Ritual Behavior in South Korea

The period of mourning has changed a few times over the years, in the 18th century,the duration of the mourning period was over a month, but it has decreased drastically since then, and it is generally decided that 3 days is sufficient. Traditionally, the sangju or oldest male would lie on a carpet with straw armrests for the duration of the mourning. If the mourners needed to leave the house, they had to wear a large brimmed hat to show that they had lost someone close to them. On the last day of the mourning period, the funeral procession was held. On this day, a bier was used for transporting the coffin to the grave. Before the coffin left the deceased’s home, it was lowered an raised 3 times to signify the final departure from their home on Earth.

The people who attended the funeral wore very simple clothing, with the men wearing a sleeveless coat and thee women wearing no jewelry and not combing their hair the hands and feet of the deceased were bound tightly, and one of the relatives would take a coat of the deceased to the roof of the house, and call out the deceased’s name 3 times, the coat was then taken back in and used to cover the dead body. The day after the death, the burial was prepared the first of which was called seup or a process involving the cleaning and dressing of the corpse. The water used to clean the body was perfumed to take away any unpleasant smell, and the body was dried immediately after the washing. The hair of the body is combed, and the nails manicured, any lost hair or nail-clippings during tis procedure are collected and placed in pouches called joballang . The joballang is placed into the coffin and the corpse is fed 3 spoonfuls of rice, followed by some money. It is thought that the rice and money help ease the passing into the afterlife. The earth that would be placed over the body was packed into a mound shape to prevent water seepage. Called dalgujil , this process of packing the earth by stamping on it was done with the accompaniment of music. It also had to be done in odd-number layers.

Wow, Korea sure had a rich history and a full culture. With all of their rituals for the phases: Birth and Childhood , Initiation and Adolescence, Marriage and Adulthood, and finally Death and Remembrance, it’s easy to say that Korea has a beautiful culture all its own. For young children they have ceremonies to show their good fortune and longevity, when an individual is old enough they were often put to work, and when they hit 60 they were considered elders. Traditionally marriage was arranged, with large joining-of-family celebrations, and finally, the deceased were treated very carefully to prevent ghosts. With all of the amazing rituals that South Korea holds, it’s a true tragedy that the westernized culture has destroyed a majority of the rituals they once held so dear. Almost all of the rituals described within these pages are now no longer practiced because they have been replaced by the western ideals. Some people are still trying to hold on to these rituals tightly, but it’s unfortunately a losing battle.

References

Hur, Ben Senghwa & Hur, Sonja Vegdahl (2002). Korea (Culture Shock!) . Oregon : Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
Whyte, Rob & Kim, Kyoung-Mi (2001). Living in South Korea . Vermont : Pro Lingua Associates.
Lee, Tae E. (2006) [Interview with Tae E. Lee, Grandmaster of TaeKwonDo on the subject of Korea ]. [Phone]
Life in Asia, Inc “Cultural Spotlight” Life in Korea . Retrieved May 22, 2006, from http://www.lifeinkorea.com/
Korean Overseas Information Service. “Culture” Gateway to Korea . Retrieved May 22, 2006 from http://www.korea.net/