Korea's Pastimes and Customs

Korea's Pastimes and Customs

Author: I-hwa Yi

Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1931907382

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The book explores the favorite pastimes and customs of the Korean people under the 'Great Empire' from the late 14th century to 1910, when Korea was occupied by Japan. Some of the popular games discussed include Baduk (the Korean version of 'Go', a strategic board game for two players), Janggi (the Korean version of chess) and Yutnori (a game played with four short sticks). The author also discusses games played by young boys (e.g. flying kites) and young girls (e.g. hide-and-seek), men (e.g. archery) and women (e.g. seesaw), and pastimes enjoyed by both sexes (e.g. tug of war). Lee examines the origin of family names and common people's obsession with genealogy during the Joseon dynasty. He also discusses the important ceremonies celebrating milestones in one's life as well as ceremonies associated with various holidays on the calendar. The last segment of the book is devoted to people's interest in fortune-telling. The author discusses behaviors that were considered taboo and the various ways people tried to predict their future.


Celebrating Life Customs around the World [3 volumes]

Celebrating Life Customs around the World [3 volumes]

Author: Victoria R. Williams

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2016-11-21

Total Pages: 1137

ISBN-13:

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This book documents hundreds of customs and traditions practiced in countries outside of the United States, showcasing the diversity of birth, coming-of-age, and death celebrations worldwide. From the beginning of our lives to the end, all of humanity celebrates life's milestones through traditions and unique customs. In the United States, we have specific events like baby showers, rites of passage such as Bat and Bar Mitzvahs and "sweet 16" birthday parties, and sober end-of-life traditions like obituaries and funeral services that honor those who have died. But what kinds of customs and traditions are practiced in other countries? How do people in other cultures welcome babies, prepare to enter into adulthood, and commemorate the end of the lives of loved ones? This three-volume encyclopedia covers more than 300 birth, life, and death customs, with the books' content organized chronologically by life stage. Volume 1 focuses on birth and childhood customs, Volume 2 documents adolescent and early-adulthood customs, and Volume 3 looks at aging and death customs. The entries in the first volume examine pre-birth traditions, such as baby showers and other gift-giving events, and post-birth customs, such as naming ceremonies, child-rearing practices, and traditions performed to ward off evil or promote good health. The second volume contains information about rites of passage as children become adults, including indigenous initiations, marriage customs, and religious ceremonies. The final volume concludes with coverage on customs associated with aging and death, such as retirement celebrations, elaborate funeral processions, and the creation of fantasy coffins. The set features beautiful color inserts that illustrate examples of celebrations and ceremonies and includes an appendix of excerpts from primary documents that include legislation on government-accepted names, wedding vows, and maternity/paternity leave regulations.


Cultural Blending In Korean Death Rites

Cultural Blending In Korean Death Rites

Author: Chang-Won Park

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2010-04-11

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1441179178

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Cultural Blending in Korean Death Rites examines the cultural encounter of Confucianism and Christianity with particular reference to death rites in Korea. As its overarching interpretive framework, this book employs the idea of the 'total social phenomenon', a concept first introduced by the French anthropologist Marcel Mauss (1872-1950). From the perspective of the total social phenomenon, this book utilizes a combination of theological, historical, sociological and anthropological approaches, and explores Korean death rites by classifying them into three categories: ritual before death (Bible copying), ritual at death (funerary rites),and ritual after death (ancestral ritual). It focuses on Christian practices as they epitomize the complex interplay of Confucianism and Christianity. By drawing on a total social phenomenon approach to the empirical case of Korean death rites, Chang-Won Park contributes to the advancement of theory and method in religious studies.


The Soil Underfoot

The Soil Underfoot

Author: G. Jock Churchman

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-04-21

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 1466571578

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The largest part of the world's food comes from its soils, either directly from plants, or via animals fed on pastures and crops. Thus, it is necessary to maintain, and if possible, improve the quality-and hence good health-of soils, while enabling them to support the growing world population. The Soil Underfoot: Infinite Possibilities for a Finite


Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife [3 volumes]

Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife [3 volumes]

Author: Jonathan H. X. Lee

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2010-12-21

Total Pages: 1498

ISBN-13: 0313350671

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This comprehensive compilation of entries documents the origins, transmissions, and transformations of Asian American folklore and folklife. Equally instructive and intriguing, the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife provides an illuminating overview of Asian American folklore as a way of life. Surveying the histories, peoples, and cultures of numerous Asian American ethnic and cultural groups, the work covers everything from ancient Asian folklore, folktales, and folk practices that have been transmitted and transformed in America to new expressions of Asian American folklore and folktales unique to the Asian American historical and contemporary experiences. The encyclopedia's three comprehensive volumes cover an extraordinarily wide range of Asian American cultural and ethnic groups, as well as mixed-race and mixed-heritage Asian Americans. Each group section is introduced by a historical overview essay followed by short entries on topics such as ghosts and spirits, clothes and jewelry, arts and crafts, home decorations, family and community, religious practices, rituals, holidays, music, foodways, literature, traditional healing and medicine, and much, much more. Topics and theories are examined from crosscultural and interdisciplinary perspectives to add to the value of the work.


Coping with the Future

Coping with the Future

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-06-12

Total Pages: 602

ISBN-13: 9004356789

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Coping with the Future: Theories and Practices of Divination in East Asia offers insights into various techniques of divination, their evolution, and their assessment. The contributions cover the period from the earliest documents on East Asian mantic arts to their appearance in the present time. The volume reflects the pervasive manifestations of divination in literature, religious and political life, and their relevance for society and individuals. Special emphasis is placed on cross-cultural influences and attempts to find theoretical foundations for divinatory practices. This edited volume is an initiative to study the phenomena of divination across East Asian cultures and beyond. It is also one of the first attempts to theorize divinatory practices through East Asian traditions.


Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets

Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets

Author: Sunglim Kim

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2018-12-04

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0295743425

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The social and economic rise of the chungin class (“middle people” who ranked between the yangban aristocracy and commoners) during the late Chosŏn period (1700–1910) ushered in a world of materialism and commodification of painting and other art objects. Generally overlooked in art history, the chungin contributed to a flourishing art market, especially for ch’aekkori, a new form of still life painting that experimented with Western perspective and illusionism, and a reimagined style of the traditional plum blossom painting genre. Sunglim Kim examines chungin artists and patronage of the visual arts, and their commercial transactions, artistic exchange with China and Japan, and historical writings on art. She also explores the key role of men of chungin background in preserving Korean art heritage in the tumultuous twentieth century, including the work of the modern Korean collector and historian O Se-ch’ang, who memorialized many chungin painters and calligraphers. Revealing a vivid picture of a complex art world,Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets presents a major reconsideration of late Chosŏn society and its material culture. Lushly illustrated, it will appeal to scholars of Korea and East Asia, art history, visual culture, and social history. A William Sangki and Nanhee Min Hahn Book Art History Publication Initiative. For more information, visit http://arthistorypi.org/books/flowering-plums-and-curio-cabinets


Forces of Nature

Forces of Nature

Author: David Fedman

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2023-05-15

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 1501768808

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Bringing together a multidisciplinary conversation about the entanglement of nature and society in the Korean peninsula, Forces of Nature aims to define and develop the field of the Korean environmental humanities. At its core, the volume works to foreground non-human agents that have long been marginalized in Korean studies, placing flora, fauna, mineral deposits, and climatic conditions that have hitherto been confined to footnotes front and center. In the process, the authors blaze new trails through Korea's social and physical landscapes. What emerges is a deeper appreciation of the environmental conflicts that have animated life in Korea. The authors show how natural processes have continually shaped the course of events on the peninsula—how floods, droughts, famines, fires, and pests have inexorably impinged on human affairs—and how different forces have been mobilized by the state to variously, control, extract, modernize, and showcase the Korean landscape. Forces of Nature suggestively reveals Korea's physical landscape to be not so much a passive context to Korea's history, but an active agent in its transformation and reinvention across centuries. With support from the Henry Luce Foundation, our goal is to produce all titles in this series both in Open Access, for reasons of global accessibility and equity, as well as in print editions.


The Gwangju Uprising

The Gwangju Uprising

Author: Chŏng-un Ch'oe

Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1931907293

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This book explores the implications of the Gwangju Democratic Uprising, which took place in May 1980 when paratroopers brutally broke up a group of protesters who demonstrated against General Chun Doohwan's acceptance of the Korean presidency. People who lived in the Gwangju and South Jeolla provinces fought the paratroopers, insisting that martial law be abolished. During the event now known as the Gwangju Uprising, 191 people perished and 852 were wounded. Here, Choi Jung-woon explores the ramifications of this pivotal day in Korea's modern history on the country's society, economy and politics. Rather than give a traditional historical narrative of the event, he gives an indepth analysis of the participants' mentalities and incentives, and the type of the brutality involved in the uprising. He also examines the stages the participants went through during the uprising, from the calm and togetherness they felt before the event, to the uprising's turmoil and then a return to peace after the event. The author analyzes various discourses related to the uprising, looking into the ideological underpinnings of those who commented on the uprising. labor movements and political relationships in Korea.