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SOO-YOUNG CHIN
KOREAN BIRTHDAY RITUALS
ABSTRACT. This paper, based on a four year comparative ethnographic study of late
life rituals among Korean and Korean-Americans, discusses the ways in which late life
rituals change to meet the differing and changing environments. Using the Korean 60th
birthday ritual,
hwangap,
observed in Korea and the United States, the social context of
aging in Seoul and within the ethnic Korean American community in San Francisco is
discussed.
As Korea is undergoing vast social changes, the traditional ritual is compared to the
transformed manifestations of the ritual. Migration to the United States provides another
transformation of the traditional ritual.
Key Words:
adaptation, elderly, Koreans, migration, ritual, urbanization
This paper addresses the manner in which late life rituals change to meet the
demands of differing and changing environments. The changing social contexts
of Korean elderly in Korea and the United States are examined. Two cases of
the traditional Korean
hwangap
(60th birthday) ritual enacted in Seoul and San
Francisco are compared to illustrate the way in which rituals change according
to context. The comparative study of late life rituals is complex because rituals
undergo change in both the host culture and the culture of origin.
METHODOLOGY
The data is from a comparative ethnographic study of late life rituals among
Korean elderly in two cultural settings. It is based on 36 months of field work in
two urban settings. I visited Korean senior citizens' organizations in San
Francisco for 26 months and visited comparable senior citizens's centers in
Seoul, Korea to target respondents for the study of 60th, 70th, 80th birthdays
and 60th wedding anniversaries. Access to rituals was an issue in San Francisco
due to the limited number of people going through the ritual during the time I
was in the field. I observed eight such rituals in 26 months. In Korea, access to
rituals was difficult due to the closed nature of the events. I observed 12 events
in 10 months. Participant observation, in-depth open-ended interviews, and
unobtrusive measures constituted the methodology, although the data were
primarily collected by observation.
TRADITIONAL KOREAN LATER LIFE RITUALS
There are two types of rituals that pertain to the elderly. One is a specific
hwangap
ritual that Koreans observe as a passage into old age (Dallet 1954).
The other is the general
jesah
or ancestral worship ceremony which is led by the
eiders in the family to honor the dead as well as to ensure the continuity of this
tradition so that older members will be assured of their place in the ancestral
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
6:145-152, 1991.
© 1991
Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
146
SOO-YOUNG CHIN
order (Osgood 1951). In some ways, the
hwangap
can be seen as the first in the
series of ancestor worship ceremonies as the ritual is quite similar in terms of the
functions of the descendants. The major difference is that the
hwangap
is a
ceremony for living "ancestors" or the elderly.
HWANGAP
The hwangap
ritual is the celebration of the 61st birthday by Korean count, or
the 60th birthday by Westem count. The ritual indicates the auspicious return to
the year of birth which is five times around the 12 year lunar cycle. It is
considered a very important marker in life and is the second time in the lifetime
that Koreans traditionally mark the birthdate. Every other year except the first
birthday, the entire population ages a year at New Year's. In pre-industrial
Korea the completion of the fifth cycle was also regarded as a sign of longevity
due to the shorter life expectancy. Finally, the 60th birthday marked the
transition of an individual from an active role in the family and society to an
advisory role, a retirement of sorts.
There are seven elements to a
hwangap
that are essential to the traditional
event:
(1) It is conducted in the home as the home was the center of ritual activity in
traditional, agrarian Korea.
(2) Children must jointly plan and finance this event for both of their parents.
(3) The children, and then the younger relatives of the sexagenarian, must
take a full bow to the floor before the celebrant to show their respect.
After this show of respect, they serve rice wine to the celebrant and
spouse. Each of the celebrant's children, starting with sons (and their
wives) in birth order from the oldest to the youngest, must bow and serve
wine. Men bow only twice while women bow four times to show their
inferior status. The younger siblings and cousins of the celebrant also bow
in similar sequence.
(4) There is a prescribed table laden with special ceremonial foods like rice
cakes, fruits, and cookies, stacked sixto twelve inches high. At the table
the sexagenarian and spouse should wear ceremonial white clothes to
indicate a withdrawal from the working world into a more contemplative
lifestyle. However, if the sexagenarian's parents are still living, brightly
colored clothing that mimic the clothing for the first birthday is worn.
Wearing all white while one's parents are still alive would be interpreted
as a death wish because is both the color of retirement and of mourning.
(5) Official invitations are sent out by the children of the sexagenarian to
extended family members and friends.
(6) Gifts, money and services - like offering to construct a tent or making
clothes for the celebrants - are presented by guests to the celebrant for this
special occasion.
(7) Music, singing, and dancing are often part of the agenda. The program for
KOREAN BIRTHDAY RITUALS 147
the event is loosely set with the following agenda: flower presentations;
oral histories of the celebrant, his ancestors and descendants; wine
serving; individual and group singing; poetry readings and speeches made
by various members of the community about the celebrant, the celebrant's
family, and/or the event. This is the basic agenda, and the exact sequence
of items may vary from event to event.
Contemporary Korea: The
Hwangap
as a Secular Ritual
The first
hwangap
I attended was a very small affair, held at a Chinese res-
taurant by the Kim family. According to the celebrant's spouse, Mrs. Kim, and
his daughters, it was not convenient for the family to gather at home because
there was not enough space and it would have been too much work. Hence they
do most of their celebrating outside the home. This is a common situation in
Seoul, a large, overcrowded city where most people live in apartment com-
plexes. Restaurants and halls are the more common venue for the ritual.
Miss Kim, an acquaintance, started talking about her father's upcoming
birthday. When I showed interest, she asked me to come to lunch one Sunday as
her family would be getting together. Miss Kim is upper middle class. She is the
third of four daughters, all of whom were educated at one of the two top
universities in the country. Her two older sisters married well, and both she and
her younger sister have very good jobs in administrative positions.
The family actually held two
hwangap
events: a buffet dinner at a major hotel
for extended family and another smaller dinner for the intimate family. Since
Mr. Kim has his own business, he is quite well-off and doing better financially
than his children. Therefore, the buffet dinner, attended by some 30 people, was
financed by Mr. Kim. The smaller event, held at one of many different res-
taurants specializing in ritual events, was financed by the four daughters in equal
parts. The lunch was quite expensive. Lunch for nine cost US$700. However,
the financial burden is considered an honor, and children feel that spending
more money is an expression of their respect for their parents.
Only the immediate family was present so no official invitations were sent
out. Unlike the tranditional format, this was a Chinese style nine course meal.
The conversation at lunch was quite ordinary, with the only references to the
event being that age sixty was still young, and that it was no longer possible to
have community functions as community was no longer geographically
localized. It came out that Mr. Kim had moved to Seoul after the Korean War
from a small town south of Scout.
In terms of ceremony, there was no bowing because the physical layout of the
restaurant did not provide space for such a ceremony. There was, however, a
toast made to the celebrant with Johnny Walker Black Label whiskey. Ap-
parently, gifts were given at home.
Tok,
a traditional rice cake, and rice wine
were offered to the celebrant after the meal. The emphasis of this event was on
eating, though not of ritual foods, until the
tok
was brought out at the end of the
meal. Pictures of the family were taken at this time. One of the reasons that all
148 SOO-YOUNG CHIN
the family members insisted that this event be so simple is that they are modem,
urban, and Christian, as if this combination absolves them from having to follow
tradition. The Christian churches object to the notion of ancestor worship
because it is interpreted as the honoring of false gods. However, the extension of
this notion to the hwangap is not explicitly stated.
Secularization of this ritual seems to be the growing trend in Korea. As the
enactment of rituals in Korea are still linked to the community base and the
home, urbanization has dramatically changed ritual life. Apartment living, and
urban living in general, is not conducive to large gatherings like the hwangap. In
response to the growing need to hold family functions outside the home, there
are specialty restaurants and halls that cater to a variety of events. Advertise-
ments for establishments that specialize in events such as the hwangap are often
broadcast over the radio.
The vast migration that accompanied urbanization has led to the breakdown
of community for people both in urban and rural areas (Mills and Song 1979).
For those who do mark the 60th birth date, secularization and familialization of
the event are not uncommon. Of the people I spoke with in-depth, 32 percent (9
individuals) said that their events were small family affairs, while 46 percent (13
individuals) had the traditional hwangap. Of those who celebrated their
hwangap in traditional fashion, 3 of 13 were held in their more rural
hometowns, not in Seoul. So actually, only 35 percent of urban celebrants had a
traditional hwangap. The rest, 22 percent (6 individuals) did not celebrate it but
were very open about what it meant not to celebrate. An additional six people
refused to answer questions about their hwangap although I had many good
discussions with them on numerous occasions. All six lived alone or did not
have children which points to the importance of family in the hwangap
celebration.
The United States: Hwangap as a Statement of Ethnicity
One of the field sites in San Francisco was a large Korean church. Having heard
of my research interest, Mrs. Chon (and her son Lou) in~,ited me to her hus-
band's hwangap. The Chon family is lower-middle class; both Mr. and Mrs.
Chon have clerical positions at a military establishment. Their oldest son is in
Korea and did not make the trip for the celebration; their second child, Lou,
graduated from the University of California and has a good first job; their third
child, Anne, is taking a leave of absence from school and working and living in
Oakland.
The hwangap was held at the Korean Catholic Church in which Mr. Chon is
very active. As their home is too small, they chose for their event a venue that
represented their community. The children and Mrs. Chon helped to arrange this
ritual event which had two parts: a Mass and then a traditional Korean gathering
in the church hall. In a departure from tradition, Mr. Chon decided that the main
event for his celebration would be a Saturday Mass. This was not announced,
KOREAN BIRTHDAY RITUALS
149
and many people wandered around looking for the celebration before being
directed to the church.
Structurally speaking, the entrance into the sacred space for the Mass set this
event out of the context of ordinary life. Approximately 150 Catholic and non-
Catholic people went to the Mass which was in Korean. There were modifica-
tions made to address the special nature of this Saturday Mass. The priest
addressed the meaning of growing old and spoke of the importance of family
unity and solidarity in keeping the elderly connected in their social interactions
and with their life achievements. After touching upon the more traditional
Korean values of honoring and respecting the elderly and the role of leadership
that elders hold in the family, the priest began to expound upon the importance
of the marriage dyad in later life for support and companionship, especially
"here in the United States." The sermon emphasized cultural differences in the
construction of daily life, and the ensuing differences in the nature of aging in
the United States where social mobility often separates children from their
parents and older people are often separated from the larger society in age-
specific communities. He went on to elaborate on the added importance of the
marriage dyad in the new setting. It appeared as if the priest were trying to bring
into the open, and legitimize, the differences in the quality of life between Korea
and the United States.
In addition to the sermon, both children spoke at the Mass which created a
real sense of community within the confines of the church. They went up to the
pulpit at the altar to thank their parents for taking care of them and to thank the
community for coming to share this event with the family.
Finally, communion was taken by members of the Roman Catholic church in
attendance. Up to that point, the climax of the event, participants felt the fullest
sense of community. However, as only members of the church were able to
participate in the communion, that sense of community dissipated somewhat.
The actual party after the Mass was a way for the community to re-enter their
everyday lives. Another 75 or so guests showed up after the Mass thinking that
the main event was the ceremonial honoring of the celebrant and his wife. Since
there were three groups with different expectations and experiences of the event,
the participants were not a cohesive group. The participants seemed anxious to
begin eating, perhaps as a way to allay some of the confusion after the Mass. All
the traditional elements of the event were present in the church hall gathering.
The children and younger relatives bowed in front of a ceremonial table. The
celebrant wore traditional clothing. Invitations were arranged by the children for
the father. Usually there is a table outside the party hall/venue to receive gifts
and record moneys given by individuals to the celebrant. At this particular event,
the receiving table was at the entrance of the church as Mass was the main
event. Those who gave gifts and moneys were slightly surprised at the place-
ment of the receiving table. Those who made food or donated their time
contributed in a more traditional fashion to the ritual.
After participants got their food, attention was called to the "honorees'" table
in front of the stage in the hall. Mr. and Mrs. Chon sat at this table along with
I50 SOO-YOUNG CHIN
the presiding priest. Mrs. Chon, the children, and relatives from Mrs. Chon's
side (Mr. Chon has no living relatives) made traditional bows at a mat set up in
front of the table. After each bow, family members offered Mr. Chon rice wine
to show their respect and reaffirm their familial ties to the celebrant. Close
family friends also went up and made speeches praising the celebrant. Entertain-
ment ensued and the celebration began to take on the characteristics of a more
ordinary, large community gathering with singing, talking, eating, and drinking.
ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS
When we compare the forms and functions of these two late life rituals, we cart
clearly see how ritual is used to help individuals, families, and communities
cope with discontinuity that accompanies migration. In Korea, social and
personal change on a large scale result from the impact of urbanization and
industrialization. The break from traditional communities through migration to
urban areas forces a shift in the focus of rituals from community to the family.
The traditional Korean
hwangap
was a life cycle event, a living ancestor
worship ceremony. Such life cycle ceremonies were the link between life and
death, and tied ancestors and descendants together in a symbolic rite of con-
tinuity. Today the
hwangap
has moved in the secular, familial direction,
addressing the individualization of Korean culture that comes from urbanization
and industrialization. Many of the values that traditional rituals expressed are
now obsolete because the urban, industrial context produces more heterogeneous
lifestyles and experiences that are not linked to one geographic community.
One conflict that exists for many people who migrated to urban areas is that
despite the new lifestyle, their sensibilities are still entrenched in folkways. In
response to the dissonance, people are trying to find new ways to revive and
maintain a sense of order and continuity, ways that are more applicable to their
present circumstances. One way that people deal with the disruption of the
traditional belief system and practices is to convert to Christianity as the Kim
family did, As Christian faith forbids ancestor worship and related practices as
the honoring of false gods, it rationalizes the secularization and familialization
of the ritual.
The focus of late life rituals is on family solidarity and support. Given the
new focus of the ritual, new forms like Chinese lunches that address the new
imperatives have emerged. Late life rituals are no longer expressions of a culture
and shared values, but statements about the specific history and experience of
each family and of the character and accomplishments of its members. In family
rituals socio-economic status, family relations, creativity and adaptation to the
new context are expressed.
In the United States the event was a re-affirmation of community ties and
ethnicity. For immigrant Koreans, this is part of the task of maintaining cultural
identity and setting up "buffer" institutions that will give continuity and
meaning to life in a culturally alien and somewhat race-segregated milieu, The
creation of ethnic communities that make strong attempts at maintaining old
traditions is a response.
KOREAN BIRTHDAY RITUALS 151
Ethnicity for many older first generation immigrants is, in large part, the
ability to maintain the culture and traditions of their youth. This adherence to
traditional culture: (1) creates order and meanings under conditions of confusion
and stress; and (2) creates new ties in a foreign environment. The "us" and
"them" distinction is clearly defined, and a functional network based on a
"consciousness of kind" is established despite potential diversity within the
community. For Mr. Chon, his
hwangap
renewed old style, rural patterns in the
new industrial, urban, and culturally alien context.
The venue, style and size of the ritual in the United States are indicative of the
new need and opportunity for status. In the United States, even if one is
integrated or connected with the Korean community, one is relatively isolated
because living and working situations may not necessarily be around or with
members of the ethnic community. By-products of the general isolation are both
a greater need for status affirmation and a greater opportunity for status change
within the ethnic community. The church is the primary ethnic institution within
which members can become involved and recognized among people who might
otherwise have little personal knowledge of each other. Mr. Chon's
hwangap
was one opportunity that allowed for the honoring of an individual within the
new ethnic context.
Finally, part of the need for community participation in the
hwangap
has to do
with the general levels of ritual life available for the aged in Korea and the
United States. In Korea, there is a greater range of rituals in which older people
partake. New Year's Day, for example, does not have the same ritual accoutre-
ments in the United States as in Korea. In Korea, New Year's Day is celebrated
in the home with younger members of the family visiting all the older members
of the family to pay their respects with ceremonial bows. This is followed by a
visit to the family gravesite to pay respects to the dead.
Chusok - All
Soul's Day
-
is a public holiday weekend in Korea when families visit gravesites, a physical
impossibility in the United States. The
jesah,
the ancestor worship ritual, is also
not often celebrated in any form in the United States as most Koreans have
converted to some form of Christianity.
There are also rituals for other age groups like the
dol, the
celebration of a
child's first birthday, to which grandparents and all extended family members
are invited. Although the child is the focus of the celebration, it is the
grandparents who are seated at the table of honor and given credit for the
generativity of the family. In the United States, ritual events are less frequent,
and the relative importance of each ritual is much greater for both the com-
munity at large and for the celebrant. This places added pressure on planners,
participants, and celebrants to make the most of the
hwangap,
to fit in as many
symbols of Korean culture as possible.
It is apparent that ritual serves several important functions for Korean elderly
in both contexts and that the use of ritual has not diminished. On the contrary,
ritual has increased or taken on added importance in the face of cultural void or
uncertainty. Although traditional community rituals may have diminished in
Korea, new family and secular rituals are on the rise. In the United States there
152 SOO-YOUNG CHIN
is a revival of community rituals, albeit with transformed conventions. The use
of these late life ritual can be interpreted as a response to the vast changes that
have taken place in Korea, and the uncertainty associated with migration. More
research is necessary to understand how rituals function in other aged popula-
tions.
REFERENCES CITED
Dallet, C. 1954 Traditional Korea. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files.
Mills, E.S. and B.N. Song 1979 Urbanization and Urban Problems. Cambridge: Council
on East Asian Studies.
Osgood, C. 1951 The Koreans and Their Culture. New York: Ronald.
Human Development & Aging Program
University of California, San Francisco, U.S.A.
