted energy while they play with the live creatures and live a life with the nature
They will walk through the plains
and not think of animals as a frozen meat or a trapped animals in a zoo
but think of them as a creature that can fly freely and hunt
As Mayor Yeom said
"It's the hawk that catches the falcon"
just don't pay attention on how you do it but think of getting it done and that is the best solution
That term also comes from falconry
And the term "Chicken instead of falcon" and "떼꿩에 매낭"
means when there are too much things to hunt, the falcon would hesitate and then it would lose all the chances
So it means you can't catch it even if you have many chances and not take a blow at the right timing
There are some more
‘Fierce, obstinate, solid’ –(These words have its roots in the word, falcon in Korean-translator’s comment) In Chinese, falcon is ‘應.’ In the word,
‘Song-gol-mae’, ‘gol’ also means falcon
So ‘Ong-gol’ means somebody or something’s shrewd like a falcon.
The word is originated from falconry.
So, falconry isn’t just about hunting rabbits and pheasant
but a part of our history of culture and our life
One may learn wisdom through falconry. To tame a wild falcon
a falconer must be patient, devoted and concentrated on a falcon
Next is that, there’s no free lunch
It’s always ‘give and take’
This falcon may come to me because I kept my words by giving it proper compensation
I was scolded big time from my teacher before. Whilst learning falconry
a falcon just flew to me with no food since it was all tame by then
But when a falcon actually comes to me
it kind of disappointed because I have nothing to feed it
It’s not sincere
After a couple of times of trying with no compensation, the falcon would never come to you
In society of humans, we need sincerity and time to trust each other
You cannot expect someone to trust you in a short time. You need to be patient,
keep trying in order to have solid trust with other people just like when you’re training a falcon. Then everything’s going to be fine
Now, I’m going to share about my life with you
Buddha said, ‘in the whole world, only I exist.’
Even if it’s between identical twins, there’s something different if you look close at them
There is only one ‘I.’
That’s why we all are precious and live your own life
Now people live in the same standardized apartments, ride on the same company’s cars
and live like a squirrel going around its race
Rousseau said,
‘Humans, go back to the nature.’
He knew something significant
Now humans are getting further away from the nature and it causes them diseases,
some are even newly made. Like the female mountain-climber said earlier,
once you get far away from the nature, you may become vicious and subordinated by materials
Our infinite motherhood is nature; we come from the nature, live in it and go back to it
I’m not saying you have to do falconry
just go back to the nature, go to mountains and feel trees at least once a week, Pine trees belch something called
phytoncide
and its good for us. With the energy and smells from soil path, no matter how vicious one may be, one shall be good.
It’s good for your both physical and psychological health. I wish it to be a turning point for you to like the nature
‘Goshawk, a genius of timing.’ This will be my last story.
I’ve been hawking for 40 years, and I flew this bad boy, goshawk to a magpie
We don’t hunt magpies a lot
usually we hunt rabbits and pheasant
And there were many magpies sitting on its nest, but it all flew away
Since magpies are smaller, they can react faster.
Just faster. They don’t have endurance.
And, goshawk was just sitting there like a stuffed one, not flew back to me
Other magpies flew back to its next,
but my goshawk didn’t seem to attack them. why?
When magpies are prepared for an attack, goshawk can never get them
So, it sat still and waited for magpies to be distracted. Then the goshawk ambushed the magpies
So, we humans can learn something here,
timing
In Buddhism, we say that to make a relation
you need a right timing. There’s timing for everything
Those who get the right timing are successful, and if you’re dull with timing you can’t get it even if the chance’s right in front of you
So, develop your ability for good timing
As I mentioned earlier, I love Rousseau. Go back to the nature
Living isn’t breathing but doing. He said so. Breathing is just an act of living in terms of biology
Humans do something, something creative, meaningful and with one’s will
That’s what makes human distinguished from animals
If you live for 100years just breathing, it only means you live for a day
There is a saying ‘Everyday’s a new day
If you think, ‘It’s the same Sun yesterday, today or tomorrow
Same old stuff.’ you live only a day
For those who are trying to find some changes with an eye seeking for new, you’re living a day like it’s two
Everyday’s new to them
Life’s so boring and it’s all routine, then you won’t be progressed at all
Be open and alive, live with your identity and appreciate yourself
In the whole world, only I exist
You are precious and because you are precious,
you need to live your life meaningfully.
Even if falcons are the strongest in the nature
I observed it, and it only succeeded once or twice out of ten times of trying
10~20%. And even that’s when falcons do their very best
Old people said that even a lion should do its best to catch a rabbit
Do your best when you have a chance, and don’t be arrogant
Be loyal to every moment and that’s the way you live forever
Each moment makes infinity
Buddha talked about absorption.
Be proud of what you are doing, focus on it and do your best
That’s what makes a good life
Thank you