July 30, 2025
During a research assistant internship with Cultural infusion, Shadow Tsui shared a story about the ‘commoning’ culture on Jeju Island and asks whether today’s culture could embrace commoning.
Experiencing Commoning is uncommon
Living in a culturally diverse city is not equal to cultural integration.
Hong Kong’s pace of life is faster than you can imagine. With the rapid urban development, Hong Kong is perceived as an international metropolis. Hong Kong citizens work hard while spending less time to connect to others. However, in the past, the bonding of Hong Kong people was very strong. Especially, the core value of Hong Kong is ‘lion rock spirit‘, a special cohesion and self-identity among the Hong Kong society. So, this raises for me a question: Does urbanisation destroy cultural integration?
As an enthusiastic student of culture, I had the opportunity to go on a study tour to Jeju Island to learn about the concept of ‘commoning’.
Also, you will discover that Jeju Island is a place full of courage, faith, and strength, which has become a precious lesson in my life.
The Concept of Commoning
In my minor in cultural studies, one of the concepts I learned was ‘commoning’. It means a collective action by a community to share resources and maintain a healthy neighborhood through a set of governance rules established by the community. This also emphasised the involvement of people in a community without any specific governance rules. Under this concept, we can observe this unique culture on Jeju Island.
The background of Jeju Island
Jeju Island is located in South Korea. This is a volcanic island, and its landscape is characterised by basalt rocks. Jeju often has rain and typhoons. What’s worse, Jeju Island combats nuclear threats, energy depletion, agricultural issues and other deteriorating social conditions. In recent years, the government of Jeju Island mostly relies on tourism to make revenue while the natural resources are limited. So, citizens need to find a way to maintain sustainable self-sufficiency.
Sharing Resources: Sonong Road Farm Cafe
During my study tour on Jeju Island, one of the places I visited was Sonong Road Farm. This is a local cafe using the vegetables they grow themselves to serve different cuisines by six young teenagers. The reason why they collaborate is because of their self-belonging to Jeju. These teenagers follow different professions such as arts, science, marketing, and they dream to find a high-income job in Seoul (the capital in South Korea). However, the failure of getting a job becomes the driving force for them to rethink the most meaningful things in their life.
When I got into the cafe, I felt warm and lovely. The decoration of the cafe is simple, using natural material to build up. Some wall paintings were created by local people. The most beautiful thing is that six young teenagers tried to figure out a way to use their knowledge and skills to give back to their birthplace, Jeju. The goal is to maintain sustainable development in Jeju by commoning with friends and land. These teens learned organic farming skills from retired farmers, and now they farm by themselves. This is not only a process of learning but also the inheritance of traditional farming culture that can be passed down to the next generation.
Facing insufficient job opportunities seems to urge local people to reach out to other places. However, the chance to share the existing resources is a strength for them to start their dreams. Throughout the action of sharing resources, people rethink their role in a community. This not only contributes to sustainability in a community but also living as light to influence more people to work together. Living in a developing region might lose some outreaching opportunity, but a unique culture of ‘commoning’ is shaped with harmonious relationships on Jeju Island.
Maintaining a Good Neighborhood: Sehwa-ri Village
There are three abundances on Jeju Island: rocks, wind, and women. Women on Jeju Island act as a strong and resilient role in a family, particularly the Haenyeo (Sea women). Haenyeo are female free divers known for harvesting seafood from the ocean without breathing equipment, who always work collectively. Haenyeo are primary providers, supporting their families and contributing to the local economy through the sale of marine resources. So, a strong bond between Haenyeo and the community can be seen. What’s more, in 2016, the culture of Haenyeo was listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The culture of Haenyeo is one of a kind in the world.
With rapid urbanisation, the job of Haenyeo is disappearing as local people can rely on imported goods and no longer need them to catch seafood. Also, the Haenyeo are getting older and can no longer work as they used to while the young generations are not willing to do such hard jobs. Facing the danger of this unique culture disappearing, Sehwa-ri Village preserves it and develops a way for tourism.
To preserve the culture of Haenyeo, Sehwa-ri Village has been promoting the culture in an active way. In the village, there is a Welfare Center open for local people and tourists, with cafe, co-working space, and some workshops held in the building. When my friends and I entered the cafe, we observed that it was full of local souvenirs, some of them made by retired Haenyeo. It breaks the traditional way of promoting culture. The local people also invited tourists to be one of their neighbours, to share different cultures, and establish a close relationship.
In one workshop, a retired Haenyeo taught us to make traditional Korean noodles. During the workshop, I felt integrated and enjoyed the moment at the village. The staff and local people welcomed us with a big smile, and they loved to share their perspective on Jeju’s culture. Maintaining a good neighbourhood is not just for the local people, but also the tourists can be a part of them. That is how wonderful the village is!
Involvement of People: Hansalim
One of the most interesting spots we visited was Hansalim, the economy-commoning organisation. Can you imagine that the seller and customer can become friends? Hansalim is a not-for-profit non-goverrnment organisation (NGO) that establishes mutual care and responsibility between rural and urban communities. In other words, the farmers directly sell their crops while the consumer can directly buy fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmers, without the involvement of middlemen. This practice reflects the motto of Hansalim – ‘Farmers shoulder the responsibility of the health of the consumer while consumers shoulder the livelihoods of the farmers.‘
In the tour, I am glad that I can join the holiday market. If you are at the market, you would think that it is a beautiful picture with harmony. The farmers put their fresh crops at their booth while the local people could feel free to try those foods. What’s more, they have leisure talk and care about each other. They hug and shake hands with warm smiles. This is what I have never seen in Hong Kong!
Food connects people! This is what I felt at that moment. The people in Jeju are nice and willing to share their resources though it is limited. They are generous and kind to share what they have, and they do not take food for granted. Jeju people cherish the resources they have, and they connect with each other. This contributes to developing a communing community and expanding the involvement of people.
Does Urbanisation Destroy Cultural Integration?
Throughout this study tour, I am grateful that I can experience a new form of culture in a new place. Facing extreme weather conditions on Jeju Island, the local people never think about the way to escape. Instead, they will gather and think of a new way to solve the problems they face. This place reminds me of a quote –
‘If you don’t have any shadow, you are not in light.’
The uncontrollable conditions may let Jeju Island fall into a harsh environment, but this also gives the opportunity to the local people to find the way out.
Urbanisation is an inevitable development in a country or a region. The government may easily focus on political and economic development but less emphasising the importance of culture. Just like Hong Kong, people with different cultural backgrounds live together but seldom talk about cultures due to the rapid urbanisation. There is no time or space for people to interact. So, these had become my fixed thoughts in thinking about the relationship between urbanisation and culture.
However, Jeju Island overthrew my thoughts. In fact, Jeju Island is a successful case in executing cultural integration in the process of urbanisation. The local people try to strike a balance between urbanisation and the promotion of culture. Commoning becomes the solution for Jeju people to face the challenge of urbanisation. Sharing resources generously, maintaining a good neighbourhood with harmony, and involving all the people in one community can definitely make the culture integrated. This is the attitude of people to look at their culture and resources.
“Like a farmer, everyone has the heart to grow something. Shall we?” This is a question from Sonong Road Farm.
For me, I hope I can use my strength and knowledge to contribute to Hong Kong and promote cultural integration in my lovely hometown! So, how about you?
Want more from this writer? Read Shadow’s previous post for the Cultural Infusion blog, ‘Finding Unity in Cultural Diversity: 1 Inspiring Week in Thailand’!
About the author:
Share this Post