Reflecting on Intergenerational Trauma and "Han"

Kathryn Lee, MHC

Han (한). An intrinsic, visceral, gut feeling saturated with centuries of oppression, sorrow, anger, rage and resentment - it is the carried feelings of injustice that the Korean people and diaspora deeply feel and share. It is a word and response rooted in Korea’s history, past and present of foreign oppression and pain. 

For those that may be unfamiliar with the term, intergenerational trauma is defined as trauma that gets passed down from those who experience a traumatic event; this can include both collective and historical trauma of groups and communities of peoples. Epigenetic studies have increasingly shown that trauma can be passed down through generations via DNA, meaning unresolved feelings and traumas can be carried and passed from one generation to the next. While many have spoken about the trauma passed down in other communities, han is a part of unresolved trauma that has been passed down in the Korean blood. 

For some Korean Americans, han was triggered for the first time by the Atlanta shootings. For some individuals, they first began to witness and experience a deep sense of sadness, frustration, injustice and rage - a seed of han, a seed of intergenerational trauma. 

Through DNA testing, I have recently discovered that I myself am 99.9% Korean, meaning that  I have also intimately experienced and witnessed both the pain and beauty of han in myself and my community. Those that intrinsically feel han can understand and empathize with the overwhelming intensity that accompanies it. While han may sound like an unpleasant feeling, in embracing han, we embrace the range of emotions that come with it and can begin to do the hard work to heal from intergenerational trauma. 

In embracing our trauma, we can also begin to embrace the gifts that our ancestors have passed down. We care, we feel, and we do so deeply. We are able to beautifully manifest and express such feelings in ways that are unique to our culture, history and identity. We are passionate and resilient people with an enormous amount of pride in our collective identity. Just as we may carry han, we also carry the ability and capacity to heal, to love, to forgive and to move forward. We have inherited a deep and quiet strength that has become ingrained in our DNA that we will also carry and pass down.