Korean Death And Dying Essay

Death and Dying in the Korean Culture

In 1981, an American family adopted my sister and me. At five years old, I was thrown into a strange new world with scary customs and weird looking people. My parents did what they could to acclimatize me to this new culture but to this day, I feel as though a part me is still missing. Eating my native Korean food satisfies a need that I have no words to describe but leaves me feeling as if a part of me becomes whole again even if it is just for an instant. I don’t remember much of my previous life before adoption , but each time I am exposed to my native culture validates that my personality and outlook on life is who I was born to be.
Being raised in both a Western and Asian culture, I can see the major differences in these cultures. To understand the Korean’s cultural view of death and dying, you must first understand the family structure. Even now in the twenty first

Koreans don’t embalm the dead. The body is cleaned and dressed – there is a traditional garb for the dead, but suits are commonplace in modern Korea.

After the body is dressed, it is put in a casket. The casket is again set behind a partition or a black curtain, and a table with the photo of the deceased, candles, and incense is set up. A black ribbon is put on the photo at this time. Sangju sits next to the table on a coarse mat – the mat is coarse because sangju must atone for the sin of allowing his parent to die.

Then is the time for visitors. Visitors wear black suits as American mourners would. Mourners first light a stick of incense at the table, bow at the table, then sangju and the guest bow at each other. Traditionally sangju, as a sinner, is supposed to remain quiet for the entire proceeding, but now they are allowed to say brief thanking words to the guests. As they are leaving, visitors leave the envelop with money in a designated