Nemo Deum Vidit

01 Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind 15
Autumn 1952: The New House⁕―The Story Carried by the Wind
02 The Head House of Choi Clan 31
1956: The Big House―Birth: The Continuation of Karma?
03 Gakseoli 51
1957: The Big House―The Bright and Dark Sides
04 Bok-hee, a New Mistress of the Estate 69
1926: The Big House―Three Mothers-in-Law
05 The Choi Household 87
From the 1920s Onward: The Big House, the New House, and the Saemmy House in Sancheong―Surnames and Characters
06 Hong-seon, His Fate and Fortune 111
1943—1945: The Big House―The Family Motto
07 A Child Chasing After Birds 131
Until 1944: The New House―My Father’s Legal Wife
08 The Posthumous Child 153
1945: The Big House―Those Left Behind
09 Ki-soon’s Marriage 169
Summer 1945: The New House―The Unconcealable Nature
10 A New Beginning Brought by Pain 187
1945—1947: The New House―Struggling to Mend
11 The Korean War I 205
1950—1956: Seoul, Sancheong, and Busan―Ki-hoon’s Pain and Marriage
12 The Korean War II 229
1950: The Big House―Lee-seop’s family
13 The Korean War III 251
1950: Seoul and the Regions Near Sancheong―A Fragile Man and a Shameless Woman
14 The Footprints of Destiny 271
1950—1952: Seoul and Sancheong―Children of the New House
15 Ki-soon’s Return to Hometown 299
June 1952: Tokyo and Sancheong―The Fading Memories
16 Freeloading 317
Autumn 1952: Busan and Sancheong―The Family of Min-ja
17 Salpuri ― Exorcism 339
Winter 1952: The Gyeongho River―Plunging
18 Blood and Bone I 355
1954: The New House―Degeneration
19 Blood and Bone II 369
1955: The Big House and the New House―Instinct and Habit
20 The Child in Silk Beoseon 387
1960: The Big House ―A Web of Thoughts Weighing on the Scale of Time
21 The Shadow of the Past 409
1961: The New House―The Wind of Convention
22 The Death of the Lady Hwang 435
1963: The New House―The Edge of Time
23 Ki-soon, Flying as a Bird 447
1968: The New House―Shards of a Mirror
24 Bok-hee’s 60th Birthday Party 465
1970: The House of Ki-hoon in Busan―Blessing and Ill Fate
25 The Eldest Grandson of the Family, Bone or Entrusted ? 487
Since 1971: Busan―The Sons of Ki-hoon
26 Missing of the Mi-young 509
1975: Masan, Busan, and Sancheong―Soo-gon and Hye-young’s Hardships
27 An Unreachable Hand 527
Since 1978: Busan and Seoul―First Love
28 Those Who Erect Their Own Tombstones 549
1979—1981: Seoul, Busan, and Masan―Ignition of Desire
29 The Man and the Woman 565
1980—1982: Busan and Seoul―False Expectations
30 True Betrayal 585
1983: Busan, Seoul, and Masan―Greed and Emptiness
31 Nemo Deum Vidit ― No One Has Ever Seen God 611
1990—2001: Busan, Seoul, and Masan―Hope and Conviction

Introduction

We are all inhabitants scattered upon this earth!
The main title of this book, Nemo Deum Vidit, is a phrase from the Gospel of John. It means, “No one has ever seen God.” Humans, as mere inhabitants of the Earth, must live meaningfully and do their best to thrive. What is the meaning of all life on Earth? Where does the will of God reveal itself in our lives?
This book seeks to portray a journey of searching for God through the traces left behind by those who lived before the author.

What lingers in the place where a life was lived and passed? How will future generations sense the struggles and joys of those who came before them as time flows on? Where have the brilliance and vitality of life vanished? Is it all, in the end, just a fleeting moment in the vastness of time, leaving behind only a trace of dust?
The suffering in human life often stems from societal conventions rooted in one’s environment and from conflicts within the family. In their homeland―the “boneland” where their roots run deep―individuals strive to find meaning along the ever-shifting currents of time and society. Amid this struggle, some look to God, yearning for a glimmer of hope.

This story is based on the real-life experiences of the Gyeongju Choi family, spanning four generations (1926–2001) in Sancheong, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. This book explores where true personal value lies within family dynamics that reflect Korean cultural identity and the painful transformation of social customs.
The story spans 31 chapters, beginning with the sorrows of a family with four sons and three daughters, born to one father and three mothers. Even as they endure the loss of their children, the parents cling to God’s promise of new life, persevering through an endless cycle of pain. They, too―like all other living creatures―knew that they were merely transient beings, inhabitants passing through this earth.
Choi Hong-seon, born in 1881, was the 28th eldest grandson of the Sangseo-gong branch of the Gyeongju Choi clan. A devoted father, he championed equal access to wealth and education for all his children, regardless of gender. With a profound love for humanity, he rose above social divisions, believing that just as time is naturally accepted, so too should be the existence of God.
Il-seop, proud and sensitive, could not endure a moment of humiliation and took his own life before his father, Hong-seon. Yet his wife, Bok-hee, carried on with quiet strength, embracing her roles as a wife, matriarch, and mother of seven. The story begins with Bok-hee’s marriage in 1926 and unfolds primarily through her memories.
Hong-seon’s first daughter, Ki-soon, born to his second wife, Lady Hwang, excelled in her studies at a prestigious Japanese medical college but was unable to graduate. Upon returning to Korea, she endured the pain of a broken engagement and struggled with mental illness. Yet she resisted both societal and familial constraints, determined to survive as a woman of her time.
Se-joon, Hong-seon’s great-grandson―a gentle poet and, for a time, a psychiatrist―lived with deep devotion to protecting his mother, Jong-hee, until his untimely death.

In the latter half of the story, beginning with Chapter 20, the narrative reaches its core, focusing on the theme Nemo Deum Vidit (“No one has ever seen God” – John 1:18). It shifts to the trials of Soo-gon, Bok-hee’s nephew, and his family. Despite immense suffering―the disappearance of their second daughter, the sudden death of their son Yo-han, and their youngest daughter’s decade-long coma―Soo-gon and his wife, Hye-young, devout Christians, hold firmly to their belief that God has always watched over them. The arrival of new life in their family brings renewal and salvation, reaffirming their faith that, even in the midst of pain, they have always been in God’s care.

The flow of a family’s bloodline and surname is never merely a coincidence. When coincidences repeat, they become a destiny to be fulfilled.―The Author.