Ancestor Worship and Korean Society (review)

98BOOK REVIEWS problem. The early Japanese histories claim his grandfather came from southern China, but art historians are increasingly inclined to suggest a Korean lineage and the use of "ri" is important evidence favoring the theory of his Korean ancestry. The candle snuffers (cat. #111) from Anap-chi, called scissors in other catalogs, along with pieces not on exhibition from the same site, are concrete examples ofthe extensive Korean impact on Japan well into the Nara period, when Japanese scholars generally assume that Chinese influence dominated in Japan. The shape of the candle snuffers, as well as forms and patterns on other objects from Anap-chi, find their replicas in the Shösöin collection. Indeed the Anap-chi excavations , which uncovered some fifteen thousand objects, repeatedly make clear the enormous debt that Japan owes Korea. The purposes of most of the objects are clear; however, the function of a circular disc with eight projections that end in ball-shaped rattles (cat. #13) from the prehistoric metal age is puzzling. This piece has an eyelet in the back so that the object could be strapped to a wrist and thus the authors suggest it was used as a wrist rattle by shamans. However, similar objects have been excavated in Japan, where they have been labeled as part of harness equipment, and others have been found alongside armor in Korean tombs. Thus their purpose remains uncertain. Unfortunately the quality of the pictures does not equal the quality of the text. Kankoku kodai bunka ten [The ancient Korean arts], an exhibition catalog of Siila art produced for Tokyo National Museum in 1983, for example, has more color photos and the black and white reproductions have a stronger contrast that allows the reader to see details which are not always clear in the present catalog. The catalog also contains a particularly helpful glossary that includes both Chinese and Korean characters, maps of principal archaeological and kiln sites, and an excellent bibliography. In short, Treasures ofKorean Art is a useful addition to the growing number of works on Korean art. Willa Jane Tanabe University of Hawaii Ancestor Worship and Korean Society. By Roger L. Janelli and Dawnhee Yim Janelli. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1982. xiv + 228pp. $25.00. This is an excellent presentation of the traditional value system in Korea, and its relationship with Korean social organization. What emerges from the text is one of the best definitions of the Korean ethos that I have seen. The student of Korean life and culture, and the nonspecialist who is curious about East Asian peoples, will equally admire the quality of the writing, the restrained use of jargon, the easyto -follow genealogical graphics, and the photographs of village rituals. For researchers in other fields of study, looking for comparative data, the authors have provided a valuable reference, with well-organized information and useful analytical models. For ethnographers working elsewhere in Korea, the publication is a stimulus to investigate the similarities and differences existing in the Korean hinterland . Korean studies has noticeably increased its stature with this publication. BOOK REVIEWS99 The field project was conducted in a farming community, Twisöngdwi, just south of Suwön, over some eighteen months of work in 1973-74 and 1977-78. Though the focus ofthe text is upon one village ofabout three hundred persons, the authors relate the field data to historical, anthropological , and folklore literature for Korea generally, and to such literature for China and Japan, and have thus broadened the scope of their investigation to achieve a first-rate ethnological study of Korean life. The myopia sometimes encountered in anthropological reports has been avoided. The ethnographic details are alleviated by offering the reader insightful summaries, sometimes perhaps no more than a sentence or two, which facilitate understanding. The specific goal of the authors is "to show how the ancestor cult of one rural kin group is interconnected with that group's social organization, its ideology, and the social experiences of its members." Roger Janelli wrote his doctoral dissertation on the "Korean Ritual of Ancestor Worship: An Ethnography of Folklore Performance," which obviously prepared him well for the task at hand. His wife, Dawnhee Yim Janelli, wrote her...