가정
[kajeong]
家庭
Etymology
家 (가) [ga] – home, family, household庭 (정) [jeong] – courtyard, garden
The word 가정 means an extended family which, unlike 가족, includes not only husband, wife, and children, but also the people you live with (grandparents, uncles, and aunts, etc.).
Looking more closely the word “family,” in Korean 가정 – kajeong, the second character, jeong (庭), means “garden.” Parents and siblings in a family are like a colorful variety of beautiful garden flowers. The family should be a place where everyone experiences happiness. If family members quarrel among themselves, the garden becomes a desert.
There are grandparents, parents, husband and wife, sons and daughters, and other relatives in the family. It is not only words that unite them, and it is not money or the need to live and sit at the same table together that motivates them to stick together. Living in the same house is no guarantee that family members will get along with each other. Only mutual love allows for a united front to cope with the difficulties of living together. In a family, all relationships are balanced by love.
People these days gravitate toward egocentrism and think: “As long as I’m doing well, everything is fine.” But now is the time to give up egocentrism and start sharing love with everyone around you. The family is the most appropriate place to do this. In a happy family, the husband comes home from work, discusses with his wife all the events of the day, and makes new plans with her.
If you meet people of any race who are old enough to be your grandparents, respect and honor them as your own grandparents. When you meet people your parents’ age, love them as if they were your own father and mother. Moreover, respect all the men and women in the world just as you respect your husband or wife, and love all the children just as you love your own children.
A family where everyone tries to get love will one day fall apart, but a family where everyone tries to share love with others will never fall apart.
The family is the key to harmony and accord; one day all mankind will unite as one extended ideal family.
See also: Quotes about family.