Everyday Korean

Episode 65

사람 위에 사람 없고 사람 밑에 사람 없다

No Person Is Above or Below Another

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

The Conversation

정민: 사라는 5월이 광주에서 아주 중요한 달인 것을

알지?

Jeongmin: Sarah, you know that May is a very important month in Gwangju, right?

사라: 네, 알아요. 학교에서 5.18 (오일팔) 민주화운동에

대해서 배웠어요.

Sarah: Yes, I know. I learned about the 5.18 (o-ilpal) Democratic Movement in school.

정민: 그럼 잘 알겠네. 광주는 커다란 희생을 하고

민주주의를 살린 도시야.

Jeongmin: Then you must know it well. Gwangju is the city that has saved democracy by making great sacrifices.

사라: 네. 저는 5.18 운동을 소재로 한 ‘화려한 휴가’를

보면서 많이 울었어요.

Sarah: True. I cried a lot while watching the “May 18” movie based on the movement.

정민: 나도 그랬어. 광주는 나에게 사람 위에 사람 없고 사람 밑에 사람 없다고 가르쳐 줬어.

Jeongmin: Me, too. Gwangju taught me that no person is above or below another.

사라: 그 말이 무슨 의미예요?

Sarah: What would be the exact meaning of that?

정민: 사람 누구나 태어날 때부터 평등하고 똑같다는 의미야.

Jeongmin: It means that everyone is equal and the same from the time they are born.

Grammar

~을/를 소재로 한: This is not a grammar point but more like an expression that is used with an object to describe something that serves as a basis for creating another thing, such as artwork. Use ~ 을 소재로 한 when a verb ends in a final consonant (받침, patchim) and ~를 소재로 한 when one ends in a vowel.

Ex: - 어제 이주민을 소재로 한 기사를 읽고 눈물이 났어요.

Yesterday, I cried after reading an article on immigrants.

사람 위에 사람 없고 사람 밑에 사람 없다: This proverb talks about equality among people. Its literal meaning is “there is no person above a person and no person below a person,” and it simply expresses that all human beings are born with equal rights and duties, and no one is better or worse than anyone else.

Ex:

가: 사람 위에 사람 없고 사람 밑에 사람 없다고 한 것처럼 남녀노소 모두가 똑같아요.

As the saying goes, “No person is above or below another” –everyone is the same and equal.

Vocabulary

사람: person, 위: above, 밑: below, 중요하다: to be important, 월: month, 민주화운동: democratic movement, 커다란: huge, 희생: sacrifice, 민주주의: democracy, 살리다: to save, 도시: city, 보다: to watch, 울다: to cry, 가르치다: to teach, 의미: meaning, 태어나다: to be born, 평등하다: to be equal, 똑같다: to be the same

The Author

Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He volunteers with TOPIKGUIDE. com and Learnkorean.in. He has also co-authored the book Korean Language for Indian Learners.