[Korean Culture & Language] Do you know Tao


Hello, this is Uptempo!

Taoism is a philosophy and religion from ancient China that teaches believers how to live in harmony with the universe. However, many who refer to themselves as ‘Taoists’ in Korea are not true Taoists. They approach random people on the street or knock on people’s doors and ask “도를 아십니까? (Do you know Tao?)” before asking for their ‘investment’.

Instead of selling actual products or services, these ‘independent distributors’ or ‘investors’ make money from recruiting new investors. The new investors are asked to make a payment before being permitted to participate in the scheme. The funds raised from these new investors are used to repay the initial investment. The new members make money by attracting additional people into the system. 

Some of the cliché statements by these investors are: "착하게 보이시네요(You seem friendly)," "효도하실 것 같아요(You seem like a good daughter/son)," "복이 많아 보이세요(You seem to be lucky)," "공덕이 많아 보이세요(You seem like a generous person),” "눈빛이 좋네요(You have nice eyes),” "밝아 보이네요(You seem like a cheerful person)" "조상의 덕이 많은 것 같아요(Your ancestors must have inherited you a lot of luck)," "똑똑하고 지혜롭게 보여요(You seem smart and witty)," etc.

The video clip below is from a popular Korean sitcom ‘내일 지구가 망해버렸으면 좋겠어’. It is titled ‘도를 아십니까? 에 걸렸을 때 대처하는 자세,’ which is translated to “Best ways to deal with ‘do you know Tao?’ when they approach you on the street”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2qtlTTfF-g&t=3s


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