Jeong as the Paradigmatic Embodiment of Compassion (Hesed): A Critical Examination of Disparate and Dispostional Jeong

In this article I argue that while jeong is a particular Korean cultural expression, it is also a paradigmatic embodiment of compassion that can enhance the Christian practice of compassion for both Koreans and non-Koreans. Utilizing self psychology, I examine the psychological dynamics behind jeong and demonstrate that jeong is the outward manifestation of the self-selfobject relationships that can facilitate the development of the self and can be seen as developing from an immature to a mature state. This in-depth approach to the psychological examination of jeong also brings forth a more comprehensive understanding of jeong as the distinctions between disparate experiences and the dispositional aspects of jeong and between the life-forming and life-threatening aspects of jeong. I also demonstrate jeong in the relationship between Ruth and Naomi.