Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro star in Celine Track’s Oscar-nominated movie Previous Lives, which explores the phrase inyeon, the traditional idea of fated love.
Which phrase would you employ to explain somebody that you just had held fingers with, however by no means kissed? Maybe you had been childhood sweethearts who reconnected as adults, however you had by no means mentioned the phrases “I like you”. How would you describe your relationship to somebody who you rushed house to speak on the telephone with, however by no means dated? What would you name somebody that you could have cherished in a previous life? In English, that phrase would possibly mix the depth of “soulmate” with a extra harmless model of “situationship”. In Korea, nonetheless, it’s encapsulated within the phrase inyeon.
In 2023, Celine Track introduced her interpretation of inyeon to life in her directorial debut Previous Lives – a bilingual Korean and English movie during which the phrase can be its central theme. Nominated for finest image and unique screenplay Oscars, it follows fundamental character Nora Moon (performed by Greta Lee) as she migrates from Seoul to New York by way of Canada, and navigates her relationships with two loves – her husband Arthur (John Magaro) and her childhood finest good friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), with whom she reconnects as an grownup.
Nora first introduces inyeon in a voiceover as a visible montage weaves collectively scenes from her first assembly with Arthur with scenes displaying Hae Sung’s transfer to China and subsequent encounter with one other lady there. She describes the phrase to Arthur like this: “It means windfall or… destiny. Nevertheless it’s particularly about relationships between individuals. I believe it comes from Buddhism and reincarnation. It is an inyeon if two strangers even stroll by one another on the road and their garments by accident brush. As a result of it means there should have been one thing between them of their previous lives. If two individuals get married, they are saying it is as a result of there have been 8,000 layers of inyeon over 8,000 lifetimes.”
For the reason that success of the movie, Track has described inyeon in her personal phrases by calling it a commonplace phrase in Korea, “one thing Koreans say to seduce somebody” (additionally a line from the movie) and a phrase deeply related to Jap philosophy, distinguishing it from Western ideas of future as “one thing that you just can’t cease from coming to you”. However what does the phrase actually imply and the way does Track’s description of the phrase, each within the Previous Lives script and in actual life, relate to its actual which means?
In quest of a dictionary definition
Dr Lisa Jeon, an adjunct professor of Linguistics on the College of North Texas, says the most typical method that Koreans use inyeon is to counsel that it’s an omnipotent, predestined drive that can not be modified, no matter one’s will.
Nevertheless, using the phrase and what it really means is difficult by plenty of elements: Korean is mostly thought of a “listener-responsible” language, which means the onus is on the listener to know what the phrase means primarily based on context. This particular phrase occurs to have numerous meanings, so it is doable that the speaker’s which means might differ from the listener’s interpretation of it. And whereas the phrase has roots in Buddhism, it has turn into nearly solely disassociated with the Buddhist faith in use and brought on a extra secular which means over time.
The phrase’s precise definition, in accordance with Dr Jeon, can vary from 4 completely different meanings: the ties between two individuals over the course of their lives; destiny, future, or a predestined relationship; a karmic and dharmic [moral order] connection; the implications of trigger and impact. It isn’t straightforward to pin down an English counterpart as a result of the phrase has so many nuances, she says.
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That context can be needed in understanding using inyeon in Previous Lives. In the direction of the tip of the movie, Nora explains to Hae Sung that their relationship was not meant to be, utilizing the phrase in a romantic context: “However on this life, we do not have the inyeon to be that type of individual to one another.” Later that night, Hae Sung asks a query connoting the phrase’s dharmic which means as an alternative: “If that is additionally a previous life, do you assume we have already got a brand new inyeon to at least one one other in our subsequent life?” Relying on the way you imagine the characters are utilizing the phrase, the interactions in Previous Lives can both be platonic, or threat crossing an extramarital boundary.
Forgotten Buddhist roots
The phrase’s etymology is as exhausting to pin down as its dictionary definition. In accordance with Jaehee Han, professor of Tradition Research and Oriental Languages at Dongguk College, inyeon comes from the Sanskrit hetu-prataya – a phrase which means “causes” and “circumstances” that may be present in Buddhist textual content relationship way back to the 2nd Century. Whereas the 2 phrases are associated to at least one one other, hetu-prataya doesn’t equate to inyeon by way of “destiny”. He says that phrase, like Buddhism itself, seemingly traveled from India by way of China and arrived in Korea someday through the late Goguryeo Dynasty (37 BC-668 AD).
Dr Victor Fan, a reader on the division of movie research at King’s School London who has written about using Buddhism in movies, explains the idea of inyeon because it pertains to hetu-prataya like this: “On a day-to-day foundation, I typically imagine that I exist, and my existence appears to come back from a everlasting self. Buddhism doesn’t deny that I exist, however my existence doesn’t come from a singular self, however from a community of circumstances: rain, air, my dad and mom, my mates, and even the society at massive. If I imagine in transmigration (the existence of previous lives), the reminiscences of these previous lives are nonetheless affecting the best way I believe, really feel, act, and converse even in a delicate method.”
Whereas the non secular definition of the phrase could also be utilized in sure circles, the phrase – generally heard in every day conversations and used as a theme on tv exhibits and songs – hardly ever takes into consideration its Buddhist historical past.
It’s unsure when inyeon started to tackle a extra secular which means, however one clue might exist when trying on the phrase’s Chinese language characters. “Though Chinese language and Korean are genetically unrelated, Chinese language was the primary language in East Asia to be written down, so it has been a supply of hundreds of borrowed phrases over the centuries,” Dr Jeon says, including that it is seemingly that the concept of “predestiny” was constructed into the unique Chinese language. Whereas there are small variations within the phrase’s use, it exists throughout a number of languages which were influenced by Chinese language. The phrase’s equal, as an illustration, is mìng yùn in Mandarin, innen in Japanese and nhân duyên in Vietnamese.
One of many causes that the phrase’s Buddhist roots could also be missed in fashionable Korean society is a decline in using hanja. Hanja, or Sino-Korean, was a system of writing in Korean utilizing Chinese language characters earlier than the invention of the trendy Korean writing system, Hangul, in 1443. Whereas Koreans nonetheless use Hanja to disassemble and examine a phrase’s which means, one widespread misunderstanding about inyeon is that the in comes from the character for human (ingan) and connection (yungeol).
Particular person interpretations of inyeon
“After all, how one interprets [inyeon] might change the best way one approaches the movie,” Dr Fan says in a dialogue by way of e-mail. Had been Hae Sung and Nora destined to be, and did Arthur get in the best way? Do you imagine that the characters’ outcomes and subsequent relationships had been the results of actions and emotions? Or do you imagine that their tales had been decided by future?
Though Dr Fan doesn’t imagine that the expression of free will in Previous Lives stays true to the Buddhist which means of inyeon, he argues {that a} Buddhist interpretation of the movie is just not needed. As a substitute, it is a chance for the viewer to look at the filmmaker’s relationship to the idea and maybe, our personal as properly.
Participating with the concept is extra essential than whether or not the movie is giving us an accurate definition and illustration of a philosophical idea, he says. “It’s in itself an exquisite method to attract our consideration to the interconnectedness of all sentient beings, particularly these individuals whom we love and care about deeply.”
Previous Lives is offered to stream now on Prime Video and Paramount+.
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