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Original article
Discussion on the origin of kimchi, representative of Korean unique
fermented vegetables
Dai-Ja Jang
a
, Kyung Rhan Chung
b
, Hye Jeong Yang
a
, Kang-sung Kim
c
,
Dae Young Kwon
a
,
*
a
Korea Food Research Institute, Songnam, Kyongki-do, South Korea
b
The Academy of Korea Studies, Songnam, Kyongki-do, South Korea
c
Yongin University, Yongin, Kyongki-do, South Korea
article info
Article history:
Received 16 April 2015
Received in revised form
23 June 2015
Accepted 2 July 2015
Available online 14 September 2015
Keywords:
kimchi
origin
gochu
jo (菹)
origin of kimchi
abstract
Background: Kimchi is a unique and traditional fermented ethnic food of Korea, which consists of veg-
etables such as Chinese cabbage fermented with lactic acid bacteria. However, some argue that kimchi
has only existed for 100 years, which is a false assertion.
Methods: We will discuss some papers that make statements on kimchi, and provide accurate historical
facts on kimchi by analyzing ancient documents of Korea and by scientifically examining the introduction
of red pepper into Korea.
Results: Belonging to the UraleAltaic group of languages, Korean is completely different from Chinese;
however, Korea did not have its own characters until 1433 when King Sejong invented Hangeuldthe Korean
characters. Koreans used Chinese characters in writing while using the Korean language when speaking.
Therefore, although wewrote jo (菹) when indicating Korea's unique and traditional fermented food, kimchi,
it is completely different food from paochai (泡菜). Thus, it is quite incorrect to attempt to find the origin of
Korean kimchi in Chinese paochai. In addition, discursion that kimchi was originally white but changed into
red following the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, and the assertion that there was no cabbage kimchi 100
years ago, but only kimchi made of white radish, are incorrect, and without any scientific evidence.
Conclusion: For thousands of years, Korea has had its own traditional fermented food, especially fer-
mented food with red pepper, and kimchi is our unique and traditional ethnic food. Due to the false
assertion that red pepper was introduced into Korea from Japan during the invasion of Korea, some argue
that kimchi is only 100 years old. Such assertions are quite incorrect. Even in the Samkuksaki (三國史記),
the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, we can see that people already ate cabbage kimchi in the
three states around 1,500 years ago. By directly interpreting the facts shown in the records, it is clear that
kimchi is our fermented food invented thousands of years ago. Therefore, we hope the present study will
provide an opportunity to correct the historical defaults and develop Korea's kimchi.
Copyright © 2015, Korea Food Research Institute, Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article
under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction
Kimchi is Korea's representative ethnic food and unique food,
without anything similar in other countries (Fig. 1). Kimchi is made
by fermenting Chinese cabbage or radish with lactic acid bacteria
and there are about 200 types of kimchi in Korea. However, many
unscientific and incorrect discursions exist on kimchi in Korea. Such
incorrect discursions are distorting the history and origin of kimchi,
Korea's representative food, degrading the quality and dignity
thereof. It is, therefore, quite important and urgent to correct such
false assertions as soon as possible.
Science is necessary to understand human history and the truth
of nature. Therefore, as Galileo Galilei [1] said “truth should be
easily understood”, but the point is how to find it. This statement
applies directly to current times: if a fact or theory cannot be easily
understood and opposes nature, such a theory is highly unlikely to
be true. In most natural sciences, many researchers have conducted
experiments under the major premise that something that cannot
be easily understood is not true, but through discovering the truth,
natural and biological phenomena have been understood and sci-
ence has developed based thereon. However, when it comes to
human history, universal truth sometimes fails to exert its power. In
* Corresponding author. Korea Food Research Institute, 62 Anyangpankyo-ro
1201-bunkil, Songnam, Kyongki-do, 463-746, South Korea.
E-mail address: dykwon@kfri.re.kr (D.Y. Kwon).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Ethnic Foods
journal homepage: http://journalofethnicfoods.net
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2015.08.005
2352-6181/Copyright © 2015, Korea Food Research Institute, Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
J Ethn Foods 2 (2015) 126e136
the area of food culture, some assertions hardly understood
scientifically are considered as truth. In particular, unlike scholars
in the natural scientific circle, some humanities scholars hold firm
to their view in order to exert absolute influence on their argument,
even though their assertions cannot be accepted scientifically.
Natural scientists accept different facts from what they argued, if
such facts are based on science. However, some hasty humanities
scholars tend not to accept scientific data.
In such cases, genuine truth is often not accepted because false
information already exists in areas such as term, history, develop-
ment, and culture of food. Unfortunately, these thoughts, which
cannot be understood by science, are commonly recognized. If false
assertions spread widely, everything becomes mixed up and many
untruths are produced, seriously affecting the development of food
culture. One example of such a false assertion in Korea's food cul-
ture is the unscientific argument that “red pepper was introduced
during the Japanese Invasion of Korea [2].” Such an unfounded and
unscientific assertion is an obstacle, however, a bigger problem is
the situation where other scientists just quote such an assertion
without verifying whether it is true or not.
Kimchi is at the center of such false discursions that have dis-
torted and damaged the legitimacy of Korean food, even with its
representative status in food culture and its long history. Some even
say on radio or TV that kimchi has only 100 years of history. It is
considered that such distortion of the history of kimchi began from
the false discursion that red pepper was first introduced from Japan
during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, called Imjinwaeran
(壬辰倭亂) [2e4]. In many publications, authors unquestioningly
accept this false story on the introduction of red pepper without
any reference or evidence, and in order to make this false story true,
many people incorrectly discuss the origin of kimchi [5e9], and the
origin of the word kimchi [10,11]. Despite they have to see kimchi
(Fig. 1) as it is and it is written, they distorted the existence of
kimchi shown in many ancient documents and made the false
premise that there was no red pepper in Korea before 1592. In
short, in order to assert that the jo (菹), kimchi, we had were not in
fact kimchi, and some people had to justify their assertion by
making some incorrect discursions instead of seeing kimchi as it is.
They had no option but to insist that the kimchi
that appeared in the
ancient documents was just white kimchi or jolimryu (절임류),
simple salted vegetables. With such self-contradiction, people
easily fall into the trap of trying to see kimchi as something similar
to paochai (泡菜) of China (Fig. 2A) or tsukemono (漬物) of Japan.
They self-justified that kimchi has the same origin as China's pao-
chai, because they consider kimchi as a simple salted food that does
Fig. 1. Baechu kimchi (Chineses cabbage kimchi), the representative traditional food of
Korea.
Fig. 2. (A) Paochai (泡菜) of China. (B) Tsukemono of Japan. (C) Dongchimi, the seasonal
food of Korea during winter.
D.-J. Jang et al / Discussion on the origin of kimchi 127
not include red pepper [7,12e14]. It is very unfortunate to see that
the people, so called, who have researched kimchi incorrectly
stating that Korea's kimchi is just a variety of paochai.
Even though the Korean ethnic group is quite different from
China in terms of ethnology, biology (Mongolian spot), language
and literature, and racial migration (northern ancestor), ridiculous
assertions have been made that kimchi has the same origin as
China's paochai, resulting in huge damage to the food industry of
Korea. Without any scientific evidence, absurd assertions are made
such as; fermented kimchi is just a jeolimryu; kimchi is like German
sauerkraut; it has its origin in China [7,12]; or even that current
kimchi has only 100 years of history [7].
Without knowing any Korean characters, verbal communication
had long been the only way to communicate for our ancestors.
Furthermore, during the period when people did not have food-
scientific knowledge on the principle of fermentation, kimchi
could not be invented in such a short period. It was invented and
developed by our ancestors and has descended over thousands of
years. The recipe for kimchi has passed down from generation to
generation with unique cooking skills. Thus, it is almost a fiction-
like story that it has only been 100 years since cabbage kimchi
fermented by red pepper began to be made across the peninsula.
In fact, one hundred years ago, Korean learned how to make
baechu kimchi, Chinese cabbage kimchi, from their old generations.
In the course of such learning, communication has occurred on the
culture, method, and technique of making kimchi within Kimjang,
the kimchi-making community for the winter. We have to scien-
tifically examine and correct the documents and phenomena on
the history of kimchi, which has largely been distorted by Joo [12]
and others. It is scientists' job to correct unscientific history of
kimchi. In the present study, we will find some factors wrongly
informed about kimchi, and examine the cause thereof, and correct
them.
2. Misconstrued story of kimchi
There are many widely spread false stories of kimchi and many
papers have been written on kimchi [5e14]. However, although
such papers do not provide any evidence, they cannot see kimchi as
it is and stick to the falsehood that “ red pepper was introduced
during the Imjinwaeran in 1592.” Due to such a false frame, the
origin and development of kimchi has been severely distorted.
Strictly speaking, those assertions introduced into such a false
frame are not worth mentioning in the present study. However, if
we don't eradicate such discursions, they would hugely undermine
and cause serious damage to Korea's food development. In partic-
ular, publications by Joo [12,15] disgorge many discursions not only
about red pepper but also about kimchi. Although there are many
other authors who have falsely explained kimchi, we will focus on
Joo because his publications have the most plausible, but incorrect
information, and he is the representative spoiler who distorts
Korean food. According to Joo: (1) Korean kimchi has the same root
as Chinese paochai and Japanese tsukemono; (2) kimchi was origi-
nally white but turned to red after the Imjinwaeran in 1592; and (3)
radish kimchi was the only type of kimchi and there was no cabbage
kimchi until 100 years ago. Those assertions are his representative
false discursions.
2.1. Discursion on kimchi's origin from paochai and tsukemono
Without the premise that there was no red pepper before the
Imjinwaeran, many parts of Joo's assertion cannot be explained
[12,15]. If red pepper's introduction into Korea during Imjinwaeran
is considered to be the unchangeable truth, it would be inevitable
to think that the existence of kimchi before Imjinwaeran is
meaningless and that kimchi is just a variety of salted food like
paochai or tsukemono [16]. What is worse, he even makes the
absurd assertion that kimchi is the descendant of such overseas
salted food or pickled vegetables as jangaji (장아찌)orjeolimryu (절
임류) [16]. Without any evidence, Joo is making up the story that
kimchi has come from such foods. Such an assertion is based on the
logic that kimchi, the fermented food, can be developed from salted
food, which is totally unreasonable from a scientific viewpoint.
Salted food cannot be changed to fermented food in such a short
period because fermented food has developed through a
completely different route than that of jeolimryu. In case of jeo-
limryu
, salt or sugar is used to reduce water activity, a
w
, in order to
prevent decomposition caused by microorganisms, or vinegar is
used to restrain the growth of microorganisms by reducing pH. This
is why salted, sweet, and sour pickles were developed. By contrast,
fermented food is not about preserving the food by restraining
growth of microorganisms, but about preserving the food by
encouraging growth of microorganisms.
These two foods undergo fundamentally different processes.
Therefore, how can we consider them to have the same origin?
Fermentation helps the growth of useful microorganisms and
production of useful substances by preventing the growth of
harmful microorganisms. The assertions on which fermented food
originated from salted food such as jeolimryu [12,15] are no more
than nonsense made up by someone completely ignorant of the
science of food. While not knowing anything about the science of
food, the so-called ‘kimchi-studying man’ is arguing that red pepper
was first introduced in the Imjinwaeran in an attempt to remove his
own self-contradiction.
The ancient history of food development is the history of unique
invention by each ethnic group or tribe, not the history of imitation
or development in Korea after 1980. In short, each ethnic group and
nation has its own ethnic foods. With the development of charac-
ters, transportation, and communication, we now can communicate
with other countries easily. With the current point of easy
communication, we should understand the real wayof development
of Korean traditional food. At ancient time, jeolimryu as salted foods
were investigated because the food tasted better and lasted longer
when putting salt or vinegar into it, however, it was unknow that salt
or vinegar can restrain microorganisms. Likewise, kimchi was
developed by discovering that the taste was good and the storing
time was elongated when cabbage was mixed with red pepper
powder. It was not known that kimchi from cabbage was fit to grow
useful microorganisms. It takes hundreds or thousands of years for
such an invention to be introduced in the whole of Korea as their
ethnic food. One hundred years ago, there were just a few means of
information exchange or communication. Before then, people made
foods only by depending on unique recipes that were passed down
from their ancestors. It is not true that the Korean food was changed
at once. It is absolutely incorrect to consider that a unique food of an
ethnic group that has been passed down throughout thousands of
years is an imitation from other countries.
Therefore, the consideration that people started to put red
pepper powder, instead of salt, into food such as paochai or tsuke-
mono due to the high price and lack of salt [15e17] is just a plausible
story that is far from the truth. Those times were not the 21
st
century, and people did not know the scientific role of salt. Adding
red pepper not only controls microorganisms, as does salt in foods,
but also boosts the growth of useful microorganisms such as lactic
acid bacteria, and therefore, fermentation progresses. This truth
worked 500e1,000 years ago although the people did not realize it.
Thus, assertions by Joo [5e8,12,15] that kimchi is developed from
salted foods such as paochai or tsukemono are not the truth. All the
sophistries are made to justify the false premise that red pepper
was introduced into Korea during the Imjinwaeran.
J Ethn Foods 2015; 2: 126e136128
Fig. 3. Expression of jo (菹) shown in: (A) Koryosa (高麗史); and (B) Koryosa-jeolyo (高麗史節要) written in the Chosun Dynasty (983).
D.-J. Jang et al / Discussion on the origin of kimchi 129
2.2. Discursion on white kimchi
It is not true that red pepper was introduced into Korea during
the Imjinwaeran [3,4]. Despite this, anyone can ask the question “ if
red pepper was introduced into Korea during the Imjinwaeran,was
there no kimchi before then?” The people who believe in the
introduction of red pepper during the Imjinwaeran initially said
that there was no kimchi before the Japanese invasion, however,
they cannot explain that jo (菹), the word that indicates kimchi,was
referred to in many ancient materials written before the Imjin-
waeran [18e20] (Fig. 3). However, they had no other option but to
argue that jo (菹) is not kimchi, but salted food like Japan's tsuke-
mono or China's paochai [12,15]. How pitiful they are. Then they are
faced with the fundamental question that “as tsukemono or paochai
are totally different from kimchi, how can this be explained?” If they
accept the fact that red pepper existed in Korea before the Imjin-
waeran, they could answer all the questions, “yes, kimchi is totally
different from paochai”, and it would be easily understood. Because
they could neither avoid such questions nor change the false
premise, they resorted to making up another sophistry: the story of
white kimchi [15,21]. It seems that they came up with such an idea
by seeing dongchimi (동치미), water-based radish kimchi that Ko-
reans usually eat during the winter (Fig. 2C). According to them,
dongchimi turned to red kimchi that we now eat due to the intro-
duction of red pepper. In short, it is unscientific discursion without
any evidence or documentation.
Therefore, what is
dongchimi and what are paochai and tsuke-
mono? The reason for such confusion is that they made ridiculous
assumptions in order to stick to the falsehood that red pepper was
introduced during the Imjinwaeran. Salted foods or sour pickles
such as paochai or tsukemono cannot be dongchimi containing
drinkable water. Dongchimi (winter kimchi; Fig. 2C) is one variety of
kimchi usually made additionally during Kimjang by putting radish
into a little bit of salted water. This is why it is called singkunji (싱건
지), originally meaning low-salt kimchi. The basic requirements for
making dongchimi (singkunji) are as follows: it should contain a
small amount of salt so that light fermentation can take place; it
should be stored at a low temperature; and it should also be eaten
at a low temperature. Only when the above requirements are
satisfied, can we enjoy the unique taste of singkunji as siwonhan-
mat,
1
which is well known to be Korea's representative taste. Thus,
dongchimi is additional type of kimchi made during Kimjang, not the
food Korean can eat all year round. Therefore, tsukemono or paochai,
which can be eaten all year around by strengthening salinity,
cannot be our dongchimi.
Recently, people can eat dongchimi during the four seasons due
to the wide use of kimchi fridges. Joo and others incorrectly thought
that there must have been something similar to the kimchi fridge
long ago so that dongchimi could be enjoyed in any season. It is
nonsense and dongchimi cannot be made to be enjoyed in any other
season than winter without a kimchi fridge. Therefore, the assertion
that the type of kimchi Korean had before the Imjinwaeran was
white kimchi like dongchimi is no more than a sophistry invented to
rationalize the false information that there was no red pepper
before the Imjinwaeran. It is impossible in the history of food
development that white kimchi suddenly turned to red kimchi as
red pepper was introduced [12,15]. The change occurred gradually
over hundreds of years.
We could not find the term white kimchi in any ancient doc-
uments to date. This term was coined by people who have dis-
torted kimchi in order to rationalize their assertions since 1980. If,
as they argue, white kimchi existed and it was transformed into
red kimchi, it would be natural to refer to the very kimchi that we
eat now as red kimchi rather than just kimchi, because the name of
original kimchi is white kimchi. The fact that the word has the
adjective white in it indicates that it is not the original version of
such food.
When figuring out that their assertion lacks validity, people such
as Joo have come up with other imaginary stories. They defy logic
with another absurd story in which white kimchi is considered our
original type of kimchi, and that it looks the like white kimchi that
we often see in the Japanese restaurants rather than dongchimi.
They are ridiculous enough to argue something like that, because
they do not accept any scientific evidence [3,4] and never give up
their belief in the introduction of red pepper during the Imjin-
waeran. Until 1980, the white kimchi seen in Japanese restaurants
did not exist. It is, in fact, a transformation of kimchi invented by the
Japanese restaurants in Korea in order to match the concept of
Japanese cuisine. In most cases, they make original kimchi through
fermentation and then wash out seasonings such as red pepper, and
pickle it in sugar. Such white kimuchi, therefore, cannot be the
origin of kimchi. They would argue that people in the past made
white kimchi by directly pickling it in sugar without removing
seasoning. However, this is also nonsense because there was no
sugar at that time in Korea. It was impossible for the people at that
time to make kimchi without using red pepper and fermentation. It
is too tiring to hear such absurd stories. They need to accept sci-
entific data, and see kimchi as it is. Although dongchimi has been
enjoyed, there was no sweet-pickled white kimchi on the bapsang
(table) of our ancestors [22]. Fermentation by red pepper and
pickling by salt are two different things.
According to Joo's sophistry, it cannot be true that just my
grandmother knew how to make kimchi. Although our ancestors
did not know Korean or Chinese characters, they have made kimchi
for several generations. His assertion completely denies our his-
tory; “What is kimchi?” as said by the people upon the invention of
Korean characters by King Sejong in the early 15
th
century [23]
(Fig. 4).
2.3. Discursion on kimchi's origin as radish kimchi
This, too, is an incorrect discursion made up out of false dogma
that our kimchi initially did not have red pepper in it and the origin
of kimchi is tsukemono or pickled vegetables. Because tsukemono
can only be made using radish, but not Chinese cabbage, they made
up the absurd argument that kimchi was initially made of radish.
The following is a direct quote of the assertion in the Food War and
Culture War written by Joo [24]:
“Although people usually think cabbage kimchi as general type
of kimchi, the main ingredient of kimchi was radish until only
100 years ago. Even though there was cabbage kimchi in the 18
th
century, it had not been widely enjoyed and as China's Shan-
dong cabbage was imported to the Korean peninsula, in the 20
th
century cabbage kimchi became the best of kimchi.”
Furthermore, he is talking about his assertion that it has been
only 10 0 years since we started to make kimchi with cabbage [16] in
various newspapers and TV programs (data not shown). It turns out
that he is hoist by his own petard. As mentioned above, as he tried
to come up with the concept of kimchi without red pepper, he
focused on paochai of China, tsukemono of Japan, or sauerkraut of
Europe first. Now he moves his attention to singkunji , jangachi, and
1
Siwonhan-mat (시원한 맛) refers to the unique expression of Korean food
different from sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter tastes that we can feel with tongue. It
is a pleasant, cool, and fresh taste that makes us feel the food is easily digested in
the intestine.
J Ethn Foods 2015; 2: 126e136130
dongchimi, and makes the lame argument that there was only
radish kimchi (Fig. 5A) until 100 years ago [16]. This assertion led
Joo to another argument that the history of Korea's cabbage kimchi
is <100 years old. Due to falling into the wrong dogma with false
premise, he keeps lying repeatedly. In order to support his asser-
tion, he argued that bulb-up cabbage, kyolku baechu (Fig. 5B), was
first introduced from China 100 years ago. This, too, is without any
supporting evidence such as records or documents. Under his
assertion, kyolku baechu is the only variety that can be used as the
ingredient of cabbage kimchi; it has been only 100 years since its
introduction into Korea and therefore only radish kimchi existed
until that time [16].
Was kyolku baechu the only variety that was used in cabbage
kimchi? The argument that kyolku baechu was introduced 100 years
ago is not true. In fact, people started to grow and produce kyolku
baechu after they realized that cabbage gets plump when being
bulbed up after growing it to a certain level. Such a plump type of
cabbage became popular during Kimjang season and the use of such
a variety became tradition. Of course, we are not arguing that such
Kimjang cabbage is the same variety as bomdong baechu (spring
cabbage) or olgari cabbage (Fig. 5D). We are saying that kyolku
baechu was not the only variety used in the making of kimchi:from
the spring to the fall, people have grown bomdong or olgari cab-
bages in the fields and made cabbage kimchi whenever they wanted
to. When growing cabbage for Kimjang in the fall, people have
harvested cabbages after letting them grow sufficiently large;
people could produce plump cabbage, known as kyolku baechu,by
bulbing-up the cabbage using straw and this variety became pop-
ular for making Kimjang kimchi. It must be hundreds of years ago
that people first realized that cabbage used for Kimjang gets plump
when it is bulbed up with straw.
Therefore, the assertion that there was no cabbage kimchi until
100 years ago is totally unfounded. There are many documents that
mention the existence of cabbage and cabbage kimchi: in the
Samkuksaki (三國史記) by Kim (金富軾), which recorded the history
of the pre-Koryo Dynasty, there are descriptions of a cruel way to
kill people used in the era of Kungye (弓裔)ofHubaekje (後百濟;
857?e918) that state “I want to tear a person limb from limb like
the way we tear kimchi” (Fig. 6) [25]. This clearly shows the fact
that the era of the three Kingdom states of Korea had kimchi made
of cabbage. From the description of tearing kimchi, we may
conclude that the kimchi referred to in these documents is the same
cabbage kimchi that we eat today.
There are other various descriptions of cabbage kimchi found as
sungjeo (菘菹), sungje (菘虀), chimsungchae (沈菘菜), and so on. In
the Yeonhaengiliki (燕行日記) by Kim (金昌業; 1658~1721) written
in 1712, there is a record that he enjoyed his meal with sungjeo (菘
菹), which is another name for cabbage kimchi (Fig. 7) [26]. Also, in
the Dasansimunjip (茶山詩文集), Jeong (丁若鏞
) wrote that cabbage
kimchi was a side dish of naengmyon (cold noodle) [27]. Meanwhile,
the Sakajip (四佳集) by Seo (徐居正) [28] mentions a poet that de-
picts how to make sungje (菘虀), cabbage kimchi, using different
varieties of cabbages harvested in late autumn and put into jars
(Fig. 8). In Munkyeonjapki (聞見雜記), the travel diary by Gap Lee,
we see his assessment on chimsungchae (沉菘菜), also one of
various names referring to cabbage kimchi [29]. Despite the exis-
tence of all these documents, Joo is making the absurd discursion
that there was no cabbage kimchi until 100 years ago.
Fig. 4. Historical writings showing: (A) jo (菹) referring to kimchi; and (B) sung (菘) referring to cabbage in the Hunmongjahoe (訓蒙字會) by Choi (崔世珍; 1343).
D.-J. Jang et al / Discussion on the origin of kimchi 131
There are countless numbers of documents found regarding the
existence of cabbage in Korea. The Hunmongjahoe (訓蒙字會),
written by Choi (崔世珍), in 1527 clearly stated the word sung (菘),
which refers to cabbage (Fig. 5b) [30], and the Dongkuk-isangkukjip
(東國李相國集) by Lee (李奎報) written in 1241 also has a record of
autumn cabbage [31]. The Dongmunseon (東文選) [32] and the
Sakajip (四佳集) [28] by Seo (徐居正) written in 1478 and 1488,
respectively, mention the word sung (菘) more than 20 times, and it
is also mentioned in the Jeompiljae (佔畢齋) by Kim (金宗直) [33]
written in 1497. In addition, the word sungchae (菘菜), which may
be another expression of cabbage, appears many times in the
Maewoldangjip (梅月堂集) by Kim (金時習; 1583) [34], the Siknyo-
chanyo (食療纂
要) by Chun (全循義; 1460), which also contains the
record on gochujang [22,35], and the Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑)by
Heo (許均;1610)[36]. Even when considering such results, the
assertion that there was no cabbage kimchi in the past due to the
absence of cabbage is quite ridiculous, and is based only on imag-
ination without research. In addition, Kim [37] has recognized the
fact that cabbage has long been existed in Korea. Furthermore,
another Chinese word baekchae (白菜), which was used to indicate
cabbage is shown in many materials such as the Yongjechonghwa
(慵齋叢話) by Seong (成俔; 1525) [38], the Haedongjapyo (海東雜錄)
by Kwon (權鼈; 1670?) [39], and the Sakajip (四佳集) [28]. However,
we must note that the word baekchae (白菜) was also often used to
indicate meoui, butterbur, because meoui becomes white when
peeled for cooking [36,40,41]. The original Chinese word indicating
cabbage is not baekchae but sung (菘). A more interesting point is
that we can find many documents that show the existence of bulb-
up cabbage in the 15
th
century. The Sakajip (四佳集) by Seo (徐居正)
has used separate expressions for the outer and inner parts of
cabbage based on their colors [28], and in the Cheongjangkwan-
jeonseo (靑莊館全書), Lee (李德懋; 1741~93) [42] commented on the
softness of the inner part of cabbage (菘心), which exists only in
kyolku baechu. In the Dasansimunjip (茶山詩文集) by Jung (丁若鏞),
mentioned above, there is also mention of the inner part of cabbage
[27].
Given the above evidence, we conclude that cabbage has long
existed in Korea and that kyolku baechu whose inner part was a
different color and texture than its outer part actually existed.
Therefore, Joo's assertion makes no sense based on actual historical
materials. It is another false discursion made by him to rationalize
his false assertion.
2.4. The birth and development of kimchi of Korea
Food technologies and cultures have been created to develop
ways to store crops, meats, and vegetables outside of the body for a
long time, because humans can accommodate only a limited
amount of food inside. In order to protect crops from animals or
birds, people dug tunnels, put the food into the jars, and built
storehouses. However, animals or birds were not the only enemy in
the preservation of food: even without birds and animals, food
became uneatable due to decomposition. Our ancestors came to
know that some fish could remain edible with the addition of salt,
however, most foods become uneatable once spoiled. They also
realized that when some vegetables have seasonings such as red
pepper or garlic, or beans with straws under roof on ondol [43],
they remain edible even though they smell rusty. Therefore, it was
recorded that Korea had superior fermentation technology among
its various ethnic groups in the border area of China. For instance,
Fig. 5. (A) Radish kimchi; (B) Kimjang baechu (Kimjang cabbage), also known as kyolku
baechu planted in the fall. Kimjang cabbage gets plump by being bulbed up using straw
and the color inside becomes yellow (white) while the outside remains green. (C)
Common bomdong; and (D) olgari cabbages planted during the spring or summer.
J Ethn Foods 2015; 2: 126e136132
the Samkukjiwiji-donguijeon (三國志魏志東夷展) of Chin [44]
mentioned that Korea is a country with well-developed fermen-
tation technology.
Kimchi, Korea's unique ethnic food, was invented around 4,000
years ago according the Sikyung (詩經) [18]. Of course, we cannot be
sure that jeo (菹) shown in the Sikyung refers to Korea's fermented
kimchi. However, because kimchi is the only food in Korea that
ferments vegetables such as cabbage, jeo (菹) in the record doesn't
indicate China's Paochai in particular. They do not say paochai as jeo
(菹). Based on domestic materials, such as the fact that people
already planted and harvested red pepper in the era of three states,
and the Samkuksaki (三國史記) [3,4], which showed people tearing
kimchi apart when eating [25], we know that cabbage kimchi
existed hundreds or thousands of years before such records were
made. As an essential ingredient, red pepper deters growth of
harmful microorganisms and promotes the growth of useful ones
such as lactic acid bacteria. In short, our ancestors found that
without red pepper, fermentation could not occur and the food
became spoiled. Therefore, they then developed fermentation
technology based thereon.
Along with cabbage, many varieties of vegetables are used for
making kimchi. Documents written hundreds years ago contain
records of many varieties of kimchi and of the methods of making
kimchi [41,45e47]. In fact, such various types of kimchi are not that
different from what we have today. Therefore, we have to see
kimchi as it is, and not deny the facts shown in many records and
documents, when making up new discursions regarding kimchi
that are all far from the truth.
Our ancestors have made kimchi using spring cabbage (bom-
dong), olgari, or summer cabbage during the spring and summer,
and by using autumn cabbage [28], they made Kimjang kimchi and
stored it in jars in order to preserve it through the winter. Because
spring kimchi only lasted 5e10 days and summer kimchi lasted only
for 3e7 days, people spent a lot of time in making kimchi. In order to
extend the storage period and enjoy the cool flavor during the
summer, people often hung kimchi deep inside wells to keep cool.
In order to get through winter, our ancestors buried kimchi jars in
the ground for storage. Such tradition is clearly proved by a stone
jar (Fig. 9A) found in the precincts of Beopjusa Temple (法住寺; 553)
and a large kimchi jar (earthenware; Fig. 9B) found in Chullado
province (640). Also, the Sakajip by Seo [28] written in the late 15
th
century also depicted Korea's custom to store kimchi in a jar. Herein,
we see the expression “let's put kimchi into the jar, the color is quite
yellow (瓦甕鹽虀色政黃)” (Fig. 8) and read that the people put
kimchi in as many as 300 jars (虛消三百甕黃虀). By the phrase “I
have one or two jars of old kimchi at home (吾家一兩甕鹽虀),” we
conclude that there was old kimchi stored in jars. For hundreds or
thousands of years, our ancestors have got through the winter by
burying kimchi jars in the ground.
In the winter, Koreans have often made dongchimi (singkunji)
with radish along with cabbage kimchi during Kimjang. The recipe
for dongchimi is as follows: roughly cut a radish and put it into a jar
filled with light salted water. After 12 days, the radish can be eaten
by cutting it into thin strips or the cold water in the jar can be
enjoyed. There are also many records about dongchimi: the King
Sejong Chronicles (世宗實錄) commented on a woman who tried to
get dongchimi water(汁菹) to heal stomach ache [48] and in the
Cheongseongjapki (靑城雜記) by Seong (成大中;1732e1812), there
is a story of person who fell into a kimchi jar when drinking
dongchimi water (汁菹
) to quench their thirst [49].
Jangaji (장아찌) and chanji (짠지) are also terms that indicate
Korea's kimchi as they contain the suffix ji (菹) [50,51]. To date, old
people in some rural areas (Chollado region) often say ji to indicate
kimchi. Jangaji is the pure Korean word coined by connecting the
two words jang (fermented soybean) and ji [51]: the word was
created from ji of jang to ji in jang [3]. By applying kanjang (soy
sauce), doenjang (soybean paste), or gochujang (red pepper paste)
to solid ingredients such as persimmon, radish, deodeok (one of the
bellflower), or garlic, the fermentation process proceeds. Jangaji is
loved by Koreans as a side dish. Soaking or pickling some solid
ingredients into doenjang or gochujang is called Jangjeolim (장절임)
[3]. Meanwhile, chanji is a different expression of kimchi, which
does not refer to jangaji [51]. Therefore, it is unfortunate to see
people who identifying chanji as jangaji, which limits the meaning
of chanji to just a type of salted food using boiled kanjang and salt.
Regrettably, chanji is mentioned falsely by Joo and others[16] to
refer to solid salted foods such as jangaji. Jangaji is a food that does
not require fermentation, and is produced by a different process to
that of kimchi. Therefore, the assertion that kimchi is a descendant
of jangaji and
chanji [16] is total nonsense, and has been proposed
by people who do not know anything about the production process
of such foods. In any sauce or paste, cabbage cannot maintain its
solid form due to its softness. Therefore it is impossible to make
jangaji with cabbage.
Likewise, tsukemono or paochai cannot become kimchi by just
putting some red pepper powder on it and our traditional
fermentation technology consists of a lot more than just putting
some red pepper on Chinese or Japanese foods. We are a different
ethnic group and have a different food culture from China or Japan.
We have our own unique way to make kimchi and the method is
quite profound and unique from the viewpoint of current science.
Because the information exchanges/means of communication that
we use today did not exist in the past, the unique recipe for kimchi
was passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, given
the history of ancient food technology development, it is
Fig. 6. Descriptions of a cruel way to kill people used during the era of Kungye (弓裔)of
Hubaekje (後百濟;857?e918) that state “I want to tear a person limb from limb like the
way we tear kimchi”. Chinese characters shown in the Samkuksaki (三國史記) by Kim
(金富軾; 1075e1151).
D.-J. Jang et al / Discussion on the origin of kimchi 133
Fig. 7. The Yeonhaengrok (燕行日記) by Kim (金昌業; 1658~1721) written in 1712, contains a record that he enjoyed his meal with sungjeo (菘菹; cabbage kimchi).
Fig. 8. The Sakajip (四佳集) by Seo (徐居正) [27] contains a poem that depicts how to make cabbage kimchi using cabbage harvested in late fall and put them into a jar. “菘虀: 西風吹
送晚菘香。瓦甕塩虀色政黃。先我周顒曾愛此。嚼來滋味敵膏梁
J Ethn Foods 2015; 2: 126e136134
impossible for kimchi to turn into cabbage kimchi from radish
kimchi within just a few years, or to turn to red from white all of a
sudden after the introduction of red pepper. In addition, it is also an
absurd assertion that black pepper gochujang (in fact, black pepper
paste was never made in Korea) was changed to red pepper
gochujang by the introduction of red pepper [52,53]. Korea origi-
nally had its own red pepper, and only by using this type of red
pepper can Korean make the kimchi or gochujang that we usually
eat. When making kimchi or gochujang with red pepper from
Southern Asia such as Thailand or Mexican aji, which is considered
to have been introduced into Korea during the Imjinwaeran [2], the
food become too spicy to eat [3,4]. In short, the sophistry that
kimchi or gochujang was made after the introduction of chili pepper
or aji into Korea is not reasonable.
Due to the incorrect assertions mentioned above, we have a
difficult time promoting or conducting research on Korea's kimchi.
Such wasteful discursions must be eradicated immediately. Korea's
kimchi and food culture should be interpreted as it is recorded in
the historical documents. That is the only way to best understand
such matters. It is not desirable to deny the historical documents
and create other unfounded discursions.
3. Conclusion
Kimchi is Korea's unique ethnic food, and historical records
showed that kimchi was invented around 4,000 years ago according
the Sikyung (詩經). Based on the fact that people already cultivated
red pepper in the era of three states, and according to the Sam-
kuksaki (三國史記), which showed people tearing kimchi apart
when eating, we may conclude that cabbage kimchi has existed
hundreds or thousands of years ago. As an essential ingredient, red
pepper deters the growth of harmful microorganisms and helps
useful bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria to grow. In short, our
ancestors discovered the fact that red pepper creates the fermen-
tation process and deters decomposition. They then developed
fermentation technology based thereon.
Due to the false assertion that red pepper was introduced into
Korea during the Japanese Invasion of Korea, the Imjinwaeran,in
1592, many other incorrect discursions have been spread about
kimchi. For example, some argue that Korea's kimchi has the same
origin with China's paochai and Japan's tsukemono; that the color of
kimchi
has changed from white to red since the Imjinwaeran; and
that cabbage kimchi did not exist and only radish was used for
making kimchi. Such discursions do not have any factual basis, and
were created in order to maintain the false impression that red
pepper did not exist in Korea until the Japanese invasion of Korea.
Although some people have made many discursions, none of them
are true, and the core discursion, that the red pepper was intro-
duced into Korea during the Imjinwaeran, is also not true.
Although we cannot cover all the discursions here, we often
encounter much incorrect information on kimchi. Such sophistries
are undermining genuine development of Korea's kimchi and
Kimjang culture. Therefore, research to dispel such false discursions
and to reveal the truth should be conducted. False information on
the origin of the term kimchi and many discursions have been
created to maintain the premise that the introduction of red pepper
occurred during the Imjinwaeran.
Conflicts of interest
All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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