Excerpt

I would like to begin this essay by sharing a personal anecdote from which this writing first developed. One day I was feeling down and could not quite pinpoint what had put me in this mood. Although the nature of what I was feeling at that time and the origin of my feelings were unknown to me, certain senses of melancholy, sadness, or anger were present in me. An acquaintance, with whom I was engaged in conversation at that moment, said to me that my look reminded him of the Korean emotion han. Upon hearing this, I found myself astounded…