A Study on the Life of Aged in Cheju Island

제주도의 노인생활 연구

In Korea, the collapse of traditional Patriarchal family system has caused the weakening the patriarchal authority which represents the decrease of traditional attitude of respect for old age, influenced by the strong tendency of Materialism in ethics. The urgent problem is how to solve the conflicts of the alienation almost every old people has felt from the society and family which they belong to and how to harmonize the respect for old age who used to have had in the past. From 21st to 30th of July 1979, I explored the small village in Cheju Island with eight students which I selected on purpose that village had preserved the traditionalism. I collected the interview data form a sample of 221 persons of the village in Cheju Island. I studied this small village in Cheju Island for the intention of suggesting the ideal model of regional society which both traditional and non-formal, although the phenomena of nuclear family system and materialism and industrialism are overwhelming in ur present society. Generally people in Cheju Island are economically poor and major occupation is farming, since the industrialization proceeds very slowly and there still strongly remains the traditionalism. Alienation and dissatisfaction of old people from their family and society in Cheju island are less common in comparison to the main land. Old people in Cheju Island usually value the importance of labour. Divison of labour has been well observed in farming, and men and women in Cheju island are equally regarded in comparison to the main land. Old people are independent economically and spiritually from their offsprings and they organize the nuclear family system firmly. Also the old generation is ready to compromise with the new generation and they defy the authoritariansim.