Family Story

When I was in fourth or fifth grade there was a project where I had to research about my family history and an important part of my family's past. We were supposed to ask our parents about our ancestors and then talk about what we learned about our families to the class the next day. When I got home that day I told my dad about the assignment that I had to complete that night and he began talking about my great great great grandfather.

"My great great grandfather, or your great great great grandfather was a well-known man in Korea. Now he was alive about a hundred years ago, but I've heard about him from my great grandfather, my grandfather, and my father. In Korea there are still books about him because he was an important and knowledgeable person. The pictures that I've seen of him are obviouosly very old and black and white, but I've also seen a painting of him where he was wearing a traditional Korean robe with the scholar's black hat. He had such a plain face with mustache and beard, wrinkles of wisdom. Although he was quite old in the portrait I could see his young spirit yearning for more adventures and knowledge, wanting to know more about everything."

My dad paused for a moment to get a grasp on the facts that were rusty in his head. I sat in front of my dad with my neck outstretched wanting to know more about how important he was, how powerful he was to make him so well-known, what he did, and so much more. I was very curious and was waiting for my dad's lips to move once again.

My dad cleared his throat and continued, "Your great great great grandfather's name was Jeong Jin Ki. He was a very bright man and had studied in Japan's infamous University of Tokyo. After completing his education at the University of Tokyo, he went back to Korea and took over the position of his father as the prime minister of one of the sixteen Korean states. The states still remain in Korea but some are in North Korea and some are in South Korea. Back then Korea was not divided into two separate regions, it was just one country. Your great great great grandfather had become the prime minister or Jung Sung (in Korean) of one of the more Southern states which was called Jung Sam Nam Do back then."

"Prime Minister?" I interrupted, "What was his role exactly?"

"Well, he was kind of like a govenor in his state and many people respected him, he was one of the most respected men in his time. Obviously because of his education and background which leads me to an important part of your great great great grandfather's life. In 1909, Japan took over Korea but even if they took over Korea, your great great great grandfather still got to keep his position under the Japanese power. Why? Well, they had to keep him to control the rest of the Koreans in his state. He had power, wealth, knowledge, position, and background which made the Japanese respect him. With his power he supported his people and sent the ones that really wanted to pursue an education to Japan, where they had better classes than Korea at the time. He worked very hard and tried his best to help others dreams come true while making his own dreams come true."

I sat there for awhile, digesting everything my dad had told me. It was amazing how such an important figure in the past was one of my ancestors, part of my bloodline. I was so proud of my great great great grandfather and all the achievements he had and I still am extremely proud of him today. The next day I talked about my great great great grandfather at school with pride. People came up to me telling me how great it must be to have an ancestor like that. I still talk about my great great great grandfather with pride and honor and hope that one day I can do something as important as my great great great grandfather did and I hope that my grandchildren can talk about me with as much happiness as I have.