Photo : YONHAP News
Confucian culture experts have proposed that families simplify preparations for ancestral memorial service protocols during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Institute of Korean Confucian Culture on Wednesday put forth a set of modern-day protocols for the new year memorial service that aims to both maintain the tradition and reflect modern societal conditions.
The institute said four to six dishes, including the traditional tteokguk, or rice cake soup, would be sufficient and that the jeon, or Korean pancakes, requiring much labor, was not recommended under the study of Neo-Confucian etiquette.
It added that the word “charye,” often referring to the memorial ritual, originally means tea ritual according to the Chinese characters, and traditionally consisted of three to four types of fruit plus tteokguk during the Lunar New Year and the songpyeon rice cake during the Chuseok thanksgiving holiday.
Experts said harmony and happiness within one’s family should be given priority over formality.