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(Inner) coffin
관 ( 棺 )
A coffin; a box in which the body of a deceased person is placed for burial. In the Paleolithic Era the bodies of the dead were interred in the soil without coffins. While no clear archaeological evidence has yet been discovered, archaeologists theorize that in the Neolithic Era containers made of wood were used to place corpses in before burial. In the Bronze Age, the settlers of the Korean Peninsula began to use coffins made of huge pottery jars or by hollowing logs. It was also in this period
Korean Rites of Passage -
Ancestral tablet enshrinement rite
길제 ( 吉祭 )
A memorial rite held when an ancestral tablet is placed in the family shrine. Gilje is the last of the funeral rites. It is held when the spirit tablet of a recently deceased ancestor is placed in the family shrine. The addition of a new ancestral tablet to the existing tablets of the four latest generations of ancestors means that the oldest tablet is removed from the shrine. This procedure is hence the formal enshrinement of an ancestral tablet in the family shrine. The procedures of gilje are
Korean Rites of Passage -
Auspicious site
명당 ( 明堂 )
The word myeongdang refers to an auspicious site determined according to the principles of pungsu, or geomancy. Myeongdang refers to an auspicious site that according to pungsu (Chin. feng shui) is considered the best site upon which to build a grave or house, as it would have a beneficial influence upon the descendants of its occupant. The term is also used to refer to the forehead in traditional Korean physiognomy, or the throne hall at the royal palace. In pungsu theory, the term came to deve
Korean Rites of Passage -
Buddhist rite for a safe journey to the underworld
천도재 ( 薦度齋 )
A Buddhist rite that is held to send the spirit of mangja (Kor. 망자, Chin. 亡者, the dead) to the afterlife. Cheondojae is a Buddhist ritual that originated from the ancient Indian ancestral sharadha ceremony in which evil spirits are turned into the spirits of ancestors. In Buddhism, a rite in which offerings and prayer for the cultivation of virtue are offered, is referred to as jae (齋). Specifically, a rite for deceased spirits is called cheondojae. In the word cheondo (薦度), the first Chinese ch
Korean Rites of Passage -
Burial
매장 ( 埋葬 )
The practice of burying the body or relics of a deceased person underground. A burial place was selected according to the conditions of the family of the deceased either on flat land, at the foot of a mountain, or even on a mountain top. With the development of agriculture, Korean people began to avoid graves on arable flat land in favor of hills or mountains. This explains why graves came to be called sanso, or literally “a place in the mountains, ” and the practice of burial sanyeok, or “labor
Korean Rites of Passage -
Burial garment
수의 ( 襚衣 )
Garments used to dress a corpse in the narrow sense; in the broader sense a set of implements including the clothes used for washing and dressing the body in preparation for burial. The deceased is dressed in a shroud after the body is washed in order to prevent distortion of the body and slow down the decaying process. In the Joseon period (1392-1910), everyday or ceremonial clothes, particularly those in vogue at the time, were used as a shroud and thus the garments used to dress the deceased
Korean Rites of Passage -
Burial site
장지 ( 葬地 )
A place where the body of a dead person is buried. The forms and places of jangji varied depending on time and region, mainly due to differences in cultural perception. Among the diverse types of funerals, jangji is closely related with underground burial. There are both individual and group jangji: depending on class, the latter is classified into royal tombs, noble family tombs and public cemeteries. Donggureung of the Joseon dynasty is one of the most representative group royal tombs. Family
Korean Rites of Passage -
Carrying the coffin to the burial site
운상 ( 運喪 )
That part of a funeral procession in which the coffin is carried to the burial site on a bier, or the act of carrying the coffin to the grave. Unsang had been performed using a cart driven by men, cows, or horses, but when “Jujagarye” (朱子家禮, Family Rituals of Zhu Xi) was introduced, the bier was generally carried by men on their shoulders. When barin (Kor. 발인, Chin. 發靷, departure of the funeral procession from the home to the burial site) is over, unsang begins. The style of the unsang may vary
Korean Rites of Passage -
Casket containing a dead body
영구 ( 靈柩 )
The coffin in which the body of a deceased person has been placed after yeomseup (Kor. 염습, Chin. 殮襲, lit. bathing and shrouding). Yeonggu is the coffin in which the body of the deceased has been placed after yeomseup. A folding screen is put up in front of the coffin, and a ritual table is also set to the east of where the casket lies. A day before barin (Kor. 발인, Chin. 發靷, carrying the coffin to the burial site), a memorial rite was held and liquor offered to the deceased while facing the north
Korean Rites of Passage -
Chief mourner
상주 ( 喪主 )
Sangju refers to the chief mourner, the one who organizes the whole funeral. Usually the first son of the deceased, or the first grandson, takes this role, also taking over the family ancestral rites. During the mourning period, he makes offerings of food every morning and evening as if the deceased were still alive. The sangju generally does not wash his face and wears a round shaped hat (bangnip) or a brimmed round hat (gulgat), meaning that he has commited a crime against heaven. When a paren
Korean Rites of Passage
