[KS] Query: Korean chibang formats

[Eugene Y. Park]

Dear List:

I have a question on the format of the chibang that are used for 
traditional Korean ancestral rituals.  Someone recently told me of a 
format with which I¡¯m unfamiliar.  When I did a quick search on the 
internet, all I could find was the seemingly standard form which reads, 
for example, ¡°HyOn¡¯go haksaeng pugun sinwi.¡±  

The particular chibang I¡¯m trying to make sense of reads: ¡°Songam 
KyOngju Kim-ssi sinwi,¡± where ¡°Songam¡± (¡°pine rock¡±) appears to be 
someone¡¯s ho.  The individual inquiring me about this format tells me 
that on the New Year¡¯s day when his family performed the ancestral 
rituals, in the following order, for his great-grandparents, 
grandparents, and father, the chibang in question, which he always had 
to write as a child, was used ONLY when it was his father¡¯s ¡°turn¡±; 
nothing was used for the other ancestors.  Nobody in his family seems to 
know whether or not the deceased father (lived from 1890 to 1945 in 
Seoul) had a ho, and unfortunately the family has no information on its 
ancestry to recognize if Songam was the ho of a famous ancestor in the 
past.  

I¡¯d appreciate whatever insights anyone might have on this.

Cheers,

Gene 

***************************************
Eugene Y. Park
Assistant Professor of Korean History
Department of History
Krieger Hall Room 200
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-3275
Ph. (949) 824-5275
Fax (949) 824-2865
***************************************