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  • Koreiskii etiket: opyt’etnograficheskogo issledovaniia (Korean etiquette: an ethnographic study) by Denis A. Samsonov
  • V. Ivanov Konstantin, Ph.D. Candidate
Koreiskii etiket: opyt’etnograficheskogo issledovaniia (Korean etiquette: an ethnographic study) by Denis A. Samsonov. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2013. 144pp.

This work is devoted to one of the key themes of Korean studies: Korean traditional etiquette. Neo-Confucianism placed particular importance on rules of ritual and ceremony, the observance of which was a key to social harmony. This work is notable because it examines a number of elements of traditional Korean culture from the perspective of Russian researchers.

This study focuses on the most common forms of ritual and etiquette behavior among Koreans. Furthermore, the author shows the relationship of such behavior to the traditional worldview and religious beliefs of Koreans. In [End Page 399] this work the author consistently considers the relational and behavioral aspects of the traditional Korean family, analyzes the etiquette of life cycle rituals, elements of Korea’s traditional costumes, as well as some important kinesic aspects of communication (i.e. body language such as facial expressions and gestures) in contemporary Korean society (kinesics denotes non-verbal behavior related to movement, either by some part of the body or the body as a whole).

This work is based on three main sources: 1) the notes and papers of Russian travelers in Korea in the late nineteenth–early twentieth centuries; 2) the works of Russian and Soviet researchers dedicated to the study of the traditions of Far Eastern peoples (especially Koreans and Chinese); and 3) the works of contemporary Korean scientists dedicated to the study of traditional Korean etiquette and its role in modern Korean life.

The first group of sources deserves further comment. Despite the fact that Russian travelers in Korea were not professional orientalists, their high level of education and observation skills allowed them to describe in detail images of Korea during a period of tremendous change (1880s–1900s). Samsonov’s work takes into account the experiences of famous Russian and Soviet era Korea specialists: Zharylgasinova, Ionova, Kurbanov, Atknine, and Lankov, among others. It should be added here that the author defended his thesis on the topic “Ethnic stereotypes of Korean behavior” in 2007.

As far as I know, Samsonov did not conduct field ethnographic research in Korea, so he had to rely on the works of contemporary Korean social scientists to create a full picture of his subject. Samsonov notes that among his sources, the research of Korean social scientist Yi Kwanggyu 李光奎 played an important role in his study of Korean family etiquette. Because the studies of Yi Kwanggyu were undertaken from the 1950s to the 1970s, though this was a period when the Korean countryside was undergoing great change, they captured aspects of Korea’s traditional lifestyle.

Part one, “The Korean system of kinship and family etiquette,” is dedicated to an examination of the traditional Korean kinship system and its role in the formation of social relationships and Korean family etiquette. The author examines in considerable detail the system of kinship relationships and the nomenclature of relatives in Korea (a subject that is rather complicated for unskilled Western readers). It should be noted that the explanations of the author are quite easy to understand. In the second chapter of the first part, the author gives a description of traditional Korean family etiquette. Also, he considers the roles of husband and wife and the relationship between father and son.

Part two, “The etiquette of life cycle observances,” consists of three chapters. [End Page 400] The first chapter is devoted to the rituals associated with childbearing, childbirth, and the tol chanch’i ceremony. The second chapter focuses on the ceremonies associated with the coming-of-age of young Koreans, such as the kwallye 冠禮 (the coming-of-age ceremony for a young man) or kyerye 筓禮 (a similar ceremony for girls). Further, the author examines the complex of rituals that form the wedding ceremony, or hollye 婚礼. Finally, the third charter of part two is devoted to the sixtieth anniversary ceremony, or hwangap 還甲 (also known as hoegap 回甲), funeral and mourning rites, or sangnye 喪禮, and ancestor worship ceremonies, or cherye 祭禮. In addition, part two includes photographs of various...

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