Ancestral Rites for Modern Times

Ancestral Rites for Modern Times presents traditional ancestral rites. It reflects on the essentials of Korean traditional and contemporary ancestral rites and suggests diverse forms suitable for modern times.

The traditional section features two ancestral ritual table settings presented by head families; one to remember Yi Hwang (Toegye) and the other, Yun Jeung (Myeongjae).

The contemporary section presents practical table settings of ancestral rites that everyone in modern society can do. Craft artists and designers worked together with the Arumjigi team to create them. And together with fellows of ONJIUM Research Institute of Korean Traditional Culture, we recreated traditional dishes for sacrificial offerings. The process of reinterpreting traditional sacrificial dishes into simple yet elegant dishes appropriate for today is also presented.

Resetting the Ancestral Ritual Table, a Place of Communication and Sharing of Meals

This exhibition has three parts. Part 1 addresses ancestral food culture in two sections; ‘traditional’ and ‘modern.’ We have arranged the traditional section with a view to understanding the meaning and formality of traditional ancestral rites. Based on such understanding, the rites are to be adapted in a way that is suitable for modern society.

Part 2 displays four ritual table settings suited for modern times, which is a very important objective of this exhibition. Ritual tables beautifully set in such way that suits modern society are presented. Important ritual utensils and tablewares are redesigned and ritual foods are re-created.

Lastly, there is a portable ritual table that can be easily set up in any place including the grave of the dead and space for ancestor worship, and when traveling away from home.

The Head Family of Yi Hwang

Yi Hwang (Toegye, 1501-1570) is the most famous philosopher in Korean history. Yi Hwang’s father passed away only seven months after he was born, and he was raised by his lone mother. Money was tight for the family, and Yi Hwang naturally learned the habit of thrift and saving.

Most of a head family would typically present thirty-five to forty sacrificial offerings at rituals and that even ordinary families would offer about thirty. However, the head family of Yi Hwang only presents twenty-six which is very interesting.

It readily evinces Yi Hwang’s thrift and simple living. In fact, in his lifetime, Yi Hwang would practice ‘one meal with three side dishes.’ The ritual table for worship of Yi Hwang has none of the traditional Korean sweets such as deep-fried sweet rice cookies and fruits preserved in honey that most other families would offer. In his will, Yi Hwang asked that no one offer him cookies deep-fried in oil because he considered them extravagant. In respect for his will, his descendants honor him with a simple, thrifty ritual table.

Thinly slice the ingredients along their grains and stack on one another. Use parboiled octopus. Spread dried yellow corvina on the bottom to provide a stable foundation. In the order of, from bottom up: stingray, shark, yellow tail, octopus, beef, and then chicken (cut off the head, but place the upper body toward the west and the breast facing the sky. Chicken is not to be placed face-down, as the position signifies their tendency to fly away). Stack the Jeok along a sense of flow, and tie the stacks intermittently to ensure stability.

The stack grows wider and narrower again upon reaching the top layer.

The Head Family of Yun Jeung

Yun Jeung led the Young Doctrine (Soron) faction. However, in his experience of the prolonged political conflict with the Old Doctrine (Noron) faction over high government posts, he lost faith in power. He then sought fulfillment in academic activities in the countryside, where he educated youths and carried on the teachings of earlier Neo-Confucian literati for the rest of his life.

His family was always in need as a result. He left dying instructions for his descendants about ancestor worship that said “Practice ancestral rites strictly by the rules, but do so simply and with thrift. Don’t waste time, money, and effort on preparing rice cakes for sacrifice. Also, do not offer extravagant deep-fried cookies and pan-fried delicacies.”

The head family of Yun Jeung duly followed his instructions and did not afterwards offer rice cakes, deep-fried cookies, and pan-fried delicacies on the ritual table. They offered only three essential fruits – jujubes, chestnuts, and persimmons – and they served vegetables of three different parts (roots, stems, leaves) on one dish, rather than in three separate dishes. Instead of serving a whole fish, they offered a few cuts of yellow corbina.

Place two spoons of fermented shrimp on the plate and top it with a piece of cut open, raw corvina.

The pollack which cut the head and tail, the squid body, and the jerky are stacked in order.

Snappers, known to be in season during spring time, is a rare delicacy famed for its light and soft palette. The steamed snapper dish we present here is based on the family recipe of the Huh’s from Jisoo Myeon in Gyeongsang Namdo, packed with various fillings and steamed in hey wrapping.ONJIUM removed the bones.

Steamed beef ribs were special dishes reserved for holidays, ancestral rites, or guests. In ONJIUM’s recipe, the ribs are steamed with raw shitake and grilled again to create a rich, smooth palette.

Rice cakes, as a shared treat, occupies a central position on ceremonial tables. Since rice cakes are presented in mounds, they become one of the two main pillars of the table in their sheer magnificence. The custom of stacking up rice cakes on plate harkens back to Korea’s Confucian tradition; the formation of familial solidarity calls for a demonstration of power and authority, which takes place through ancestral rites.

In our contemporary ceremony, rick cakes are piled up in a beautiful formation, designed to accentuate the shape and color arrangement of the stack. The bottom part consists of three-layer of rice cake, decked with rice cake ornamented with jujubes, chestnuts, and manna lichens, topped off with Gaeseung Juak.

White porcelain effectively encapsulates the artistic emphasis.
It placed on the traditional valuesin ceramic art. Its inherent slowness stands against our present society's obsession with speed andthereby stepping beyond the delineations of conventional form.
He seeks new possibilities, streamliningeverything without being fettered to ornamental compulsions. His approach is at once traditional andinnovative.

Ceramic artist Lee Kang Hyo’s productions demonstrate his respect for the forebears. They are also notable for their high footed, embodying the desire to uphold tradition and venerate the elders in their ceremonial significance. Resembling the high footed vessels from the period of the three kingdoms, they are sublime and marvelous. The Buncheong-making technique from the Joseon Dynasty presents a sense of natural depth one sees in traditional ink paintings.

Lee In Chin’s work is the embodiment of his love of mother. The rough and rustic bowl is sweet and tidy. It is enough to hold the expectations of the day when he sees his deceased mother again.
As a ceremonial rites for mother, its value appreciates through the varied forms of the vessels, each containing dishes his mother used to love. The vessels are free and open in their standing, unfettered to formal constraints.

Ceramic artists are familiar with heeled earthenware or porcelain. The various footed vessels embody the artist’s effort to defamiliarize. The different heights, thickness, formal variations and the range of glazes point to the rich potential of ceramic art. The excessively detailed finishing optimizes the vessels for ceremonial use. Their beauty, moderate and contained, perfectly align with ceremonial aesthetics.

The ceremonial vessels of ceramic artist Lee Ki Wook are contemporary in shape, veering away from the traditional. They are produced in modules, designed to be stacked in units. The pieces are rather experimental considering the solemnness of the theme, but they are practical, usable in daily contexts. The high footed vessels, made of disparate materials and stacked together, are unique in form and figuratively intriguing.

Ancestral rites is ceremony of memory. Families come together to remember the lost beloved. The works of ceramic artist Huh Sang Wook memorialize his mother-in-law and the love she gave him. Beautiful memories blossom into small festivals. Huh remembers, and portrays her love of the camellia in the vessels, gesturing to the thriving vitality of life by refining the roughness of the Buncheong with the texture of engobe and replenishing the camellia with silver powdering.

Long-held traditions are authoritative and therefore deemed significant. The table setting is designed to gesture back to the importance of tradition, while also aspiring to freeing itself from such fetters. Focusing on the abiding yearning for beloved lost ones rather than formality, the setting must be simple yet beautiful, optimized for single person households that prioritize meaning over form.

Glass blower Yang Yoo Wan’s works are pure and transparent, just like ice. Their beauty is to be cherished, as they contain one’s desire to reencounter and treat the lost and departed beloved in their offering. Meanwhile, their design ensures functionality, rendering the objects fit for daily use. Rather rough but also innovative in their incorporation of the old, Yang’s work embodies traditional Korean beauty.

As a reinterpretation of the traditional eight-fold foldig screen from a contemporary perspective, this piece fits into daily life. The screen not only compartmentalizes, but also fills up space. Comprising brass frames covered by two sheets of fabric, the folds can be collapsed or unfurled at ease upon demand to create a sense of openness. The minimalist form shows traditional aesthetics.

These items are designed to demonstrate the ceremonial significance of ritual vessels while also ensuring practical usability. The small portable table, as such, can be conveniently used to celebrate and memorialize the beloved by the younger generation.

The accessibility of the material and the ornamental inishing bridge the gap between practicality and singularity. The refined finishing of the upper portion the table forms a thin line, while the margins embrace the living space. The combination of straight, curved, or intersecting lines add a sense of freedom.