I was lucky enough to witness the traditional Korean ceremonies this year as the director of education in our town invited me and a few other teachers to her house so that we could experience the rich culture of Korea.
Upon arriving at her house, we were led to a back room where a table of snacks had been prepared for us while her son explained the ceremony we were about to see.
When the extended family began to arrive, we were led out into the living room where a table was prepared with sacrifical food and tea for the ancestors to drink and eat. Among the food at the table, three different types had been prepared to designate the various ways they had been blessed: meat from the beasts of the earth, fish from the sea, and fruit from the many forms of vegetation on earth.
First, everyone bows to the oldest person in the family. Then, everyone except the oldest bows to the second oldest in the family. You guessed it, next everyone bows to the third oldest in the family--all except the second and first oldest. I think you see the pattern. The men always bow twice while the women are expected to bow four times.
You should also know that in Korean tradition, there are three bows indicating three different levels of honor. There is the polite bow of one's head and shoulders for sayin hello or goodbye, then there is the second bow which happens at the waist and is generally used when meeting someone of significance like you new boss or a politician (one time a boy at Munchang used the second bow with me and a teacher yelled at him for it because it was too polite... lol). The third bow, the one used at the ceremony, is only used ceremoniously (typically ancestor traditions, weddings and funerals), and is performed by bending down onto your knees on the floor (without using your hands for support) and then bending forward until your forehead touches the floor; men should cup their hands in front of their foreheads while women should overlap their hands over their foreheads--only the men are allowed to touch the floor with their hands during this bow. You must then stand up without using your hands at all. To use this bow when meeting someone would be incredibily dishonoring and embarrassing to yourself and another person.
After one has bowed to their older family members, the real ceremony begins. First, incense is lit and placed before the food. (Only the oldest men in the family perform this part of preparation.)
Second, a younger man in the family (typically the first son) helps pour green tea into cups for each of the ancestors so that everyone has a drink at the table.
Following this, everyone bows to the table of food in humility and honor, giving thanks to the ancestors for all that has been provided in the last year.
When the table is finished being prepared and the food offered up, one man will sing an ancient Korean prayer to their ancestors, calling each by name, while the other bows in silence, twice for each ancestor. During this time, it is believed that the ancestors descend from heaven and eat the food and drink the tea prepared for them on the table so that they too may share in the year's plunder. (My question here is how do they know that the ancesteral spirits have actually helped them or are really there dining on the feast? In Buddhism, the spirit is reincarnated until nirvana is reached, and when nirvana is reached, the spirit is realeased into nothingness, where earthly desires such as hunger and thirst are absent so that suffering ceases to exist... If the spirit has not been released into nirvana, then it is trapped on earth in some physical form, bound to earthly laws and unable to attend in spirit... I guess one would have to say that this is not really a Buddhist tradition but perhaps more Shammanist than anything else...)
Next, the women in the family join the men in bowing to the ancestors. As mentioned above, the women bow four times while the men bow twice.
At the end of the ceremony, the names of all the ancestors prayed to are burned and placed in the incense dish.
When the names are finished burning, everyone eats the food so that nothing is wasted. Of course, we did not participate in eating the food because it was sacrificed to other gods/human beings, but we were offered some anyway. Luckily no one took offense at our decline to eat but it raises a big issue that many Korean families are torn on today. With the influx of Christianity, fewer and fewer people are performing the ancient tradition of ancestoral worship because the Bible instructs us not to. But where do you draw the line? How do you seperate religion from culture? Where is the balance between personal conviction and family honor?
I have been told a story about one young couple that married and became Christians together and were faced with this very problem. He was the first son (a very important position within the Korean family hierachy) and was expected to help perform at all of the ancestoral ceremonies. She was the first daughter-in-law--a position that carries great weight too as it is her job to prepare all of the food for the ceremony. But what do they do? Neither wanted to participate yet refusing to attend would bring the family great dishonor and might actually result in their expulsion from the family unit. Their compromise was as follows: the son did not participate per-se; he would simply stand in the room and watch as the ceremony proceeded. The daughter-in-law, however, was obligated to cook and prepare the food (a task she did not want to do but must because without her help, the family could not perform the ceremony--there is just too much food to prepare). But she was not required to be in the room for the ceremony; the family allowed her to sit in another room and not be a part of it beyond the cooking.
This is one very accepting and comprimising family, but not every family is so generous. Not every young Christian is so honoring of their elders or family tradition.
Thus, this tradition has largely been lost on a growing number from my generation and the percentage continues to rise. In the big cities like Seoul, Daegu and Busan, few still celebrate this way. Of course they still travel to see their families, but a party is held instead of a ceremony and thanks is either given to each other, to God, or not at all. In fact, many Korean Americans don't believe that ancestor worship happens at all. (I'm reminded of a comment one of my Korean American friends made several months ago when I attended a funeral... She didn't believe me.)
As a person of Christian conviction, I must say that I could never participate in this sort of event--I couldn't even do the cooking. To aid someone else in their pagan worship would make me, myself, guilty by association in the worship of false gods. However, I cannot say that I have any less respect for those like, the woman above, who choose to contribute with minimal participation. In fact, I can't really fault those who participate in the whole ceremony. I realize that the cultural tradition is sometimes distinguishable and sometimes in-distiguishable from the religious observance and that the decision to participate or not-participate is not one easily made.
In light of these observations, I am forced to admit that even in our own culture--our perfect, righteous, Christian tradition (note the sarcasm)--we too have made for ourselves pagan gods. Ever heard of Santa Claus? What seperates us from these people who lay out food in thanks to their ancestors when children all across the world lay out cookies and milk as a thank you for their favorite story-book character? And what makes us any different than those who eat the sacrificed food following the ceremony when on Christmas Eve, after everyone is sleeping, parents descend the stairs and eat those cookies and drink that milk which the kids offered up in thanks? We are all guilty. It's Cupid, lepercauns, the Easter Bunny, Santa, and so many more that make our cultures more similar than we think.
The Lunar New Year doesn't just mark the new year; it doesn't just hold significance for the people of Asia and more specifically, Korea. It too marks a new beginning for Christians--the beginning of Lent. For those of you who don't know, Lent is a time to reflect on the nature of our faith, a time to challenge us into growth and new understanding of God, a time to break the bonds that hold us back from loving more and living freer. It's a time that marks Jesus's 40 days in the desert--without food, without water; it marks his subsistence on God alone. Most people give up material things on Lent like tv, chocolate, email, or cigarettes (for those who haven't held to their New Year's resolutions...). One year I gave up ice cream. That was hard. But I can't say that I grew in God one ounce. After some careful thought about the Lunar New Year and what it means to start anew with Christ, this year I am making a decision to reach a new spiritual plane with God: I am choosing to pray, fast and study myself so that any false idol(s) in my life will be removed or made known. I want to know God more deeply and passionately than I have ever known Him before, and when Easter comes, I want to present myself as a sacrifice, pure before God, worshiping only Him.
Consider this: while Lent is traditionally observed as a representation of Christ's 40 days of temptation in the desert, there are many other ways to interpret and facilitate Lent in our own lives. You don't have to use Lent as a means to overcome tempation. One may also interpret the 40 days as the 40 days Moses spent with God on Mount Sinai (a time of true fellowship and reacquaintence with I AM); the forty days that Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb (a quest to find purpose and usefulness within the kingdom); the forty days and nights that God called down rain from heaven and cleansed the earth, leaving only Noah, his family and the ark (a time of personal cleansing and fresh beginnings with God); the 40 years that Israel wandered in the desert, waiting to move into the promise land (a time of transition into the blessings God has promised you).
Whatever this Lent season means to you, I pray that you will find the answers you are looking for and that not your ancestors but that the God of all peace, mercy and goodness will bless you in the year to come.
1 comment:
This blog should get turned into a book when you get home, Kort. The pictures and your words tell a terrific story! I love it!
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