KOREAN NET

Water Will Wear Away Stone

The Korean Community’s Effort to Gather Donation for the New Building of Qingdao Chungwoon Korean School, China

1. Qingdao Chungwoon Korean School’s Transfer Problem

The members of the Korean community in Qingdao have a project that they have long wished to fulfill. After establishing diplomatic relations with China in 1992, many Koreans have ventured into the lands of Qingdao, Shandong Province, which has led to the necessity for institutes and facilities relevant to their lives in China. One of those institutes was a Korean school built under the approval from the Ministry of Education. And so, the Sejong Korean School was founded in 2006, leasing a part of an existing Chinese school.

After receiving approval from both the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development and the Chinese Central Education Bureau, Qingdao Sejong Korean School was renamed as Qingdao Chungwoon Korean School in 2008, continuing to this day.

Qingdao Chungwoon Korean School (1)

Qingdao Chungwoon Korean School (2)

Inside Qingdao Chungwoon Korean School

Chungwoon Korean School (Principal: Lee Byung-sul), located in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, is the only school in Qingdao to educate students according to Korean curriculum, teaching students in the Korean community in China to grow up to be global figures with their identities as Koreans. Currently, the school has 31 classes in total, from pre-school, elementary, middle, and high school grades, with 702 students enrolled.

Chungwoon Korean School moved its building twice since its opening in 2006, and is currently leasing a part of the education complex in Tianhe Road, Chengyang District (城阳区 天河路) since 2013. However, not being able to secure an independent educational facility and having to move around constantly put Korean students in an inferior learning environment, leading the Korean community to dream of a new building for the school.

2. Re-building Chungwoon Korean School and the Effort of the Korean Community

Chungwoon Korean School is where Korean history, language, and textbooks can be taught without any interference in classes, being a landmark inside the hearts of the Koreans in Qingdao. The school serves as a place where students can learn the same material just the same way in Korea- the way that young Koreans deserve to be taught- and where children can learn from Korean teachers and textbooks without worrying. In China where written and spoken language as well as history are sensitive matters, the effort of Korean parents in Qingdao and the Korean community’s effort to maintain Chungwoon School goes beyond just being touching.

Initially, the school had saved up KRW 1.48 billion for five years from 2005 to 2010 as its construction fund. All the while, the lease of the original building became unclear, and the awareness on creating a space solely for the Korean community was raised, leading to the establishment of the Chungwoon School’s New Building Construction Committee in 2018 for the specific planning of moving the school. The first payment for the school’s new area was made on September 4, 2019. The school’s groundbreaking ceremony was held on the same day. The secondary donation during this time gathered KRW 870 million, which was added to the construction fund. From the budget of the school’s new building construction totaling up to KRW 13 billion (independent 5.2 billion, support from the Ministry of Education 7.8 billion), the KRW 3.7 billion worth of support fund from the Ministry of Education was first delivered on June 8, 2020, which contributed to the purchase of the school area and its design. After acquiring the permit for construction from the Chinese government, the ceremony of the construction was held in the purchased area on July 19, 2021.

Chungwoon Korean School’s Groundbreaking Ceremony (provided by the Qingdao Korean (Business) Community)

Chungwoon Korean School’s Groundbreaking Ceremony (provided by the Qingdao Korean (Business) Community)

However, the construction budget skyrocketed by around KRW 3.5 billion because of the rise in commodity prices and the Chinese government's order to build an underground evacuation facility that was not in the school’s initial design. The parents and students thought the school’s original allocation and the donation from Korean companies in the region wouldn’t be enough and decided to hold a fund raiser event.

3. The Third Fund-Raiser for Construction of Chungwoon Korean School at grassroots level

In 2021, the students of Chungwoon Korean School and their parents, as well as the Korean consulate general and the Korean Association got together to host various fund raiser events.

Fund-raising golf contest for Chungwoon Korean School’s new building (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

Delivering profit from the golf contest (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

Parent delivering profit from the online rummage sale (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

In October 2021, the parents got together and held an online rummage sale to raise funds for the school’s construction and donated all the profit to the school. A golf contest was hosted by the New Building Construction Committee with support from the Korean consulate general at the Huashan Golf Club, donating all the entrance fees again to the school’s construction.

Chungwoon Korean School’s newspaper, ‘Chungshinho,’ featuring various events of the parents’ council to raise funds for the new building construction (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

The ‘skip-rope challenge’ for students (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

The‘hidden coin hunt’ event for students (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

A parent's picture for the ‘relay challenge’ event promoting the school’s new building construction fund raiser (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

The poster for the concert of the band, ‘Daehangookin,’ gathering funds for the school’s new building construction (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

In November and December, the parents took the initiative and actively took part in holding fund raiser events, such as the surprise market, used books donation campaign, and the free market. In particular, the parents of elementary and middle school students were enthusiastic about the free market sales activities, showing their passion by selling the food they cooked and the items they crafted. Though in small amounts, the students also participated in fund raising events by participating in the hidden coin hunt challenge and the skip-rope challenge to make donations. Through all these events during the third fund raiser period, a total of KRW 240 million was raised.

In January 2022, ‘Daehangookin,’ a band formed by Koreans in Qingdao, hosted a real-life concert to raise funds for the school’s new building construction. Also, in June, the parents’ council participated in the festival celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and China to promote the fund raiser for Chungwoon Korean School and sold goods made by the school for profit.

The parents’ council participating in festival for the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and China

Goods created by Chungwoon Korean School

The situation is far from perfect as production costs are rising due to China’s economic growth, on top of Korean companies leaving for other countries and a lot of Koreans in Qingdao decreasing due to COVID-19. Such fund raising activities show the yearning of Qingdao Koreans to cope with difficulties and protect the school for the sake of their children’s educational rights.

4. Until the Day of the School’s Transfer to the New Area

Aerial View of Chungwoon Korean School and the Teachers’ Building after Frame Construction (provided by Chungwoon Korean School)

Currently, the construction for the new building has been undergone halfway, with an area of 19,810 m2, consisting of one basement floor and four floors above ground for a total of 38 classrooms and approximately 900 students. There is no problem in the school's transfer next year as long as the budget is provided on time. The fourth construction fund raiser is ongoing to gain support from the government of Chengyang District (城阳区政府), where Chungwoon School is located, and invite Chinese companies. At the fourth fund raiser, you can donate school equipment directly. The goal is to raise KRW 1 billion, but fund raising activities aren’t easy due to the strict measures against COVID-19 in China.

Since the first fund raiser, 17 years has passed until the current point of the fourth. KRW 2.6 billion has been collected just from the fund raising events. The fourth fund raiser has just started, but there is no sign of the Chinese government making a change in its COVID-19 policy. However, the Korean community still hopes that children will be able to learn in new buildings next year, continuously raising funds for the school’s construction.

An idiom called ‘Woogong Isan’ (愚公移山) can be found in the ‘Tangmoon’ chapter(湯問篇 ) of Lie Yukou’s book, Liezi (列子). The saying came from an old man over ninety years of age called ‘Woogong’ who decided to dig up soil for generations to move a mountain. His will touched the heavens, and the god answered him by moving the mountain for Woogong. The idiom has the same meaning as ‘the water will wear away stone,’ describing an act of unbending will to achieve something that seems almost impossible. All in all, the saying focuses on the process of not giving up no matter how difficult the circumstances are, hoping for a result that follows the effort. This is different from just concentrating on the consequence that the mountain was moved.
Living overseas brings a different kind of struggles in life compared to living in one’s home country. When such difficulties came their way, the Koreans of Qingdao have always proved their ability to overcome them. The construction of a new building for Chungwoon Korean School has faced similar issues, but the Koreans have never given up. As Woogong managed to move the mountain, the Koreans of Qingdao will also strive to build a new building for their school and transfer their children to an environment where they can cherish the learning grounds of their own.