Jae-sat Nal
Oh Soul, come here, do not go far away,
We are waiting for you, we have prepared for you.
All your household has come to do you honor, all kinds of good foods are ready:
Unpolished rice, barley, soybeans, mixed all with yellow millet,
Pungent, salty, sweet, hot and spicy: there are plates full of all flavors
On the five rows on the table.
The first,
Ribs of the fatted cow cooked tender and succulent,
And the leftovers make the savory stew,
The color of the soup white as snow;
The second is decorated with
Savory and hearty blended in the soup of dduk;
Stewed chicken and oven-cooked mackerel, served up with soy sauce;
Marinated namul, the greens of the fields, on the large plates on the third row;
Fried jeon with tuberosum and kimchi, or sometimes with thin sliced meat;
Braised chicken, seasoned with ginseng and garlic, but not to spoil the
Taste;
On the last row,
Oozing out of the rice cakes, the hot mix of honey and sesame seeds;
Peeled and cut are the apples, pears, and persimmon;
Ice-cooled shik hye, strained of impurities except for the rice, cool and refreshing;
Two lit candles on either side of the table,
Here laid out is the gook-ja, and here is the mak-gullee!
Oh ancestors, come enjoy the feast!
I chose to imitate the poem called “The Summons of the Soul” by Qu Yuan. I chose this piece because as soon as I read the poem, it instantly reminded of the Korean memorial anniversary day called Jaesat-Nal. Jaesat-Nal is held in most Korean households (although the number has been decreasing throughout the years) as part of a respectful, cultural service for the ancestors in the family. One of the biggest and most prepared components of this day is the jae-sat sang, which means the table on which all the foods are during the Jaesat-Nal. There are countless varieties of food on this special table, prepared especially “for” the ancestors. The descriptive imagery in the poem of the foods made me reminisce the similar freshly made infinite dishes that I had on Jaesat-nal. Also, the fact that the poem was also “summoning” the souls also reminded me of a similar reason behind Jaesat-sang, which is basically preparing the foods so that the ancestors can eat in the after-life or on their journey to the after-life. I thought that imitating the piece “The Summons of the Soul” for Jaesat-nal would have been fun to do because there are many similarities in the two events, and it would be interesting to see the parallels between the two by creating another poem by imitating the original.
I researched about the original poem “The Summoning of the Soul” and read the actual full poem instead of just the portion we were provided. I also read through some of the background. The piece was penned during his exile transport when the writer Qu was banished from his country in the Qin dynasty due to his rivals plotting against him. What I could take away from the rest of the poem was how much Qu was lamenting at his state. In the piece, the writer describes specifically of his fearful exile journey and scary afterlife. However, at one place in the piece, a stroke of sunshine is shone as the writer talks about the food prepared for the souls. The descriptive listings show how much one would love eating it after a long hard journey, and the mood becomes almost celebratory. I’m really glad that I was able to read the full poem, because now I could see the big picture in how this short portion was a source of joy for the writer. I thought this accurately reflected the culture that the original author was trying to show, and also the culture that we learned in Chinese food culture during class. The food is a source of happiness and joy for people in times of hardship, and also where people can gather and enjoy each other. Food also becomes a language of love; the writer, going through a hard time, can feel the love from the people who had prepared the food, and able to embrace it to help fuel his not only physical self but also emotional and spiritual selves.
I also learned about my own culture while writing my piece. I researched about Jaesat-nal and the specifics of the food laid on the table for the Jaesasang so that I could get a clear picture of how the table actually looks like. It helped me a lot with the imagery of the poem. I learned that there were four to five rows of food laid out on the table with distinct methods. The first usually consisted of the hot meaty stews, the second with chicken and fish, the third with the vegetable greens, and the last with sweet rice cake or fresh fruits for dessert. The preparation was a full course meal for the ancestors. Also, I learned that all the foods were mostly bite-sized or easy to eat, so that the ancestors would not have to do any work themselves. The way the food was laid out reminded me also of the full course meal in Italy, which we learned during class. Although two completely different countries, Korea and Italy, the way the food was prepared on Jaesat-nal was definitely similar to the traditional Italian meal structure, such as the antipasti, primi, secondi, insalata, and dolce.
There is definitely cultural DNA embedded both literature pieces, which is the remembering of the ancestors through food. There are several reasons for the summoning of the souls in both cultures. First, it becomes a place for the meeting of the ancestors. Back when this cultural act was ignited, there were no pictures or videos to look at to see dead grandparents or parents when one missed them. Through the summoning of the soul, the people alive on earth were able to “see” their ancestors as they invited the ghosts down on earth to have a meal. Also, the summoning act is also an act of love. Within families in many East Asian cultures, people have a difficult time verbally expressing love by saying “I love you,” and instead express love through other physical acts, the most common one being making food for them. Parents want to feed their children and loved ones as much good food as possible to make sure they are well; preparing enormous amounts of food is a representative act of love. Likewise, in Jaesat-nal and the original poem by Qu Yuan, the cultural DNA of preparing food to show and feel love is embedded in the pieces. In both poems, not once is the phrase “I love you” explicitly stated; rather, a plethora of home-cooked foods are carefully listed and described, as if each addition contributes to a greater magnitude of love. For the living family, this is their one and only way to show their ancestors how much they love them. Finally, the summoning of the soul is an act of respect for the ancestors. I kept the line “All your household has come to do you honor, all kinds of good foods are ready” that was in the original poem in my new poem as well, because I believed the line accurately described the honor and respect the living family desires to bring to their ancestors. Similarly to showing love, one can also show respect by preparing this food, because it is helping the souls in the journey across the afterlife by providing them with good food. For a more emotional description, I added the line “We are waiting for you, we have prepared for you” in my own poem, because I thought it showed a good imagery of how the living family is desperately yearning for their ancestors, and wanting for them to rest and have a meal in the midst of their long journey.
Works Cited
https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%A0%9C%EC%82%AC
https://placeboning.tistory.com/108