Journal of Ethnic Foods 5 (2018) 40e53

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Journal of Ethnic Foods

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Original Article Jongka, the traditional Korean family: Exploring jongka food in the context of Korean food categories

Chang Hyeon Lee, Young Kim*

National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, South article info abstract

Article history: Background: Jongka food is the implementation of banka food in jongka, where in banka food stems from Received 28 February 2018 royal cuisine that has been passed on to yangban (nobleman) family. Jongka food is historically passed Accepted 28 February 2018 down, and connects different time periods between generations in the same spatial context of jongka,isa Available online 2 March 2018 traditional Korean family system, where the eldest sons have kept their family lineage alive through generations dating over 400 years since the mid-Chosun era. Jongka bulcheonwi stems from Korea; Keywords: however, its Confucian ceremonial culture now only remains in Korea. Ancestral ritual food Methods: This study examines the concept and formation process of jongka, and introduces everyday Bulcheonwi Category family food, as well as old cookbooks that contain their recipes. The bulcheonwi ceremony table-setting Jongka and ancestral ritual food, as seen in actual jongka sites, are also described. Jongka food Results: This study has examined 6 types of food in six different jongka houses, passed down through Korean food jongbu, were analyzed. Thus, the importance of discovering more jongka food, and recording such findings, is emphasized. Moreover, the bulcheonwi ancestral ritual food table setting through three- dimensional maps and a layout plan from two jongka ispresented. Pyeon (䭏) and jeok (炙), which are parts of ancestral ritual food, and carry different meanings for different families, were introduced, pre- senting examples from four jongka. Moreover, existing literature was assessed to identify the sources of jeok building principles and theoretical backgrounds. Conclusion: Jongson and jongbu have protected the jongtaek (noble house), and inherited their family’s foods by living by bongjesa (奉祭祀) and jeopbinkaek (接賓客). It is important to continuously discover and record of jongka and ancestral ritual foods used in bulcheonwi. This study aims to allow society to perceive jongka as a unique Korean cultural heritage that all of society protects and shares, instead of regarding them as families with old histories. (For further clarification on the terms mentioned in this article, please see “Supplementary file”.) © 2018 Korea Food Research Institute. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction Food embodies the lives, actions, and spirits of a country's citizens, taking form as the food of a nation. Therefore, the entire Korea is a nation on a peninsula located in Northeast Asia. It is food culture of Korea can be termed the Korean food, of which connected to the Chinese seas to the west and the continent that diversity is a leading characteristic. A table is set with a diverse houses China to the north, and thus, has long been influenced by range of side dishes that surround (cooked ) and kuk Chinese culture. However, in this process, Korea has formed its own (dishes with broth). The clear divisions of four seasons have unique history and culture throughout the era of the Chosun dy- allowed Koreans to grow a diverse range of seasonal vegetables. nasty and its modern days. Its food culture has been fundamentally Moreover, fermented foods such as (fermented vegetable), unique from China [1]. (fermented fish products), kochujang (red pepper paste), (fermented paste), and kanjang (fermented soybean seasoning) are developed to cover for shortfalls in food quantity [1]. This diversity allowed for the division of Korean food * Corresponding author. National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural into different forms. It is impossible to strictly define the Development Administration, 166 Nongsaengmyeong-ro, Iseo-myeon, Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do, 55365, South Korea. boundaries of categories of Korean food depending on the criteria E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Kim). and form. However, there are a number of terminologies used to https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2018.02.006 2352-6181/© 2018 Korea Food Research Institute. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). C.H. Lee, Y. Kim / Journal of Ethnic Foods 5 (2018) 40e53 41 refer Korean food. For example, these categories include royal 1.2. Bulcheonwi ancestral rites and food passed down over cuisine, banka (nobleman house) food, jongka food, traditional hundreds of years food, and local food. These terms have some similarities, and as they are rooted in Korean food, they cannot be explained while To highlight the achievements of celebrated scholars in the leaving out other terminologies. Chosun dynasty, the king awarded siho (posthumous name, 諡號) During the era of Chosun dynasty (1392e1910), the society was [7]. After an individual has received siho, their ancestors keep the divided into the royal family, yangban (nobleman), and peasant shinju (mortuary tablet) of the awarded ancestor, refusing to move classes. As the living styles and cultures differed by each class, their the tablet even after four generations, and offer ancestral rites. food also manifested differently [2]. The royal cuisine, eaten by the These are the bulcheonwi (不遷位) ancestral rites [8,9] (Fig. 2). The royal family, developed the most in the sovereign Chosun. Feasts Bulcheonwi ancestral rites were born out of ancient China; however, were held in the palaces, with the leftover materials, foods, and China no longer engages in this practice. It has been passed onto cooking methods passed onto the yangban families, developing into Korea, and remains the only active Confucianist ceremony still banka food. Starting in the mid-Chosun dynasty, the political in- performed today [10]. Currently, the majority of jongka houses are fluence of yangbans grew and powers formed around different pajongka (派宗家), with the bulcheonwi ancestors as the jungsijo (中 schools of thought and ideologies. The banka food of the yangban 始祖). They were formed around sajok (士族), for the purposes of families settled into jongka food, as jongka was formed with bul- defining regional identities and the differentiation of yehak (禮學) cheonwi status. For the peasants who had little to do with political in the 16e17th centuries [11]. (see Fig. 1) powers, their food mainly focused on what they grew, developing The ceremonial culture of Chosun has continued to linger to the into local food. Local food is a type of food that has been preferred modern day, with jongka houses at its core. In particular, with the by the people of a specific region over at least 100 years, and that basic virtues of bongjesa and jeopbinkaek, the ritual food for the later becomes recognized as traditional food as historicity develops ancestors also developed. Jongka houses hold more than 10 around it [3]. ancestral rites per year, with kijesa (忌祭祀), which honors ances- Ultimately, jongka food refers to the food that settled in the tors for up to four generations, bulcheonwi ancestral rites, and in the yangban class and is the link between the royal palace and banka. new year, dano (surit-nal; Korean festival), hansik, and . On the other hand, it also has elements of spatially defined local Among these rites, bulcheonwi rites are attended by more people, food, as the food utilizes the agricultural produce of a region, in an and have more food on the table of ancestral ritual food, which era where regional powers had been divided. Moreover, local- refers to all foods on the aforementioned table. These are placed on style jongka food has also been passed down through the table under certain guidelines by the descendants of a house to generations, comprising traditional food with its temporality and properly honor their ancestors. Types of ancestral ritual food are historicity. Jongka food is also a type of food that has been passed diverse, including ban (飯), kaeng (羹), myeon (麵), pyeon (䭏), down, and connects different time periods between generations. pyeoncheong (䭏淸), tang (湯), jeok (炙), (脯), (煎), sukchae (熟 As such, it is also called naerim (pass-down) food. 菜), chimchae (沈菜), hae (醢), hye (醯), silkwa (實果), jokwa (造果), To date, Korea has achieved a high level of industrialization, and and jeongkwa (正果) [12]. These foods are characterized with spe- focused on productivity for rapid economic growth. Productivity, cial and significant meanings in the names, materials, and cooking which has always been Korea's objective, blocked the development methods, unlike everyday food. The different houses, the main of diversity. The study of Korean food was also focused on growth, houses of the surnames, regions of residence, hakmaek (學脈), the concentrating on the present and the future. However, Korea has academic relationship between a teacher and his student, and begun to realize that growth needs to be built on the traditions and honban (婚班), referring to the marriages between influential histories of the past. Therefore, this study aims to expand on the houses, act on the different attributes of food, and strengthen their diversity of Korean food by studying jongka food, which has not symbolic meanings. In the interconnectedness of various attributes been researched to date and bestow new values on Korean food that are diversely connected, ancestral ritual food creates honor cultures. that differs by the family (家家禮, different customs of every family) with different names and stories contained within them [12].

1.1. Jongka, the Korean traditional family system 2. Jongka food and records for the next generation

The era of Chosun dynasty, with over 500 years of history, 2.1. Jongka food passed down through generations from jongbu was based on Confucianism and neo-Confucianism at the core of its rule. Jongka (宗家) refers to the familial construction of the The jongbu of jongka, based on agricultural societies, typically noble families (士大夫家) of Chosun, which was based on the grow their own produce to be used for cooking. The basic in- jongbeop system (宗法制度) of the Zhou Dynasty of China [4]. gredients are laced with the efforts and care of jongbu, such as After the mid-Chosun dynasty, jongka became the traditional growing beans for jang (fermented soybean products) or rice for house system passed down for generations. The Korean dictio- alcohol. It is with these ingredients that their mothers-in-law nary defines jongka as “the house of the head of a family as taught them how to make traditional fermented food, such as according to the family tree” [5]. Jongson and jongbu,who jang, alcohol, cho, (pickled vegetable), and kimchi, and their continued the history of jongka, look to the two principles of own experiences are molded into what is now the food cooking bongjesa (奉祭祀), hosting the ancestral rites, as well as jeop- techniques of their own houses. However, jongbu continues to binkaek (接賓客), tending to guests who visit the jongtaek (jongka make food in a non-scientific method that relies on their experi- house), and protects the family. ence and memory with eyeballed measurements and their senses, According to a recent report, there were 1,153 jongka in Korea. rather than measuring the ingredients and condiments. On a regional basis, 43.8% of the jongka, or 505 of them, are in To classify between everyday food, consumed on a daily basis, Kyeongsang-do. This was followed by 220 in the Seoul and and jongka food, the researcher has applied the following criteria: Kyeongki-do (19.1%), 172 in Chungcheong-do (14.9%), 164 in first, food that has been passed down for more than two genera- Chonla-do (14.2%), 68 in Kangwon-do (5.9%), and 24 in Jeju-do tions through jongbu; second, food created with domestic in- (2.1%) [6]. gredients (excluding fusion food made with foreign ingredients and 42 C.H. Lee, Y. Kim / Journal of Ethnic Foods 5 (2018) 40e53

Fig. 1. Jongka is a traditional Korean family system where the eldest sons have kept their family lineage alive through generations for more than 400 years since the mid-Chosun era. Jongson and jongbu, live by the two principles of bongjesa (奉祭祀) and jeopbinkaek (接賓客), tending to guests who visit the jongtaek and protects the family. (A) Jongtaek of “Hoejae Lee Eonjeok jongka of the Yeoju Lee family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Kyeongju-si. It is registered on the UNESCO World Heritage system. (B) Jongtaek of “Imkyeongdang Kim Yeol jongka of the Kangneung Kim family” from Kangwon-do, Kangneung-si ©AZA Studio. (C) “Cheongamjung,” a gazebo of the “Chungjae Kwon Beol jongka of the Kwon family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Bonghwa-gun ©AZA Studio. (D) The Soteuldaemun (front door) of the jongtaek of “Dongkye Jeong On jongka of the Chokye Jeong family” from Kyeong- sangnam-do, Geochang-gun.

Fig. 2. Bulcheonwi (不遷位) means “unmovable ancestral tablet”. This tradition was born out of ancient China; however, China no longer engages in this practice. It has been passed onto Korea and remains the only case of Confucianist ceremonies to date. The ceremonial cultures of Chosun have continued to linger to the modern day founded on the principles of Confucianism and neo-Confucianism, with jongka houses at its core. (A) Moving the ancestral tablet (出主) of the ancestor from the shrine. When ancestral rites are not held in the shrine, the ancestral tablets are moved. (B) Jipsabunjeong (執事分定), which records the role of jekwan, who attends the bulcheonwi ancesetral rites. (C) Bulcheonwi rites of the “Seoae Ryu Seongryong jongka of the Pungsan Ryu family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Andong-si ©AZA Studio. (D) The shrine (祠堂)of“Kosan Yun Seondo jongka of the Haenam Yun” from Chonlanam-do, Haenam-gun ©AZA Studio. C.H. Lee, Y. Kim / Journal of Ethnic Foods 5 (2018) 40e53 43 cooking methods); third, food that contains the story of the house; dishes to serve guests who visit kotaek (jongka house). The sour- fourth, food created with local agricultural and indigenous prod- seasoned pine nut sauce acts to pique the appetite before the ucts; fifth, food that is referred to by special names (dialects) in the actual meal. It is a luxurious dish where the five colors of green originating region or house; and sixth, food that is made with water parsley, red peppers, black manna lichen, white pine nut cooking methods that are comparable to those found in the ancient sauce, and the yellow parts of the egg that are popped prior to cookbooks by era. Based on these six criteria, this study aims to eating are harmoniously arranged (Fig. 3A). explain six jongka foods from six jongka houses used on the tables Muneosukhoe (blanched fresh octopus) is typically boiled in of guests under their virtue of jeopbinkaek. water. However, the muneosukhoe cooked by the jongbu (born in The selected jongka food are suranchae of “Dongkye Jeong On 1949) of the “Karam jongka” is cooked by placing the octopus on top jongka of the Chokye Jeong family (referred below as ‘Dongkye of sliced onions in a steamer. The onion broth that comes out when jongka’)” from Kyeongsangnam-do, Geochang-gun, muneosukhoe of it is steamed helps to soften the octopus. The muneosukhoe dish is “Karam Lee Hyeon-il jongka of the Jaeryeong Lee family (‘Karam served with sour seasoning sauce (Fig. 3B). jongka’)” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yeongdeok-gun, kaji-bulgogi The kaji-bulgogi (grilled with soy sauce) of “Chunujae from “Chunujae Kwon Jin jongka of the Andong Kwon family (‘Chu- jongka,” which is prepared by cutting grown in a vegetable nujae jongka’)” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yecheon-gun, bandong- garden near jongtaek (jongka house), cooked in an oiled pan, and chimi of “Cheongjaekongpa Park Jong jongka of the Milyang Park served with soy sauce condiments, is a quintessential dish that the family (‘Cheongjaekongpa jongka’)” from Chonlanam-do, Naju-si, jongbu (born in 1949) serves to her guests. The name was chosen due modeum-jeongkwa of “Hakbong Kim Seong-il jongka of the Uiseong to the marriage of slightly cooked eggplant on a pan and the accom- Kim family (‘Hakbong jongka’)” from Kyeongnsagbuk-do, Andong-si, panying soy sauce condiments being similar to bulgogi (thin sliced of and Andong- of “Chokan Kwon Munhae jongka of the Yecheon beef marinated in a soy sauce). The grilled eggplant and soy sauce Kwon family (‘Chokan jongka’)” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yecheon- condiments are prepared separately and are served together right gun. before the meal. If the soy sauce condiments are put on the dish be- The jongbu (born in 1947) of the Dongkye jongka inherited her forehand, the eggplant releases water, leading to an undesirable cooking skills from her mother-in-law, of the famous Kyeongju Choi texture (Fig. 3C). family, and her mother, who is the jongbu of the “Jeongjae jongka” of The bandongchimi (radish water kimchi) of the “Cheongjae- Andong-si. Among various recipes, she learned suranchae (poached kongpa jongka” is a type of kimchi that represents the jongka;itis egg), which is a dish involving the whites of a poached egg cooked sweetened with pear, Naju's specialty, and croaker fish is added to in boiling water, and eaten with sour pine nut sauce, along with give the kimchi that refreshing taste. The name, bandongchimi,is different vegetables. The top-quality ingredients of suranchae, attributed to different folkloresdwhere it is in the middle (半)of which include octopus and king crab meat, make it one of the best baechu-kimchi (cabbage kimchi) and ; it is a type of kimchi

Fig. 3. Dishes served to guests at jongka: (A) Suranchae of “Dongkye Jeong On jongka of the Chokye Jeong family” from Kyeongsangnam-do, Geochang-gun ©AZA Studio. (B) Muneosukhoe and sour seasoning sauce from “Karam Lee Hyeon-il jongka of the Jaeryeong Lee family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yeongdeok-gun. (C) Kaji-bulgogi from “Chunujae Kwon Jin jongka of the Andong Kwon family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yecheon-gun. (D) Bandongchimi from “Cheongjaekongpa Park Jong jongka of the Milyang Park family” from Chon- lanam-do, Naju-si ©AZA Studio. (E) Modeum-jeongkwa (yakkwa, bak, keumkyul and pine nuts, burdock and peanuts, dried persimmon and pine nuts, pyeonkang, and songhwa-) from “Hakbong Kim Seong-il jongka of the Uiseong Kim family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Andong-si. (F) Andong-sikhye from “Chokan Kwon Munhae jongka of the Yecheon Kwon family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yecheon-gun. 44 C.H. Lee, Y. Kim / Journal of Ethnic Foods 5 (2018) 40e53 eaten during winter solstice, which is in the middle of winter and 淸亭) Kim Yu (金綏,1491e1555), father of Kim Bu-ryun, in two the new year; or it is kimchi of ban-(班家; banka). Nevertheless, the volumes around 1540, with the copied version in Chinese charac- exact origin is unknown [13]. The jongbu (born in 1951) teaches the ters still in existence. It contains 59 different types of alcohol, 17 residents of the region at the “Naju Local Food Culture Experience types of kimchi, nine types of fermented sauce, five types of vine- Center” (Fig. 3D). gars, two types of noodles and 29 other types of food, containing The modeum-jeongkwa (braised sweet sauce combination) of 121 recipes. It is of high value, as it was written by a male the “Hakbong jongka” comprises food placed on the table of re- scholar and not by a woman, as women were in charge of food in freshments, served to guests with tea. The seven types of mod- the Chosun dynasty with strict gender role divisions. eum-jeongkwa includes yakkwa (deep fried honey cookies), which Next, “Eumsikdimibang (閨壼是議方),” which is the first known is made by frying flour batter and resting it in honey; bak- cookbook to be written in Korean, is the cookbook of “Seokkye (石 jeongkwa (sweet gourd jelly), which has a circular shape, and is 溪) Lee Si-myeong (李時明, 1590e1674) jongka of the Jaeryung Lee made with gourd with its skin removed; keumkyul-jeongkwa family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yeongyang-gun. Andong Jang (張 (sweet kumquat jelly), which involves removing the seeds from a 桂香, 1589e1680), the wife of Lee Si-myeong, wrote it in Korean kumquat and placing pine nuts where the seeds were; ueong- around 1670. “Eumsikdimibang” means “how to understand the jeongkwa (sweet burdock jelly), which involves thinly slicing taste of food” and contains 146 recipes, including 18 types of myeon burdock and surrounding peanuts with the slices; kotkam- and byeong, 74 types of fish and meat, and 54 types of jukukbang- jeongkwa (sweet dried persimmon jelly), which involves the cut- mun (Fig. 4A). ting of dried persimmon, flattening it out into a circular shape and Along with “Suunjapbang” and “Eumsikdimibang,” the last of the decorating it with pine nuts; pyeonkang (sliced dried ), three jongka cookbook is “Onjubeop (蘊酒法),” whose author is which involves the cutting of ginger, boiling the pieces down in unknown. This book is the Korean copy of 130 recipes, including 57 sugar, and drying them; and songhwa-dasik, which involves the methods of making alcohol and three methods of making yeast. It mixing honey with the powder of the flowers of the pine and has been passed down in the “Cheongkye (靑溪) Kim Jin (金璡, pressing it in a honey-cake mold. Jongbu (born in 1941) makes a 1500e1580) jongka of the Uiseong Kim family,” from Kyeongsang- variety of jeongkwa using seasonal ingredients, keeping them in a buk-do, Andong-si. It provides insight into the food and drinking separate fridge to serve her guests (Fig. 3E). cultures of the noble families in the Kyeongsangbuk-do, Andong The jongbu of “Chokan jongka,” whose parents are from Andong- region around late 1700s [14]. si, brings out the Andong-sikhye (sweet rice punch) that her mother “Choi's Eumsikbeop,” written in pure Korean, understood to have taught her. Andong-sikhye has a peculiar taste, as the broth is made been written in the same timeframe as “Eumsikdimibang,” is the with red pepper powder and includes white radish and ginger. It is cookbook of Chungcheong-do. “Choi's Eumsikbeop” is thought to be a winter drink of the Andong region, typically served as digestion written before 1660 by Haeju Choi (1591e1660), the wife of “Hakok medicine on days of feasts, when over-eating is common (Fig. 3F). (霞谷) Maeng Se-hyeong (孟世衡, 1588e1656) jongka of the Shin- chang Maeng family,” from Chungcheongnam-do, Asan-si. “Choi's 2.2. Old cookbooks containing records of jongka food Eumsikbeop” is one of the documents contained in “Jasonbojeon (子 孫寶傳),” a collection of 34 Korean sujeok (手迹) recorded over 270 The oldest cookbook on jongka food is “Suunjapbang (需雲雜方),” years by women of the Haeju Choi; it contains 20 recipes [15]. This which has been in the possession of “Seolwoldang (雪月堂) Kim Bu- book is thought to be a collection of recipes learned from the actual ryun (金富倫, 1531e1598) of the Kwangsan Kim family” from experience of making food instead of copying recipes of others Kyeongsangbuk-do, Andong-si for over 450 years. “Suunjapbang” (Fig. 4B). can be interpreted to mean “a diverse range of methods of cooking Other cookbook from Chungcheong-do include “Jusiksiui (酒食 food of high esteem.” This book was written by Takcheongjeong (濯 是儀)” and “Ueumjebang (禹飮諸方)” in the “Dongchundang (同春堂)

Fig. 4. Old cookbooks containing records of jongka food. (A) “Eumsikdimibang” (閨壼是議方, written around 1670), the cookbook of “Seokkye Lee Si-myeong jongka of the Jaeryeong Lee family” from Kyeongsangbuk-do, Yeongyang-gun. The cover says “Kyukonsiuibang” and contains 146 recipes. © Academy of Korean Studies. (B) “Choi's eumsikbeop” (崔氏飮食法, written prior to 1660) of “Hakok Maeng Se-hyeong jongka of the Shinchang Maeng family” from Chungcheongnam-do, Asan-si, containing 20 recipes. © World Institute of Kimchi. (C) “Jusiksiui” (酒食是儀, 19th century), a Korean cookbook of “Dongchundang Song Jun-kil jongka of the Eunjin Song family,” containing 99 recipes. © Daejeon Historical Museum.