J Ethn Foods 2 (2015) 162e172 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnic Foods journal homepage: http://journalofethnicfoods.net Original article Origin names of gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap Hye-Jeong Yang a, Dai-Ja Jang a, Kyung Rhan Chung b, Kang-sung Kim c, * Dae Young Kwon a, a Korea Food Research Institute, Songnam, Kyongki-do, South Korea b The Academy of Korea Studies, Songnam, Kyongki-do, South Korea c Yongin University, Yongin, Kyongki-do, South Korea article info abstract Article history: Background: Despite the long history of Korean foods, the truth and history behind them are either Received 16 September 2015 scaled down or distorted due to several scholars who happen to “know” hanja (漢字). A representative Received in revised form case is the distortion of the history of gochu, which inflicts serious distortion on foods that also use the 23 September 2015 very ingredient. As the distorted history of gochu is pushed forward to be true, the history and the origin Accepted 2 October 2015 name words for gochu, gochujang, and bibimbap are perverted as a result. Hence, food research will Available online 1 December 2015 proceed in the right direction when such misrepresented origin names are corrected. Methods: This paper aims to correct the existing inaccurate theories by following the principal that the Keywords: bibimbap existence of objects come before their written records, analyzing the actual old records of gochu, kimchi, gochu and bibimbap, and integrating them with the development process of Korean verbal and written lan- kimchi guage. In addition, reasons as to why scholars resorted to such distorted claims will be explained. Korean ethnic foods Results: It is entirely wrong to take hanja names as the origin names for Korean traditional foods simply word origins based on the hanja records of these foods or agricultural products. The hanja records only mean that the Korean people simply borrowed hanja to write the names of the foods they made and enjoyed for a long time. This being said, the claims that the origins names for gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap are gocho (苦椒), chimchae (沈菜), and koldonban (滑董飯) are false. In fact, the correct ones are gochyo (고쵸), dimchae (딤 ), and bubuimbap (부뷤밥). The reason why scholars kept on arguing that the hanja names are the origin names lies in their attempt to distort the history of gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap in order to rationalize their claims that gochu were introduced during Imjinwareran Wardthe Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. Conclusion: Gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap have thousands of years of history and have been called with pure Korean name words. It was only that they were recorded in the form of hanja during the time written Korean was undervalued where people insisted borrowing Chinese characters to write despite written Korean being available. Thus, gocho (苦椒), chimchae (沈菜), and koldonban (滑董飯) are not the origin names. The pure Korean names used even by the people back then are the actual ones: gochyo (고 쵸), dimchae (딤 ), and bubuimbap (부뷤밥). Copyright © 2015, Korea Food Research Institute, Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction which were followed by the names of the objects and their records thereafter. One must be particularly cautious with hanja records As with history and science, mankind does not advance in the because they consist of ideographic letters. However, when un- order that language comes first, then mankind, and objects there- derstanding the past by inference, records are the only means to after. It is also not the case that records come first before actual understanding background information in Asia. objects. In other words, nature, mankind, and objects existed first, Although this does not mean that records are inaccurate, it is clearly inappropriate to make fragmentary claims or distort records by going against the aforementioned order, which all nature or history of mankind are subject to. In order to discuss the names of * Corresponding author. Korea Food Research Institute, 62 Anyangpankyo-ro 1201-bunkil, Songnam, Kyongki-do 463-746, South Korea. objects, one must accurately understand the contents of records. E-mail address: [email protected] (D.Y. Kwon). Before analyzing the records, it is crucial to understand the natural http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2015.11.006 2352-6181/Copyright © 2015, Korea Food Research Institute, Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). H.-J. Yang et al / Gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap 163 principal of order that records come at the very end. In other words, approach that follows the natural order and correct the distortions the Korean people have simply borrowed hanja to write the names surrounding the history and origin names for foods including of things that have existed for a long time. Hence these hanja gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap, which have occurred due to incorrect names, which the Korean people came up with back then, cannot claims by scholars who took on nonscientific approaches. be the origin names. It is wrong to argue that the hanja names are Accordingly, this paper aims to scientifically reveal how these the origin just because there are such hanja records. Before the claims turn out to be flawed by pin-pointing each part of these creation of Hangeul (Korean phonetic character created in 1433 by claims, examining the reasons why these claims have been made, King Sejong in Chosun Dynasty), people had to simply borrow hanja and analyzing related records and documents to discover when the to write names of things. They borrowed hanja letters that true origin names began to be recorded in hanja and prove that expressed the meaning of the word they sought to write, and had to these hanja expressions are not the origin names after all. do so since there was no written language that could convey their verbal Korean language. Not only the meanings (意), but the pro- 2. The origin name for gochu nunciations (韻) were also sought to be phonetically delivered through the hanja they borrowed. People continued to borrow In the 15th century document Kukeupkanibang (救急簡易方) [2] th hanja even long after the creation of Hangeul into the 20 century, and the 16th century book Hunmongjahoe (訓蒙字會), Choi (崔世 due to the social norm where writing Hangeul was considered 珍) [1] states that the hanja letter cho (椒) was called gochyo (고쵸) lowly. Also, people who could not write hanja were considered in Korean (Figs 1, 2). These two references are irreversible evidence uneducated because despite the existence of Hangeul, people kept to the fact that gochyo was the origin name for modern gochu [3]. using hanja. For this reason, it is illogical and going against the For a long time, the Korean people have been enjoying gochu, and order of nature to claim that the hanja versions are the origin of although it was recorded as cho in hanja, they were called gochyo. Korean name words. One must examine what kind of Korean names Despite this fact, Bae and Lee [4] began to pervert the origin name or words existed before they were written and expressed in hanja. for gochu to maintain his false claim [3,5] that “gochu were intro- The ones discovered in this process are the actual origin names. duced in Korea during the Imjinwaeran War in 1592” [4]. Those that It seems that many people who pursue research in food culture followed his view came up with other flawed yet convincing claims come across the hanja expressions of various Korean foods [6,7]. A well-known Korean history scholar who believed in Bae and including gochu, kimchi, and bibimbap in hanja books, and easily Lee's [4] claim of gochu being introduced in Korea during the claim that those expressions are the origin names. As mentioned, Imjinwaeran, ended up announcing that the origin name for gochu this is far from being true, and their claims go against human na- came from the hanja expression, gocho (苦椒) [8]. What is worse is ture. What is worse is that despite the fact that the Korean names that a Japanese scholar began to make a groundless claim [7], which are shown and recorded in Hunmongjahoe (訓蒙字會) [1], a dictio- few could counter-argue against, that the word gochu came from nary of Hangeul expressions of hanja written after the creation of Japanese since gochu was said to have originated from Japan. Such Hangeul, some still argue the Hangeul names in the book are not the unreliable claims will thus be discussed in this paper. origin names. Because of such false claims, the history of gochu As mentioned previously, Kukeupkanibang [2] and Hunmongja- (chilli), kimchi, and bibimbap is perverted, which is undercutting hoe [1] are books that were written merely a few decades after the the value of the dishes that can gain strong global presence as creation of Hangeul. Nevertheless, the books clearly show that there representative Korean foods and ultimately imposing serious re- was an object called gochyo, which was expressed in hanja as cho strictions in the development of Korean foods. It is more than (椒)(Figs 1, 2). It is paramount to see this as what it is. Unless there necessary to analyze records and documents taking the scientific is a solid basis to interpret otherwise, gochyo should be gochu.In Fig. 1. The Hangeul, 고쵸, and hanja cho (椒) are clearly printed in chapter Jolhaesu (卒咳嗽)ofKukeupkanibang (救急簡易方) wrote by Yun (尹壕) et al in 1489.