Confucian Liquor-drinking Ceremony at Sungkyunkwan Seowon

Today is the 2565th birthday of Confucius. Typically a jesa ceremony is held on Confucius' birthday at Sungkyunkwan also known as Mumnyo (shrine). However, to commemorate such a special birthday the jesa date was moved up to earlier in the month. Yet on this day a Confucian liquor-drinking ceremony was held, probably to pay highest respects to Confucius, ten of his disciples, and 18 of Korea's most venerated Confucian scholars including (in the chronological order of enshrinement at Daeseongjeon located within the temple grounds) Choe Chiwon, Seol Chong, An Yu (An Hyang), Jeong Mong-ju, Kim Gwoeng-pil, Jeong Yeo-chang, Jo Gwang-jo, Yi Eonjeok, Yi Hwang, Yi I, Seong Hon, Kim Jang-saeng, Song Siyeol, Song Jun-gil, Pak Se-chae, Kim Inhu, Jo Hun, and Kim Jip.

Attendance was respectable!
Note the massive gingko tree in the fenced-in area just beyond the seated audience.
This is the famous 500-yr-old gingko tree (National Monument No. 59).

The ceremony takes place on the receiving platform of Myeongryundang,
the most famous of the halls and open daily to the public.

Like many Confucian ceremonies, the liquor-drinking ceremony too was highly ritualized, with many of the participants learning the ceremony as they performed it ... I was amused. The group frequently did not bow collectively, got confused over who would go first and in which direction, and when they got on the prepared platform, sat on incorrect cushions. One of the academians from Sungkyunkwan University officiated at the ceremony and dressed in yellow, the color denoting the highest position, grabbed a microphone and directed the marching mechanics from his place in the front row of the audience (look in above picture).

A respectable audience did gather to see the ceremony and purchase tea (or liquor?) at the opposite end of the madang, underneath the massive and much-celebrated 500-year-old gingko tree (National Monument No. 59).

Confucian principles are based on hierarchies, and therefore, serving one's elders or superiors first is adamant.
Hands show respect, and here the left hand holds back the sleeve of the right arm in keen deference ... much like the Westerner holds out the right hand when meeting someone, to give them regards of sorts.

Serving is done by carrying a fully laden table and transferring the food and/or drink to the respected person's private table.

Sungkyunkwan is Korea's oldest institute of higher learning, established in 1398 and therefore having an educational history of more than 600 years. Sungkyunkwan, the Confucian school, was started as an elitist place of education, a royal academy offering education in Confucian philosophy and literature to would-be civil servants. Of course enrollment was only open to inheriting males (not adoptees or sons of concubines) of the yangban class. However, one of the biggest scandals of the school is a female dressing as a male and enrolling as she felt desperate to learn. Such untoward behavior in a male-dominated society in which women were esteemed for their meekness, being self-sacrificing and most importantly "virtuousness", which has loaded connotations, was indeed a SCANDAL! The university, Sungkyunkwan, was not I believe established as a center of higher learning until 1895, in which it was built as a modern-day college on a large property adjacent to the shrine and applying the name "Sungkyunkwan". Therefore, people can and have argued that Sungkyunkwan University is not the six-century-old place of higher education that it claims, and that the two Sungkyunkwans are in fact separate centers of education. One can certainly argue.

The name Munmyo is also used when referring to the shrine. Munmyo is a general term for a Confucian shrine, and Munmyo Bae-hyang is a title and is considered the highest honor a scholar could achieve during the Joseon dynasty. (Only 18 scholars were accorded this honor - the 18 Sages of Korea or the 18 Confucian Scholars of the East.)

The Munmyo origins come from China where scholars starting with Confucius and his successors of his teachings were honored and venerated. During the Tang dynasty, Confucianism spread through China and was transported to Korea (in the United Shilla period). However, Munmyo wasn't fully developed until 1398 under King Taejo of Choseon; hence, the point of origin for Sungkyunkwan or Munmyo shrine is 1398. The shrine is not just a stone tablet but a whole complex of buildings, the two most famous being the Meongryundang (which is featured on the 1,000 won bill) and where many ceremonies including the liquor-drinking ceremony today are held) and the Daeseongjeon, a building with two stairs and paths leading up to it, the stairs and path (on the right) for the living, and the other (on the left) for Confucius and his venerated Munmyo Bae-hyang. The paved walk is the spirit gate. For anyone needing to cross the madang and therefore needing to pass over the spirit walk, one must bow deeply to pay honorable respect to the spirits, and then humbly and quietly pass over the spirit gate. One is never ever to walk on the spirit walk!

Daeryundang - members of the RAS are sitting on the stairs for the living. Note the  stairs behind and the alternative path leading to them ... this is the spirit gate or gated path and only to be used by Confucius and his venerated scholars.

This is only a small portion of the entire Munmyo. Daeseungdang is the largest building and is centralized. It is also facing south and this direction in which it faces is based on pungsujiri, fengshui, principles. This is also the hall with the spirit gate, mapped into the scaled picture. On either side of the compound is a long dormitory for the housing of Confucian scholars. Originally the number of enrollment was small, and therefore highly competitive. The number of enrollees eventually capped off at about 200.

Relaxing on the maru of one of the dormitories for Confucian scholars.

REFERENCES

Myunmo

Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch

Visit Korea

Wikipedia: Myunmo

The "Sunrise" Train to Jeongdongjin

Jeongdongjin is known as a "lovers" getaway place, and literally the beach swarms with young couples walking around holding hands and taking selfies and 'couple-ies'. Jeongdongjin initially became a famous attraction to couples after a very popular soap opera Moraeshigae ("Sandglass") was filmed along the beach in 1994. The story was a tragic melodrama about three friends in a time of political and civilian oppression in the 1970s and 1980s, and which incorporated the Kwangju Massacre of 1980. The film recorded peak ratings for the time, a whopping 64.5%, the third highest up to that time. After the filming and the opening of the train to Jeongdongjin in 1997 and the construction of Sunrise Park with its large sandglass in not so subtle reference to the popular soap opera, Jeongdongin beach became a popular destination for lovers in addition to sunrise-viewing enthusiasts.

The massive "Sandglass" in Jeongdongjin Sunrise Park. Every year on New Year's Day there is the ceremonial "turning of the hourglass", which signifies the progression of time and the passing of one year's revolution to the next.

I've been to Jeongdongjin several times since its opening, and was rather surprised at the rather mercenary feel of the town (in the late 1990s and very early 2000s) resulting from the huge influx of mainly weekend visitors. The trains would literally spill hundreds of people at Jeongdongjin, the final destination, and to get lodging, a person would pay extortion prices. On one particularly crowded weekend (late 1990s), the cheapest room I could find was a mosquito-infested minbak-type room off the back of a ramshackle rinky-dink house. The room was W20,000 and I couldn't even stand up, didn't have a bathroom or sink, and the linoleum was cut up and stained although clean enough. At that time, W20,000 would pay for a modest motel room for one night in most places, not a nasty hole under an eave.

At that time also, once a person got off the train and walked through the station to the town, he or she couldn't walk back out on the beach unless having a train ticket out of Jeongdongjin, or, of course, the person would have to pay W200 (and later I think the charge went up) every time he or she walked through the station to go out on the beach. (W200 at that time was the daily rate a person paid for the basic operation of their beeper, not so small but not so significant amount either.) Glad to note that the motel prices were more reasonable this time. I also see that nasty little ramshackle house of over a decade ago, and the price charge to walk out on the beach has been dropped ... but then there is no beach access through the train station anymore. Now, there's a peddle-rail for "attracting" people to Jeongdongjin, and I'm horrified at what it's done to the beauty of the beach. It cuts people off from the beach, detracts horribly from a long sandy area to relax and read ... but oh, I do understand, there's isn't much money in offering a quiet space for people to relax and read.

All in all, Jeongdongjin is a very attractive destination for a weekend or even a day. The last train from Cheongryangri departs at 11:28pm and arrives at Jeongdongjin at 4:28am, about an hour before the current sunrise. Train tickets are currently W21,000 each way on the slow but comfortable Mungungwha train. The last train of the day returning to Cheongryangri departs at 4:40pm and arrives at Cheongryangri station at 10:14pm. A person can do quite a lot in a 24-hour period booking tickets via the Mungungwha!

So I ventured to Jeongdongjin two weekends in a row ... just as an escape from the smash of the city and as a last fling and salute to the end of summer. These pictures were actually taken on the morning of September 20, and wow what a pink-powered sunrise!

Overlooking the town is the Sun Cruise Resort & Yacht, a hotel designed to look like a cruise ship.

These orange-flamed sunrise shots were taken this morning as Dawn yawned and stretched her golden arms across the horizon to flame the world with light and warmth once again.

One thing that rather amused me as I sat on the shore listening to the gentle swish of the waves while reading my Kindle was a shrill yip from a girl. I looked up and right in front of me she occasionally gave a little yip while her boyfriend just looked at myulchi flopping on the sand at their feet. The rest of the afternoon I noticed small schools of myulchi continually being washed up on the beach, and one of the older guys who gave W15,000 boat rides would race down the beach to snag the fish before they could escape back into the sea.

Reflections on Hyunok Kim's Dance Films

Hyunok Kim, a dance choreographer and professor of dance at Kyemyoung University, Daegu, presented on her own dance films and what inspired her and her choreography. Initially she studied French Literature at Korea University but later became an actress. Then, at the age of 23 she did a career shift to dance, eventually studying in Paris where she became the first Korean to obtain a PhD in dance. She then spent seven years in New York working as a choreographer and dance filmmaker, and furthered her studies in filmmaking in the New York Film Academy.

Her successes have been many. Her work L'heure du Coz was selected for the Video Dance Festival of the Paris Pompidou Centre in the 1980s. Teile Dich Nacht was selected for a Gold Award at the Dance on Camera festival in New York, and she was the first ever Asian awardee in the festival. Her dance films were officially selected by the Brooklyn Film Festival, the Moving Image Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, Jumping Frames International Dance Video Festival in Hong Kong, Sans Souci Festival of Dance cinema, Cine Dans in Amsterdam, the International Festival of Film on Arts in Montreal, Canada among many others. Her films have been broadcast by Shanghai National TV, KBS, MBC, Canal+ (France), Kanal 4 (Germany), and ABC (Australia).

Tonights program showcased her works from 1991 to 2013, which highlit her pursuit in search of Korean and Asian identities and the aesthetics as well as the concept of time and space from an Asian and most specifically a Korean perspective.

Hyunok Kim presented on three of her celebrated dance films and explained how her sources of inspiration are related to Korea's philosophical and cultural heritage.

(1) TEILE DICH NACHT (film: 11 minutes)

Translated into Korean as "Philosophy of three worlds"

Teile Dich Nacht is a dance film set to the music of Isang Yun, who was one of the most important Korean composers of the twentieth century. The basic philosophy influencing his music was the Korean philosophy of the three worlds: heaven, earth and humanity. Isang Yun greatly influenced the artistic path of Hyunok Kim when she read his autobiographical book Wounded Dragon (상처받은 용) as he blended tradition with modernity. Through this reading she discovered her path which began to deviate from her current New York art scene which focused only on the diversities of expression from the classical to extreme avant-garde. She emotionally identified with Isang Yun's musical composition "Fluctuation" which was based on the concept of flux of sound. After first listening to it, she found herself soaked with tears and felt as if she had traveled a great distance with the flow of music. She became determined to go to Berlin to seek out such a great music master.

When she met Isang Yun in Berlin, she discovered not so surprisingly he was a philosopher too and he explained the emotions he attached to "Fluctuations" and his use of the Korean philosophy of Three Realms (삼계사상).  The Three Realms consist of earth, heaven and the human, and together they are the fundamentals of Korean philosophy, mainly that humans exist between heaven and earth. In Isang Yun's music, he employs this philosophy: the high notes convey the fact that heaven is beyond human reach. Low notes convey the realm of the earth and things under it (the tuba and other low note instruments represent earth in his music). Humans exist in the middle tonal range.

The philosophy of the Three Realms is represented in other Korean traditional arts, such as architecture and dance. In Korean architecture, the Three Realms are reflected in the three levels of traditional temples: the high roof eves representing the heavens, the low level elevated from earth by columns, and the idea of the humans existing between these. Also in the Korean Hahoe Mask dance the primary dancer is lifted up and performing in the celestial sphere, with humans beneath supporting the heavenly while walking on the low horizontal earth level. This same principle of elevation applies to the jakdoutaki in Shaman ritual dance. And it was this philosophy that inspired her choreography of "Interludium A". Hyunok Kim translated the philosophy of the Three Realms into visual imagery of her in a white celestial gown standing abnormally tall in a field (in France). The music to "Interludium A" was written by Isang Yun, her inspirational master.

Also, it was through this concept of the Three Realms that she performed Teile Dich Nacht, with her the dancer sitting, lying and dancing on the chair with the back of the chair and wide space of sky representing heaven and the chair sitting in water which represented the unforeseen depths of earth.

(2) ODE ON A KOREAN URN (film: 12 minutes)

The Korean Urn represents Korean culture. As an object close to daily life, used to ferment and preserve basic foods, it is the symbol of the long time spent waiting for life to be ready. In the film, the Korean urn is used as a metaphoric object, represented visually and audibly in a poetic way. In ancient times people communicated through drumming. In the dance, the urn becomes a percussion instrument and the symbol of global communication. It is the representation of awakening souls. The drumming was inspired by the drumming in Buddhist temples which symbolizes the awakening of the souls.

The film was shot in both Korea and France, with her dancing and drumming with the Korean urn. With various traditional backgrounds in Korea and famous backgrounds in France (the French castle Jardin du Palais Royal, rue Payenne in Paris), Hyunok Kim makes a visual motif of cultural interactions crossing borders. There is much focus on camera work and the use of the horizontal and vertical to depict once again the spatial relationships yet distances of the Three Realms.

An extension project of the Korean Urn is to take it global, not just the drumming and movement between two cultures but between continents. Such future locations desired for filming are (continents): Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and more specifically (countries): Greece, India, Tibet, Indonesia, Armenia, France, Italy, Brazil, Korea (of course), China, Hong Kong, Russia to name the initial few.

Hyunok Kim took the Korean urn to Pinnacles in the Western Australian Desert where she juxtaposed the urn against the mysterious and surreal backdrop of the Pinnacles. The film conveyed a journey of wandering souls, which was inspired by shamanist ritual. The film "Isle of the Waiting Souls" (almost 7 minutes) is a short version of Spirit of the Pinnacles presented at an art exhibition together with British collage artist John Digby.

(3) PASSION & REBIRTH (film: 15 minutes)

The film consists of two contrasting parts. The first part centers around the theme of death with the music of Bach, the St. Matthew Passion, and depicts a woman in sorrow and a man who consoles her with his intense attention. The second part was inspired by the philosophy of reincarnation and deals with a journey to be reborn. The dance itself was inspired by a Buddhist monk's dance called Seungmu. In this choreography, Hyunok Kim transformed the angular aesthetics of Seungmu into soft curve linear aesthetics. Her choreography is particularly enhanced by the expressiveness of her eyes, a mark of her choreographic style.