Nietzsche philosophy of history monograph

The Monument of Korea

Thinking about monuments and statues to support the idea of monumental type of history by Nietzsche, I have succeeded to recall one statue that I saw when I was visiting Korea. The statue that I saw was heavily armed man who was carrying a sword longer than his body.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin is one of the most famous heroes in Korea. Not just in Korea, he is worshipped as one of the gods in Japan. His statues can be seen in many different places, especially in tourist attraction spots in Korea.

So the question is “why is that statue standing in the middle of the road? Why do we need that statue there and what is the purpose of putting a stone man who is heavily armored on the tourist attraction spot?”

I believe that the reason for those statues to stand there is because they give certain benefits for the people. I think the definition of the monumental history according to Nietzche will help us understand the benefits of the monuments. Monumental history inspires people. It is a role model who has achieved a goal that almost seems impossible.

Going back to Admiral Yi, he fought against the Japanese naval force; during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, for twenty three times and gained victory for twenty three consecutive times.

“Yi is remembered for his numerous victories fighting the Japanese during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592~1598). In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave the order to invade Joseon, to sweep through the peninsula and use it as a forward base to conquer China. After the Japanese attacked Busan, Yi began his naval operations from Yeosu, his headquarters. Quickly, he won the Battle of Okpo, Battle of Sacheon, and several others. The string of victories made the Japanese generals suddenly wary of the threat at sea. Twenty three battles took place during the war, with Admiral Yi taking victory in all of them.” (wikipedia)

The most well known battle of Admiral Yi is the battle of Myeongnyang. He gained victory against massive Japanese naval force with only 13 ships.

“At the Battle of Myeongnyang, Yi proved victorious in the battle with 13 panokseons, while the Japanese had at least 333 ships (133 warships, at least 200 logistical).” (wikipedia)

Those unbelievable facts are the well known part of Admiral Yi. Koreans tends to think of the Battle of Myeongnyang or the savior of the Japanese invasion of Korea when they see the statue of Admiral Yi. The statue of Admiral Yi makes them proud to become the citizens of Korea. This monumental history makes a great model for the generations to come.

I believe that there were many other generals of the time whose names are worthy enough to be mentioned on the history textbook of Korea, but obviously this didn’t happen. The name of Admiral Yi is the most exalted and most valued in the history textbooks while others, we do not even know their existence. This is the actual downside of the monumental history.

Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of monumental type of history, I have realized the danger that we will definitely face when we look at history with just one perspective. It is important for us to value to benefits that those perspectives can give, and complement the mistakes or disadvantages with other understandings of history.

Bibliography

Yi Sun-sin. Retrieved on August 20, 2008
from http://en.wikipedia.org/yi_sun-sin