After the Daegaya Experience Festival we stopped on the way back to Seoul to take part in a ceremony paying tribute to the Gayageum (가야금) (a traditional Korean zither like instrument) and the man who invented it, King Gashil.

I swear the Koreans find almost any reason to hold a long winded ceremony that includes offering food, lighting incense, dressing in elaborate costumes and bowing to an alter. I understand that this instrument is traditionally Korean but I just don’t understand why they would hold such a ceremony for it. I also can’t fathom why the Koreans would want a bus load of foreigners taking part in a ceremony for an instrument most of them had never heard of. But what does it matter? They were happy and we got a totally unique experience – even if we didn’t have a clue what was happening most of the time.

For the second time that day we donned traditional clothes and pranced around looking silly in front of numerous cameras. After a day of constant flash bulbs it was starting to feel like the Koreans were just dressing us up for the purpose of taking photos and gawping at us.

The ceremony began with us foreigners amassed in a group watching the ceremony from the sidelines as men in elaborate blue hanboks followed by men in white traditional dress walked to an alter topped with a picture of King Gashil then back to their positions, stopping regally to face one another and bow. Near the beginning of the ceremony one of the men in blue (these were obviously the important ones), assisted by his man in white, lit some incense. Half way through another of the pairs sat briefly around a plate of food. The rest of the ceremony seemed to consist entirely of one of six pairs of men walking to the alter and back and bowing to each other.

Towards the end of the ceremony came our turn to participate. The eldest member of our group (the father of the annoying Aussie bird of Lunar NY fame!) ascended the steps and bowed in front of the alter. Then the rest of the foreigners were lead across the back of the ceremonial area and told to bow all the way to the floor three times. A difficult feat in a hanbok that caught on your feet as you stood up.

After that we posed for a group photos and the ceremony was over.

Apparently it was an honor to have been able to participate in the ceremony. I understand why it could be important for Koreans but I didn’t come away feeling any new found respect for this instrument. In fact had I not taken a picture of a sign I wouldn’t have even remembered its name!

* Posted by j150vsc on 10/05/2007.