Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OiGirl]

I know not to write students', co-workers', or ANYONE'S names in red (or pink or orange among the marginally colorblind or paranoid,) but what exactly is the reason? I know red ink is used to write the names of dead people -- but where? In the family registry? At the temple? In the Gu office?

Thanks for any help--

Oi!

[jaebea]

Aww crap, this is in the Lonely Planet I have back at home..

This is off the website...

[indiercj]

It's basically one of those stupid Korean superstition. In government's family record form the deceased person's name were written in red(or lined through in red). That is why some people are still offended seeing his name put down in red while younger generations don't give a damn.

[Circus Monkey]

indiercj is right. It has connotations of death. So...

don't do it OiGirl!

Mhuahahaha!

CM

[kiwioutofthenest]

I'd say the younger generation does give a damn. One of my kids only had a red pen, i had supplied them with new books that day and they had to put their names on the front.....Took ten minutes for this kid cause all the others thought it would be funny for him to write it in red and wouldn't lend him a pen.

[l0ckx]

[Mr. Pink]

I think it depends on the situation too. If you write something formally, they get a little ansy about the red - due to that superstition of death.

However, informal things like letters and cards, I have seen Korean's use red a lot.

Now here is what I think is the killer irony of this writing names in red issue:

Whenever they use their name stamp - guess what color the ink is? That's it RED! So they always stamp their names in red for offical stuff. My western mind can't understand why it is NECESSARY to use one form of your name in red, yet TABOO to do it in another form.

[indiercj]

[schwa]

In fact I just came from a class of teens where one girl wrote down in red ink the name of her friend sitting next to her. I asked isnt that bad luck? They just laughed.

But I dont think the earlier analogy of playing in a graveyard is apt here. Many Koreans I speak with, young & old, have an abiding fear of ghosts. Intellectually they might dismiss the idea as superstition but some will not go anywhere near hilly countryside after dark. (Myself, I rather like the story of virgin spirits on the prowl for satisfaction.)

[Joe Thanks]

[Zed]

I've had some classes who have got upset about me writing in the whiteboard in red marker. I can't recall whether I was writing names as part of these lessons. Other classes haven't reacted at all.The ones that I remember complaining were older. (For me this means 12 or 13.) I'll have to pay more attention to whether these lessons include names.

That yellowish ink that girls sometimes use is a real annoyance - dificult to see especially with any glare. I had a student write an entire 3 page test with it. I kept having to move the paper around to see what she had written.

[buddy bradley]

Thank you. I will now make a point of writing the name of every person here in red ink on white, white paper.

Like satin on milk.

[indiercj]

[nocturno culto]

buddy bradley that was beautiful.

[Son Deureo!]