A very interesting ritual
Last night, I was privileged with the opportunity to participate in a
very personal ritual performed by my Grandmaster to mark the
anniversary of his father's death. I learned more about Korean culture
in that one ceremony, than I had in the year that I've known
Grandmaster Choi. It was really incredible.
Grandmaster Choi runs a yearly cancer benefit tournament,
demonstration, and golf tournament where he raises money for the Blue
Ridge Hospice and the American Cancer Society. His father, whom he
respected and honored a great deal, died of cancer 10 years ago last
night. He vowed that he would do his best to raise money to fight the
disease, and to help those who suffer with it. I had no idea of the
additional personal commitment and undertaking that he and many other
Koreans perform to honor their ancestors.
The ceremony last night was called chesa. It is a very elaborate
ceremony that is meant to pay respect to ancestors, thanking them for
all they did in life, and asking them to watch over the remainder of
the family. They basically consider all that their parents did for
them as a debt to be repaid, and this is one of the ways they fulfill
that debt.
The chesa is performed right after midnight on the anniversary of
death, based on the Chinese calendar. During the day, the women
prepare an amazing amount of food for the ceremony. The participants
are expected to spend the day cleansing their minds and bodies in
preparation. Then the participants unfold a special wall screen,
polish special ritual vessels, light two candles, one on either side of
the ceremonial table, place their spirit tablet, ceremonial documents,
and/or a portrait on the table, and then arrange the food on the table.
The food arrangement is very significant, and specific as to which
dishes go in which order, and which ones are placed in which positions
on the table. The colors and types of food determines where it is
placed. For example, fish must be in the east, meat to the west, and
the fish's head must point east. All of us took trays and loaded them
with food and presented them to Grandmaster Choi, who arranged them in
the appropriate places. Then the door was opened for his father's
spirit to attend.
Once the food was placed on the ceremonial table, GM Choi lit the
incense, and knelt and bowed his head to the floor twice. Then he
invited his father's spirit to join us. He poured sake into a cup and
bowed twice more. Then he welcomed his father, and all of us bowed
twice to welcome him. After this, GM Choi offered food to his father,
and placed a spoon in one of the bowls of rice. He made an offering of
wine, by moving the cup in a clockwise circle over the incense, and
then read an invocation that basically said that the humble dishes had
been prepared for him, and asked him to enjoy the offerings. Wine was
offered again, bowing twice.
After this, the eldest grandson knelt and offered a glass of wine,
moving it in the circle three times. Next, the second grandson made
the same offering. In the past, women were not allowed to participate,
but when allowed, they were supposed to bow four times instead of two
because it takes two yin to make one yang, or so tradition would have
it. However, GM Choi's wife and daughter made the ritual offering
moving the cup in the circle three times, and bowing twice. After each
offering, chopsticks and spoons were moved to a different dish on the
table.
I was very surprised when after that, Grandmaster Choi called me up and
handed me the cup. I am very glad I read about this prior, or I likely
would have been very confused. I moved the cup and bowed twice and
returned to my spot.
Grandmaster Choi encouraged his father to have more food, placed the
spoons in the rice bowls again, the light was turned off, and we all
left the room. Apparently, they believe that if the deceased is too
shy to eat in front of everyone, they will have the chance to eat more
if everyone leaves. We all went outside for about 10 minutes and
talked about his dad, and he showed me a tree his dad had planted for
him in the front yard. Afterwards, he opened the door and coughed to
avoid surprising the spirit, and we all went back in.
Once again, wine was offered by GM Choi, and everyone bowed to say
goodbye to his father. Once the spirit had left, the spirit tablet was
moved, and screen was folded, and the food was moved back in the
correct order to the dining table. After this, much eating, drinking
and talking was had by all.
The eldest son is responsible for performing this ceremony for each of
4 generations of ancestors on their death day, and again on a special
day set aside for other ancestors, and again at thanksgiving. This
type of ceremony is done a total of 10 times per year! The amount of
work necessary is enormous. The entire large table was covered in
ceremonial food.
The ceremony shows the strength of family and devotion to ancestors
inherent in a traditional Korean family. The ceremony itself is from
the time of Confucius. The ancestor, if they fulfill certain
requirements, becomes an "Ancestor god" who maintains his place in
heaven if and only if his descendants do these ceremonies. In
exchange, the ancestor bestows good fortune on them.
I found it quite interesting that a christian family would be so eager
to perform this ceremony for an ancestor god. I did a bit of research,
and found out that chesa and ceremonies like it, were one of the
reasons christian missionaries had so much difficulty converting
Koreans in the beginning. Only when allowance was made for ancestral
traditions, did christianity take hold in Korea.
More when I get a bit more sleep :-)