Rev. Sun Myung Moon
As a Peace-loving Global Citizen is the autobiography of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Movement. It was published in 2009 in both Korean and English by Gimm-Young Publishers of Seoul, South Korea. The book was released in South Korea on March 9, 2009 and debuted at #3 on the Businesss bestseller's list. It has ranked in various bestseller lists since then and was ranked 15th on the General bestseller's list as of October 14, 2009.
CHAPTER ONE - FOOD IS LOVE
A Definite Compass for My Life
The Moon clan originated in Nampyung, near Naju, Cholla Province, a town about 320 miles south of Seoul, in the southwest region of the country. My great-great-grandfather, Sung Hak Moon, had three sons. The youngest of these was my great-grandfather, Jung Heul Moon, who himself had three sons: Chi Guk, Shin Guk, and Yun Guk. My grandfather, Chi Guk Moon, was the oldest.
Grandfather Chi Guk Moon was illiterate, as he did not attend either a modern elementary school or the traditional village school. His power of concentration was so great, however, that he was able to recite the full text of the Korean translation of San Guo Zhi just by having listened to others read it to him. And it wasn’t just San Guo Zhi. When he heard someone tell an interesting story, he could memorize it and retell it in exactly the same words. He could memorize anything after hearing it just once. My father took after him in this way; he could sing from memory the Christian hymnal, consisting of more than four hundred pages.
Grandfather followed the last words of his father to live his life with a spirit of giving, but he was not able to maintain the family fortune. This was because his youngest brother, my Great-Uncle Yun Guk Moon, borrowed money against the family’s property and lost it all. Following this incident, members of the family went through some very hard times, but my grandfather and father never spoke ill of Great-Uncle Yun Guk. This was because they knew he had not lost the money gambling or doing anything of that nature. Instead, he had sent the money to the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, based in Shanghai, China. In those days, seventy thousand won was a large sum, and this was the amount that my great uncle donated to the independence movement.
Grandfather Chi Guk Moon was illiterate, as he did not attend either a modern elementary school or the traditional village school. His power of concentration was so great, however, that he was able to recite the full text of the Korean translation of San Guo Zhi just by having listened to others read it to him. And it wasn’t just San Guo Zhi. When he heard someone tell an interesting story, he could memorize it and retell it in exactly the same words. He could memorize anything after hearing it just once. My father took after him in this way; he could sing from memory the Christian hymnal, consisting of more than four hundred pages.
Grandfather followed the last words of his father to live his life with a spirit of giving, but he was not able to maintain the family fortune. This was because his youngest brother, my Great-Uncle Yun Guk Moon, borrowed money against the family’s property and lost it all. Following this incident, members of the family went through some very hard times, but my grandfather and father never spoke ill of Great-Uncle Yun Guk. This was because they knew he had not lost the money gambling or doing anything of that nature. Instead, he had sent the money to the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, based in Shanghai, China. In those days, seventy thousand won was a large sum, and this was the amount that my great uncle donated to the independence movement.