#166, Tradition
"Master." Tree-ear bowed. "It is now more than a year that I have had the honor of working for you."
"A year...yes. So?"
Tree-ear pulled in the muscles of his stomach to stop their quaking. "I was wondering...if the Master would be so good...if he thinks my work worthy—"
Min snapped, "Ask your question or leave me in pace, boy!"
"If you would one day be teaching me to make a pot." Tree-ear's words rushed out in a single breath.
Min sat motionless for a long moment—long enough for Tree-ear to wonder if perhaps his request had been unclear. At last, Min stood and Tree-ear raised his head.
"Know this, orphaned one," Min said slowly. "If ever you learn to make a pot, it will not be from me."
Tree-ear could not stop himself. "Why?" he cried out. "Why will you not teach me?"
Min picked up the half-formed vessel before him and slammed it back onto the wheel with such force that Tree-ear flinched.
"Why?" Min repeated. "I will tell you why." The potter's voice was low, but shook with the effort of control. "The potter's trade goes from father to son. I had a son once. My son, Hyung-gu. He is gone now. It is him I would have taught. You—"
Tree-ear saw the potter's eyes, fierce with grief and rage. Min choked out the last words: "You are not my son."
-A Single Shard, pp. 94-95
Tiny sticks of wax are lit and placed upon the top of a pastry. Then the lights are dimmed and people yell at you in unison until you extinguish the fire. If you are Korean, you might also eat soup filled with an algae from the sea. On another day, a man and woman will adorn attire dating back to 37 B.C. and put shiny pieces of metal on each other's finger promising not to leave one another until death do they part. Then they'll lie on the ground in front of some people they know.
tradition n. a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time
If alien beings were to view the birthday and wedding traditions, they might seem as unusual as I have described them. Traditions are rather unusual human behavior. The behaviors we practice are not dictated by logic, but simply because. In A Single Shard, despite Tree-ear's year-long hard work and loyalty, Min won't train him to be a potter simply because of tradition.
To complete this Journal response,
- Imagine that you can permanently rid the world of one tradition. It will never have existed. What tradition would you eliminate? Why?
- Comment on a peer's response.
-Brenden Lee Teacher
but so far as I know it’s not the result of personal animus