The Last Record of Teacher Lee O-ryeong, a 'Tear Drop' Imbued in His Handwriting

From the left, bereaved family member Lee Gang-mu, Professor at Baekseok University; Lee Seung-mu, Professor at Korea National University of Arts; Kang In-suk, Director of Yeongin Literature Museum; and Ko Se-gyu, CEO of Gimmyoungsa. Photo by Gimmyoungsa

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] “For the first time in 40 years, I am writing by hand. I have been typing on a computer keyboard, but now that I am old and double-clicking has become difficult, I am returning to the old-fashioned handwritten script.”

Dr. Lee O-ryeong, who shone as an “intellectual of the era” and skillfully handled digital devices, could not defy the passage of time. After being diagnosed with liver cancer in 2017 and refusing chemotherapy, he devoted himself to writing. A thick notebook he received as a gift became the trigger for his handwriting. Returning to the old-fashioned handwritten script, he filled the notebook with “elementary school handwriting as if learning to write for the first time.” From October 2019 until January, one month before his peaceful passing. Thus, the book Tears Drop (Kim Young-sa) was born.

At a press conference held on the 28th at a cafe in Jung-gu, Seoul, the late Dr. Lee’s wife, Kang In-sook, director of the Youngin Literature Museum, said, “He said he couldn’t double-click anymore and felt electromagnetic waves from the computer, so he couldn’t type. So he started writing by hand, and the good thing was that old memories came back, like the voice of a merchant selling sticky rice cakes and the sound of paper doors. Also, his character changed, and whenever he received a gift, he always wrote a handwritten reply. He gained the time and heart to express gratitude.”

She continued, “The advantage of handwritten manuscripts is that you can see the person’s expression. Their health condition is also fully reflected. Even now, when I look at the writing, I can see everything?how much pain he was in, how happy he was. If the writing is blurry, it means he was very sick; if it is neat, he must have been okay...” she recalled.

The theme running through the book is “tears.” The late Dr. Lee said tears are proof of humanity. He emphasized that the criterion distinguishing animals from humans is “tears shed not for oneself but for unknown others.” He explained that in these times when human relationships are weakened by the coronavirus, what is desperately needed is “a single tear of tolerance.”

Out of 147 writings contained in the notebook, 110 were selected for the book. About a dozen writings are directly related to tears. The editor explained, “At the beginning, there is an occasion that caused a single tear to fall, and then 12 writings related to tears follow. You might think the proportion in the entire manuscript is small, but the core of the teacher’s final words is tears.” The notebook’s contents were included in the book in the exact order they were recorded, as requested by the late Dr. Lee. Drawings he made himself were also included.

In recording the last moments of his life, the late Dr. Lee also shed tears of human fear. According to Director Kang, he was greatly tearful, fearing that he would soon be unable to walk and that his mind would deteriorate due to photopsia.

Even amid this, he never let go of his pen. His eldest son, Professor Lee Seung-mu of the Korea National University of Arts, said, “My father had a strong desire to complete writings related to AI and life capitalism. He also reviewed many of his previous writings. He wanted to correct them, saying ‘This was written incorrectly’ or ‘This needs to be fixed.’”

Although he had much he wanted to leave behind, Tears Drop became his final book. In the preface, the late Dr. Lee wrote, “Tears shed for oneself and others are the most beautiful and powerful things on earth. To understand humans is to understand the tears they shed. Here, I have written down the traces of those tear drops.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.