Haan: A Korean Word for the Feeling of Missingness or Loss
Briefly

The article explores the Korean concept of haan, a deep feeling of missingness that contrasts with jeong, highlighting its complex nature and emotional dimensions. Haan encompasses themes of resentment and sorrow, and is seen as more intricate than jeong. The discussion introduces two kinds of haan: original haan, a primal, innocent feeling of separation, and the more complex haan that reflects historical injustices and cultural burdens, as described by Anthony Bourdain. Overall, it underscores the nuanced interpretations and significance of these feelings in human connections and experiences.
Bourdain aptly described haan as a 'mixture of endurance, yearning, sorrow, regret, bitterness, spite, hatred, and a grim determination to bide your time until...' revealing its emotional complexity.
The complexity of haan suggests that it is even more intricate than jeong, with diverse interpretations among Koreans reflecting its significance in individual experiences of separation.
Read at Psychology Today
[
|
]