During the 16th century, family became more important than in the past. With the rise of the Neo-Confucian literati, one¡¯s lineage became one of the most important factors of one¡¯s life. At this time, the yangban society consisted of a few powerful families. One¡¯s connection with these families determined one¡¯s position in society. The delineation of an individual¡¯s relationship with others in his lineage could be found in the clan genealogy (chokpo). ¡°Thus, the widespread compilation and publication of clan genealogies from around the beginning of the seventeenth century was due not only to the desire to demonstrate one¡¯s privileged standing as a yangban, but also to the fact that it made explicit one¡¯s connections with respected or powerful figures in the same lineage.¡± Just as knowledge of lineage relationships was important, so was the performance of family r

The person carrying the ham was offered food and a bit of money to cover travel expenses, but the custom changed with the bridegroom's friends turning it into a game of selling the ham to the bride's family.

Ancestral rites performed on holidays are called the Four Season Rituals. They are performed on New Year's Day, the one hundred and fiftieth day after the winter solstice, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and the Harvest Moon Festival Day (which falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month). They are different from other ancestral rites in that they are performed in the early mornings of the holidays.

There were two types of coming-of-age rituals to announce the adulthood of young boys and girls. In the ritual for males, they put up their hair in a topknot and donned the daily clothes of an adult. They then put on a four-pointed horsehair cap with an open top. They were also taught the necessary etiquette associated with drinking wine, and are given a nickname. Books of etiquette show the rituals were generally performed for males between the ages of fifteen to twenty, but they were also performed at the age of twelve or thirteen during the Choson Dynasty when marriages were early. The ritual for females involves a relatively simple procedure of putting an ornamental hairpin through the hair. Young single women and men used to keep their hair in braids hanging down their backs. Their hair was put up during these rituals, but the coming-of-age rituals were later combined with marriage rituals so that only married people put up their hair. The custom was then abolished altogether toward the end of the Choson Dynasty. In 1973, the third Monday of May was designated as the Coming-of-Age Day in 1973 for a person age twenty. And this ritual continues today. The rituals of joining a man and woman in marriage were considered the most important. Marriage was sometimes called the Great Ritual and the Greatest Event of Man. A marriage signified the creation of a new social group, a family. In the past, the bridegroom went to the bride's house for the wedding ceremony where he spent three days. The bridegroom brought his bride back to his parents' home at the end of the marriage rituals.

As not every household had a servant, there was a person of low class in each village employed to carry the ham to the bride's house. Today, friends of the bridegroom carry the ham instead.

A funeral signifies a rite of passage that separates a person from the living. For the members of a community, it is a rite of separation in which the living bid a permanent farewell to the dead.

Shije refers to ancestral rites performed for the entire ancestors from five generations back. The rituals are performed once a year at the gravesite in October when the season is most abundant.

Among these rituals, birth rituals were very important. At this time, families desperately prayed for sons, for it was the only way to preserve the family line. Childless women prayed devoutly at mountains and rivers or renowned Buddhist temples. Some women stole ropes used to announce the birth of a baby, or they stole the red peppers tied to the ropes to announced the birth of a son. They would then eat the peppers. From ancient times, Koreans believed in the Birth Grandmother who was thought to oversee the birth of a child. The Mongolian spot, or blue mark, which is usually present on the sacral region at

Some topics in this essay:
Milyang Samch'on-p'o, Birth Grandmother, Family Rituals, Year's Day, Choson Dynasty, Ritual Event, Festival Day, Coming-of-Age Day, Confucianism Chinese, Koryo Kingdom, rituals performed, ancestral rites performed, choson dynasty, ancestral rites, birth grandmother, evil spirits, filial piety, korean society, rites performed, rice cakes, family rituals, define child¡¯s future, steamed rice cake, stuffed rice cakes, white steamed rice,