Han (), or haan, is a concept of an emotion, variously described as some form of grief or resentment, among others, that is said to be an essential element of Korean identity by some, and a modern post-colonial identity by others.

The historicity of han in premodern Korea is disputed. A national culture of han did not exist in premodern Korea. The contemporary concept of han, that it is a national characteristic of the Korean people, is a modern phenomenon that originated during the Japanese occupation of Korea from Japanese colonial stereotypes and the characterization of Korean art and culture as "sorrowful" in Yanagi Sōetsu's theory of the "beauty of sorrow". The idea that han is a specifically Korean characteristic was adopted and popularized by Koreans in the 20th century. Han has declined significantly in South Korea but maintains popularity in the Korean American community. The novelist Pak Kyongni describes han as both sadness and hope. The film director Im Kwon-Taek, many of whose films deal with han, says that Koreans have different interpretations of han.

Joshua D. Pilzer defines han: "A complex emotional cluster often translated as 'resentful sorrow.' Thought by many to be essentially Korean, and by many others to be the product of modern, post-colonial efforts to create a 'Korean' essence."

; Essentialist view

  • Kim Yol-kyu defined han as "the collective trauma and the memories of sufferings imposed upon [the Korean people] in the name of oppression over the course of the nation's five thousand-odd years of history". Kim said that the meaning of han is ambiguous. Kim Yol-kyu provided examples of stories, poems, and songs in which some form of han is depicted.
  • According to John M. Glionna, han is "intensely personal, yet carried around collectively, a national torch, a badge of suffering tempered by a sense of resiliency".

; Modern view

  • Michael D. Shin describes han: "In fact, it's modern. It's a term that captures something of the modern experience of Koreans." Shin says that defining han in terms of emotions is highly subjective; almost any negative emotion can be called "han". He argues that the central aspect of han is loss of identity, and defines han as "the complex of emotions that result from the traumatic loss of collective identity". Han is most commonly associated with divided families: families who were separated during the Korean War. According to Shin, all Koreans may experience han, or a "constant feeling of being less than whole", because of not having a collective identity as a result of the continued division of Korea. Furthermore, new generations of Koreans seemingly inherit it because of growing up in a divided country.
  • Sandra So Hee Chi Kim argues that the current usage of the word han in Korean is "a postcolonial translation of a Japanese colonial construct". Similar manifestations of han exist in other Asian languages and cultures, but it has acquired ethnonationalist and essentialist tones in Korea.
  • According to Joshua D. Pilzer, the idea of han as a national characteristic is recent and arises from Koreans' "modern search for national essences in the wake of colonialism, and in the midst of authoritarian capitalist development and national division".
  • Minsoo Kang argues that "the notion that Koreans are essentially a people of han was constructed entirely in the modern era". According to Kang: "The idea itself has roots in the Japanese imperial ideology that was used to justify the subjugation and exploitation of Koreans during the colonial era."

History

Premodern Korea

"Han" is not found in the first Korean–English dictionary, published by James S. Gale in 1897, and is rarely found in classical Korean literature. Traditional Korean stories almost always have happy endings. According to Kim Yol-kyu, Koreans used humor as one way to relieve pent-up han, which is why han is always accompanied by humor in folk music and pansori. Following the March First Movement, an independence movement that ended with the death of about 7,000 Koreans at the hands of the Japanese police and military, the Japanese art critic Yanagi Sōetsu wrote articles in 1919 and 1920, expressing sympathy for the Korean people and appreciation for Korean art. In his 1920 article, Yanagi said: "The long, harsh and painful history of Korea is expressed in the hidden loneliness and sadness of their art. It always has a sad beauty and loneliness that brings you to tears. When I look at it, I can not control the emotion that fills my heart. Where else can I find such beauty of sadness."

The characterization of Korea as sad and stagnant was common in Imperial Japan; Japanese historiography of Korea was centered on the idea that Korea was stagnant. To justify the colonization of Korea, the Japanese propagated an image of Koreans as an inferior, uncivilized people, who were incapable of being independent and prone to being invaded and oppressed. The Japanese viewed Korea's "sorrow" as being because of "a national history of unremitting disaster". Yanagi's views of Korea mirrored those of contemporary Japanese colonial politics. Yanagi said that Korean history was characterized by instability, invasion, and subservience; the "sadness" of Korean history was said to be manifested in Korean art, which, according to Yanagi, embodied the "beauty of sorrow". Yanagi contributed to the naturalization of Japanese colonialism in Korea.

The last Korean emperor, Sunjong, was directly associated with han. Following his death in 1926, an article said that his "life of han" ended in sadness. The Dong-a Ilbo wrote: "The anger, bitterness, and sorrow built up inside us have become mixed together, and it could be said that the passing of the Yunghui Emperor [Sunjong] has touched the hearts of the Joseon people and released their pent-up sadness." Han became political because Sunjong's death symbolized the end of Korean history. The concept of han, based on the "beauty of sorrow", was propagated by Korean scholars and writers, continuing Yanagi's legacy,

Mark Peterson disagrees with the view that Korea experienced many invasions, a view that he says is a 20th-century phenomenon that was advocated during the Japanese colonial period, and argues that Korea experienced very few invasions and had long periods of peace and stability. Peterson also disagrees with the Japanese colonial view of Korea as stagnant, inefficient, and corrupt. John Duncan calls the idea that Korea experienced constant invasions or that Korea has a "history of suffering" () a myth, and argues that premodern Korean history is characterized by very long periods of peace. According to David C. Kang, the dominant narrative depicting Korean history as "one of almost incessant foreign incursions" is a meme that emerged in the 20th century. Minsoo Kang calls the idea of a Korean character shaped by foreign invasions a modern myth that is still circulating today.

Han is criticized as patriarchal.

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Han, as a theme, is expressed in contemporary pansori. In the late 20th century, the sorrowful "Western style" of pansori overtook the vigorous "Eastern style" of pansori, and pansori began being called the "sound of han". All surviving pansori epics end happily, but contemporary pansori focuses on the trials and tribulations of the characters, commonly without reaching the happy ending because of the contemporary popularity of excerpt performances. The history of pansori in the late 20th century, including the recent canonization of han, has led to great concern in the pansori community.

In American media, han has been referenced in Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, "Koreatown, Los Angeles", and The West Wing, "Han".

In the Marvel Comic Book story New York State of Mind, written by Maurene Goo, with art from Lynne Yoshi and part of Marvel's Voices: Identity (Vol.1#1; released on August 25, 2021) Korean heroes Brawn and Silk discuss the concept of "han": Silk describes her interpretation as “...its like collective grief and resentment we carry because of oppression”. While fighting the villain Scarecrow (who laments at feeling invisible because his crimes didn't attract the attention of the Avengers), Silk and Brawn enumerate a number of indignities regularly experienced by Asian Americans. The fight concludes with Brawn delivering a knockout punch while saying: "We're Korean. We're born angry!"

In the Korean American community

Korean American scholar Elaine H. Kim has written on han in relation to the 1992 Los Angeles riots in her 1993 essay "Home Is Where The Han Is".

Korean American scholar and poet Seo-Young Chu coined the term "postmemory han" in her 2008 essay "Science Fiction and Postmemory Han in Contemporary Korean American Literature," published in MELUS. <blockquote>What does it mean for a second-generation Korean American to grieve for an uncle who disappeared in North Korea long before she was born? What does it mean for a second-generation Korean American to feel personally degraded by the soldiers who raped thousands of comfort women during WWII? Why should their dehumanization affect her so viscerally? How can a second-generation Korean American feel wounded by the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)—as though the wound were still raw, as though the 38th parallel cut her own body in half? Is it possible for her to feel homesick for the mountains of North Korea, an alien land where she has never been?

–Seo-Young Chu</blockquote>According to Chu's 2008 essay, in many Korean American literary works (e.g., Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, The Language of Blood by Jane Jeong Trenka, Notes from the Divided Country by Suji Kwock Kim, and Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller), Americans of Korean descent are sometimes portrayed as experiencing "Americanized" or second-generation han. More recently, in her hybrid creative nonfiction poem "I, Discomfort Woman: A Fugue in F Minor," published in 2023 in The Margins/Asian American Writers' Workshop, Chu responds to criticism of han, writing: "Han I reclaim and redefine as my Korean American response to injustice" and "Hwabyung I reclaim and redefine as a cathartic way of experiencing political agency and creative power."

According to Minsoo Kang, South Koreans and Korean Americans have different views toward han: South Koreans attach little importance to han, viewing it as a thing of the past, while Korean Americans attach great importance to han, viewing it as a way to build an identity.