• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.471-484
• /
• 2011

In this study, we attempted to understand the cultural characteristics of Korean food based on a traditional understanding of a Korean novel. To achieve this, food characteristics related to "Gaesung's foods" were analyzed in the representative Korean literary work Mimang. Mimang is a novel, from the latter era of the Chosun Dynasty to the Korean War in the Gaesung area. From that novel, it was discovered that first daily foods in the Gaesung area of the 19th century were various stored fermented foods. The second was the devotion of Gaesung food's cooking process and formal attire. The third was reflected in the economic abundance and the splendor of Gaesung food courts. The fourth was a modern public restaurant in Gaesung, an economic and commercial city. Another historically significant food found in Mimang was Gaesung ginseng.

• CELLMED
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.2.1-2.10
• /
• 2024

Through big data analysis of the 'Joseonwangjosilok', this study examines the perception of ginseng among the ruling class and its utilization during the Joseon era. It aims to provide foundational data for the development of ginseng into a high-value cultural commodity. The focus of this research, the Joseonwangjosilok, comprises 1,968 volumes in 948 books, spanning a record of 518 years. Data was collected through web crawling on the website of the National Institute of Korean History, followed by frequency analysis of significant words. To assess the interest in ginseng across the reigns of 27 kings during the Joseon era, ginseng frequency records were adjusted based on years in power and the number of articles, creating an interest index for comparative rankings across reigns. Analysis revealed higher interest in ginseng during the reigns of King Jeongjo and King Yeongjo in the 18th century, King Sunjo in the 19th century, King Sejong in the 15th century, King Sukjong in the 17th century, and King Gojong in the 19th century. Examining the temporal emergence and changes in ginseng during the Joseon era, general ginseng types like insam and sansam had the highest frequency in the 15th century. It appears that Korea adeptly utilized ceremonial goods in diplomatic relations with China and Japan, meeting the demand for ginseng from their royal and aristocratic societies. Processed ginseng varieties such as hongsam and posam, along with traded and taxed ginseng, showed peak frequency in the 18th century. This coincided with increased cultivation, allowing a higher supply and fostering the development of ginseng processing technologies like hongsam.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.127-142
• /
• 2020

This research is the first known to introduce and analyze food-related content among the records left by George Clayton Foulk (1856-1893), a naval attache dispatched as part of a U.S. delegation to Korea during the Joseon dynasty in the 19th century. Sketches and memos by Foulk provide important clues in understanding the food culture during the late Joseon dynasty. By analyzing the types of foods, table composition, and intervals between serving the nine rounds of food from the rural government office, which Foulk ate during his local trip, he was able to confirm that there was a starter ('preliminary table' or 'hors d'œuvre') before the main table and that it was served before the main dish.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.143-157
• /
• 2021

This study aimed to analyze the periodic prevalence of the vegetables during the Joseon era with JoseonWangjoSilrok as a reference. The JoseonWangjoSilrok articles were collected from the Guksapyeonchanwewonhwe site, using web-crawling techniques to extract the relevant information. Out of 384,582 search results, 9,560 articles with vegetable-related keywords were found. According to the annual average vegetable recordings during the regimes of various kings, there were two peaking curves in the 15^th and 18^th centuryJoseon. The found was: 2,750 in the 18^th century, 2,529 in the 15^th century, 1,424 in the 16^th century, and 1,018 in the 19^th century. A Variable Interest Index was designed to ascertain the interestin vegetables of the 27 Joseon kings. The king most interested in vegetables was the 19^th king Sookjong. The second most interested king was Youngjo. There were 5,105 vegetable-related findings within the JoseonWangjoSilrok related to specific species and categories of vegetables. Among the words found: 1,194 were stem-leaves vegetables (23.39%), 1,017 were root vegetables (19.92%), 1,148 were flower-fruit vegetables (22.49%), 1,144 were spice vegetables (22.41%), 95 were mushrooms (1.86%), and 507 were seaweeds (9.93%). Statistical analysis using ANOVA revealed the chronological factors that affected the vegetables' prevalence index.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.26-37
• /
• 2023

This study applied the text frequency method to analyze the crops prevalent during the Chosunwangjoshilrok dynasty, and categorized the results by each king. Contemporary perception of grains was observed by examining the staple crop types. Staple species were examined using the word cloud and semantic network analysis. Totally, 101,842 types of crop consumption were recorded during the Chosunwangjoshilrok period. Of these, 51,337 (50.4%) were grains, 50,407 (49.5%) were beans, and 98 (0.1%) were seeds. Rice was the most frequently consumed grain (37.1%), followed by pii (11.9%), millet (11.3%), barley (4.5%), proso (0.8%), wheat (0.6%), buckwheat (0.1%), and adlay (0.05%). Grain chronological frequency in the Choseon dynasty was determined to be 15,520 cases in the 15^th century (30.2%), 11,201 cases in the 18^th century (21.8%), 9,421 cases in the 17^th century (18.4%), 9,113 cases in the 16^th century (17.8%), and 6,082 cases in the 19^th century (11.8%). Interest in grain amongst the 27 kings of Choseon was evaluated based on the frequency of records. The 15^th century King Sejong recorded the maximum interest with 13,363 cases (13.1%), followed by King Jungjo (8,501 cases in the 18^th century; 8.4%), King Sungjong (7,776 cases in the 15^th century; 7.6%).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.300-309
• /
• 2022

This study analyzed food poisoning articles in the Joseonwangjosillok to acquire historical evidence. The study method used case studies from the textual content of the Joseonwangjosillok. In all, there were fifteen cases of food poisoning in spring (60%), four cases in summer (16%), five cases in fall (20%), and 1 case during winter (4%). Most cases of food poisoning occurred during spring, followed by fall, then summer, and the least during winter. Foods that caused poisoning were as follows: twelve cases of seafood (48%), three cases of vegetables (12%), two cases of meat (8%), and eight cases of poisonous food (32%). Maximum cases pertained to seafood poisoning, which also spiked during spring. This could be attributed to the increased number of planktons as the sea temperature rose during spring. Due to the increased plankton, shellfish absorbed more toxins. The consumption of increasingly toxic shellfish resulted in more cases of food poisoning. The food poisoning frequency was the most severe during the 18th century, followed sequentially by the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and was the least severe during the 19th century. Joseonwangjosillok showed that food poisoning cases happened most during social events where many guests or family members gathered to eat.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.609-619
• /
• 1996

In this study, the alteration of Jook was studied by analyzing and comparing ingredients of Jook appeared in the reference of cookbooks from 1611 to 1958. 121 kinds of Jooks were mentioned 371 times. The Jooks made only with grains, mostly Hin Jook (white Gruel) made of rice, were recorded 31 times in 10 kinds. Rice or processed rice appeared most (194 times) as main ingredients in Jooks other than Hin Jook. As for condiments, honey and sugar were mentioned 37 times, accounting for one third of the condiments recorded as used for Jooks. The basic ingredient of Jooks were rice, but mostly the Jooks were named after the subsidiary materials. Chinese medicinal ingredients were most among the subsidiary materials; 35 kinds of them were mentioned 73 times. As regards the ingredients of the Jook, the other ingredients were added to the grain ingredients between the 17th century and the 19th century whereas only grains were put into Jook during the 20th century.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.144-151
• /
• 2005

This study examined food culture appearing in Giroyeon paintings in the late Chosun Dynasty (early $17^{th}{\sim}l9^{th}$ century), a period under political and economical difficulties in overcoming frustrations and looking for self-restoration methods after Imjinweran$(1592{\sim}1598)$ and Byungjahoran$(1636{\sim}1637)$. Paintings related to Giroyeon include Lee Gi-ryong's $(1600{\sim}?)$ painted in 1629 under the reign of King Injo $(1623{\sim}1649)$, painted jointly by Kim Jin-yeo et al. in 1720, the first year of King Gyeongjong $(1720{\sim}1724)$ and Kim Hong-do's painted in 1804 under the reign of King Sunjo $(1800{\sim}1834)$ in the early $19^{th}$ century. These paintings over three centuries of the late Chosun show changes in the character of Giroyeon, food culture and tableware culture, etc. According to these paintings, the character of Giroyeon was expanded from a feast held for high civil officials to a banquet comprehending general civil servants. These paintings show Hyangeumjueui, which means the decorum of respecting and sowing the aged men of virtue with alcohol beverage, table manner, seated culture represented by cushions and mats and individual-table culture. In addition, the expansion of demand for sunbaikja and chungwhabaikja and the diversification of vessels and dishes are demonstrated in Giroyeon paintings after Imjinweran in 1592. in this way, Giroyeon paintings show the historical characteristics of the late Chosun Dynasty, such as the collapse of Yangban-centered political system, the disintegration of the medieval system due to the emergence of the Silhak and the diversification of food culture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.211-225
• /
• 2003

This present study suggests a wider view of our ancestors' food culture by examining the generality and peculiarity of the food culture of the Chosun Period by associating the culture with genre paintings made in the $18th{\sim}19th$ century in Korea. People in the Chosun Period outwardly advocated the Confucian idea reflecting the life philosophy of Chinese. However, the vitality of common people's frank and simple lifestyles saturate genre paintings and display Korean food culture and sentiments of the age. Initially this paper examines the history of food sociology through Namjong literary artists' paintings. The meaning and philosophy of drinks are considered in relation to the trend of declining tea culture among scholars in the mid-Chosun Period with the policy of promoting Confucianism and oppressing Buddhism. Secondly, this paper investigates the background of genre paintings in the late Chosun Period, and examines the unique food culture of Koreans appearing in paintings, particularly with regard to the abundance and variety of seasoned vegetables appearing in genre paintings, our ancestors' sentiment appearing in milk-gathering painting, humanity in guest reception, food culture and view of nature in farm villages, fishing life history, food distribution culture, soybean-curd culture, etc.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.311-319
• /
• 1995

The history of vegetable preservation technology by salting and fermentation in Korea was reviewed from the Three Nations Era to the end of Chosun Kingdom, and the development of present day's Kimchi processing technology was traced back by using the classic books as well as recent review papers published in Korea. Although the written record on salting and fermentation of vegetables first appears in a 12th century literature (Dongkukisangkukjib, Gyu-Bo Lee $1168{\sim}1241$), the use of salted/fermented vegetables could be dated back to the Three Nations Era $(B.C.\;37{\sim}A.D.\;668)$ and even earlier period. The present type of Kimchi was gradually evolved after the introduction of red pepper into Korea in the 17th century. The descriptions on Kimchi fermention appeared in the literatures written in the period of $16th{\sim}19th$ centuries in Korea, Suunjapbang $(1500{\sim})$, Domundaijak (1611), Sasichanyocho (1656), Eumsikdimibang (1670), Chubangmun $(1600{\sim})$, Saekgyung (1676), Yorok $(1600{\sim})$, Sanlimkyungje (1715), Cheungbosanlimkyungje (1766), Kyuhapchongsoe $(1800{\sim})$, Imwonsipyukji (1827), Dongkuksesiki (1849) and Buinpylji $(1855{\sim})$ were reviewed.