Rose of Sharon & Merchant Spirit

Like the strength of a Rose of Sharon, the Dongdaemun merchants could also be praised for being armed with a strong entrepreneurial spirit in a market like the battlefield. This flower, a Rose of Sharon (Mugunghwa), is the national flower of Korea, which blooms lushly from July till November. 

Beautiful, pure, well-bred, and tough, this flower resembles the national character of Koreans who have sustained independence and prosperity, defending against numerous foreign invasions in the long history of the nation. Any young Korean soldier, who went on a battlefield, sang a patriotic song, vowing to his mother that he would definitely win and back home. The song by Korean artist Sim Soo-bong, ‘the Mugunghwa,’ was sung as follows.

“At that time, the flowers of Mugunghwa bloomed. The flowers bloomed to leave this word. With patience, anyone wins. Those who are not afraid of death gain. And it will be a lamp tomorrow.” +

The praise song for Mugunghwa is a perfect match for the entrepreneurship of the merchants in Dongdaemun market. The song continues.

“At that time, the flowers of Mugunghwa bloomed. The flowers bloomed to leave this word. With patience, anyone wins. Those who are not afraid of death gain. Never give up. The flower does not bloom without tears. That’s will. Please try again. They can do it. And again, the flowers of Mugunghwa bloomed.” ++

As mentioned earlier, Mugunghwa has the national character of Koreans such as (1) quickly and quickly, (2) diligence, (3) the power of unity, and so on. The merchant spirit of the people in Dongdaemun market is almost the same.

The praises of foreigners for ‘Koreans’ the quickly and quickly spirit’ did not come from yesterday and today. The growth and development of the Korean economy from 1960s to 1970s, according to reports by foreign media such as Le Monde, France, was achieved quickly enough to be measured by cosmical standards.

Someone said it was Korean who made the Japanese think they were lazy people. Of course, we are well aware that the Japanese are still diligent.



-Some of the popular Dongdaemun fashion items we exported last week, seoulclick.com- 


During the 1997 IMF financial crisis, Koreans collected gold and other jewelry, and donated them to the government to help pay off the country’s foreign debt.

It is also from those merchants’ ‘quickly and quickly sprit’ that trendy fashion products of Dongdaemun market are traded every three days, from design to manufacturing and wholesale and retail.

Meanwhile, with the diligence of Koreans, Dongdaemun merchants do commerce at the Tokkebi market, which is open at night, and at the next day, they have no time to rest with design of fashion product, procurement of its parts, and then manufactured.

In the era of post-industrialization in any country, many people avoid 3D labor such as difficult, dirty, and dangerous work, but the people of Dongdaemun market do not avoid such work so far.

Lastly, the people of Dongdaemun market have a unity power of oxen, like the Aesop’s a fable about ‘Four Oxen and One Lion.’ Whenever there is a business crisis in Dongdaemun market, the merchants always said. 

“The worst was yet to come.”

And they prevented the deepening of the crisis with the power of unity, and did not forget the cry of national pride amid any desperate crisis.

“We will die before we give in.”

Before we forget, they did it and did it well. Without a full shot down, they are continuing Un-tact commerce even if the scale of transactions has decreased with the sky and sea roads closed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

They are no less a person than the merchant in Dongdaemun market.

<42>



Bong Sul (Advisor, SeoulClick)

www.seoulclick.com


 Read more: Bong (Bong Sik) Sul, Dongdaemun Style, ebook.kstudy.com, Seoul, 2019.



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