Abstract
In this article I argue that while jeong is a particular Korean cultural expression, it is also a paradigmatic embodiment of compassion that can enhance the Christian practice of compassion for both Koreans and non-Koreans. Utilizing self psychology, I examine the psychological dynamics behind jeong and demonstrate that jeong is the outward manifestation of the self-selfobject relationships that can facilitate the development of the self and can be seen as developing from an immature to a mature state. This in-depth approach to the psychological examination of jeong also brings forth a more comprehensive understanding of jeong as the distinctions between disparate experiences and the dispositional aspects of jeong and between the life-forming and life-threatening aspects of jeong. I also demonstrate jeong in the relationship between Ruth and Naomi.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Sang-Chin Choi and Soo-Hyang Choi identified duration, togetherness, warmth, and solidarity as four properties of jeong.
Trible, in her footnote 9, states that she does not think that the word “kindness” adequately captures the depth of the meaning of hesed and recommends Glueck (1967), Hesed in the Bible. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press; and Sakenfeld (1970) Studies in the Usage of the Hebrew Word Hesed. Ph.D. diss., Harvard University.
References
Berquist, J. L. (1993). Role dedifferentiation in the Book of Ruth. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 57, 23–37.
Bronner, L. L. (1993). A thematic approach to Ruth in rabbinic literature. In A. Brenner (Ed.), A feminist companion to Ruth (pp. 146–169). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Choi, S. J. (2011). Psychology of the Korean people (
). Seoul: Hakjisa.Choi, Y. J. (2011). A jeong Trinity: Toward a Korean feminist doctrine of the Trinity. Ph.D. diss., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL.
Choi, S. C., & Choi, S. H. (1990). Psychological structure of Jung (Cheong). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Korean Psychological Association, Pusan, Korea.
Dube, M. W. (2001). Divining Ruth for international relations. In M. W. Dube (Ed.), Other ways of reading: African women and the Bible (pp. 179–195). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Geneva: WCC Publications.
Fewell, D. N., & Gunn, D. M. (1990). Compromising redemption: Relating characters in the Book of Ruth. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press.
Glueck, N. (1967). Hesed in the Bible. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press.
Joh, W. A. (2006). Heart of the cross: A postcolonial Christology. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Ka, Y. (2010). Jeong-han as a Korean culture-bound narcissism: dealing with jeong-han through jeong-dynamics. Pastoral Psychology, 59, 221–231.
Kohut, H. (1966). Forms and transformations of narcissism. In P. H. Ornstein (Ed.), The search for the self: Selected writings of Heinz Kohut, 1950–1978, vol. 1 (pp. 445–460). Madison: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1971). The analysis of the self. New York: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1977). The restoration of the self. Madison: International Universities Press.
Kohut, H. (1984). In A. Goldberg (Ed.), How does analysis cure? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kohut, H., & Wolf, E. S. (1978). The disorders of the self and their treatment: An outline. In P. H. Ornstein (Ed.), The search for the self: Selected writings of Heinz Kohut, 1950–1978. Vol. 3. Madison: International Universities Press.
Kristeva, J. (1991). Strangers to ourselves (trans. L. S. Roudiez). New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Kwon, S. Y. (2001). Codependence and interdependence: cross-cultural reappraisal of boundaries and relationality. Pastoral Psychology, 50(1), 39–52.
Lee, J. H. (1994a). The exploration of the inner wounds—Han. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Lee, S. W. (1994b). The cheong space: A zone of non-exchange in Korean human relationships. In G. Yoon & S. C. Choi (Eds.), Psychology of the Korean people: Collectivism and individualism. Seoul: Dong-A Publishing & Printing Co.
Lim, T. S., & Choi, S. H. (1996). Interpersonal relationships in Korea. In W. B. Gudykunst, S. Ting-Toomey, & T. Nishida (Eds.), Communication in personal relationships across cultures. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Maluleke, T. S. (2001). African “Ruths”, Ruthless Africas: Reflections of an African Mordecai. In M. W. Dube (Ed.), Other ways of reading: African women and the Bible (pp. 237–251). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
Nadar, S. (2001). A South African Indian womanist reading of the character of Ruth. In M. W. Dube (Ed.), Other ways of reading: African women and the Bible (pp. 159–175). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
Njoroge, N. J. (2001). The Bible and African christianity: A curse or a blessing? In M. W. Dube (Ed.), Other ways of reading: African women and the Bible (pp. 207–236). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
Oh, K. H. (2000). Dimensions of Chong in Korean Christians. Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Park, A. S. (1993). The wounded heart of God: The Asian concept of Han and the Christian doctrine of sin. Nashville: Abingdon.
Park, A. S. (1996). Racial conflict and healing: An Asian-American theological perspective. New York: Orbis Books.
Poling, J. N., & Kim, H. S. (2012). Korean resources for pastoral theology. Eugene: Pickwick Publications.
Sakenfeld, K. D. (1970). Studies in the usage of the Hebrew word Hesed. Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Sakenfeld, K. D. (2003). Just wives: Stories of power and survival in the Old Testament and today. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Trible, P. (1978). God and the rhetoric of sexuality. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
Yee, G. A. (2007). “She stood in tears amid the alien corn”: Ruth, the perpetual foreigner and model minority. In R. N. Brock, J. H. Kim, K. Pui-Lan, & S. A. Yang (Eds.), Off the menu: Asian and Asian North American women’s religion & theology (pp. 45–65). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
). Seoul: Hakjisa.Acknowledgments
This work is an expanded version of a keynote presentation on jeong at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s 12th International Symposium in Seoul, South Korea, in May 2011 and a presentation on Ruth and Naomi at the unit on Bible and Practical Theology at the Society of Biblical Literature in November 2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Son, A. Jeong as the Paradigmatic Embodiment of Compassion (Hesed): A Critical Examination of Disparate and Dispostional Jeong . Pastoral Psychol 63, 735–747 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-014-0611-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-014-0611-7