Delineation: Summer and Ritual

My family moved to Seoul on February 3rd, 2008. Heath Ledger had recently died, the Iraq War was raging on, and will.i.am had released "Yes We Can" in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama. A week later, Sungnyemun was set on fire.

The fire started on February 10th, at approximately 8:50 PM, by an enraged arsonist with a lighter and three jugs of varnish. It was fully put out at 1:50 AM, and only the stone walls remained intact. Six centuries of history had been incinerated in five hours.

Sungnyemun (崇禮門) is also known as Namdaemun (South Gate), and is the First National Treasure of South Korea. Its name means "honoring li (禮)," which is often translated as ritual or propriety. As the southern gate of old Hanyang, it also symbolizes summer, fire, and vitality. Li helps tame the energy and vitality of summer through proper conduct and expression. In this sense, I read the burning of Sungnyemun as one man's abdication of li, or of what we owe to each other.

"Delineation” presents a series of protests, the most accessible modern ritual. Protests bring together people under a common cause, they often have established formats (marching, signs, human chains, chanting), and there exists a tacit understanding that they are for a greater good.

Buildings may fall, but the spirit of li will live on through civic engagement.