Noblesse oblige; to be, not to be seen(Esse Non Videri)

Noblesse oblige is high levels of moral obligation that is required to high class as we know.
It was originated from kings and the nobles who showed a moral sense in early Roman times.  For example, when there were big wars like World War I and II, the sons of the nobles were out to fight in war rather than spare themselves. Like this, Noblesse oblige means that wealth, power and reputation require the privileged people with responsibilities towards society. Recently, it has made headlines that there is a family in Europe who practices noblesse oblige. And I would like to introduce a Korean family which also had practiced noblesse oblige.


1. The motto of Wallenberg Family in Sweden; Esse Non Videri.
Wallenberg family is the owner who has 14 large corporations accounting for 30% of Swedish GDP and 40% of Stock market in the field of finance, construction, aviation, electronics, telecommunication and pharmaceutical company.

 

Wallenberg family tries to keep the family business but it is possible when there is someone who is suitable for managing their family’s heritage. The heir has to graduate from a prestigious university, enter the naval academy, and go into international financial center without help of his or her parents. Because of checking and balance of competition, there must be always two people for tricky and difficult verification which takes more than 10 years. Besides, it is required to employ labor representative as a board and 85% of profit should give back to the society for public like universities, library constructions and so on.

Even though they have great power and influence, the family has never been on the list of 1000 world’s billionaire and the 100 richest people in Sweden. So, they are receiving much love from Swedish people. They became a pride of Sweden by carrying out all their responsibilities instead of taking privileges.

 

“To be, not to be seen (Esse, Non Videri)”





Choi Family in Kyeongju City in South Korea; Do not let anyone die of hunger within around 100 ri (39.3km) from my house.

 

There is Kyodong Choi Family in Kyeongju City in Kyungsangbuk-do, South Korea.
For 400 years, 9 people of their family became ‘jinsa’ who passed civil service examination and 12 people became millionaires. Kyodong Choi Family is astonishingly well off and has a house with 99 rooms. Even though they are very wealthy, they are not well-known in Korea. There are some reasons for that. That is why they have principles which are like their family mottos.


-Never take positions which are higher than the level of ‘Jinsa’ (the lowest government position): the whole family can badly get influenced by a high position.
-Don’t accumulate more than million straw bags per year. Too much greed would cause troubles. If there are more than million straw bags, the rest should be given to the society.
-Serve strangers well enough: treat whoever came to our house with full of warm heart and enough food
-Don’t buy a land in a year of bad harvest: do not make people upset by buying a land which has no grocery to eat.
-Daughters in law must wear cotton clothes (plain clothes) for 3 years: If she knows the difficulties, she will understand the difficulties of other people.
-Don’t let anyone die of hunger within around 100 ri (40km) from my house: especially in a year of bad harvest.


The family has never taken higher positions and when they have enough money, they have given back some money to society. So, there was no one in the family who could be remembered by people and that is the characteristics of the family. I am so proud of the fact that there’s such a family in Korea.
Those families are good examples in our society where people only cherish themselves and don’t take care of other people. There are many people in the world who do good things without revealing their deeds.
I would like to be such a person who does good things like those families.