Exhibitions
![[Special]](https://jeonju.museum.go.kr/upload/special/m_79869479909645872785.jpg)
[Special]
- Date
- 2013.05.14~2013.06.30
- Place
- Department
Information
Soban, Small Dining Table of the Joseon Dynasty
Section 1. Soban, Coming into the Korean History
As human beings built houses on a certain place and lived there, tools for such condition began to be made. A dining table, which held up food on dining, was one of those tools. Although soban is a dining table of the Joseon Dynasty(1392~1910), the origin of a dining table in the Korean history dates from the period much earlier. On some mural paintings of Goguryeo(BC37~AD668) are painted utensils very similar to a soban. The exact form or material of them cannot be identified, but they have a similar form to a soban of Joseon Dynasty in that they are "a dining table for sedentary lifestyle which carries food and is used as a dining table in a room."
A soban of Joseon Dynasty was small in size and low in height. This is related to the eating patterns of Joseon Dynasty where one person used one dining table. In other words, it reflects the eating patterns where people of different status, sex and age did not eat together on the same table: such eating pattern was influenced by Confucianism. Moreover, the Joseon houses was for sedentary lifestyle where people generally sat on ondol(Korean under-floor heating system) or floor in their living. So a soban was usually manufactured into low height for sedentary use.
In Joseon Dynasty, the living space of males and that of females were divided even in one house. There was no special place for dine; people ate food in the room they were living. Because of such house structure, food had to be carried to a room through a yard and a main hall. In addition, the serving and carrying of food was weighty since heavy brassware or ceramic ware were used as tableware. Therefore, a ginkgo or a basswood was used for the material of a soban. They are both strong and burst-resistant even when they were sawed into a thin plate.
In most cases, the number of sobans was equal to the number of family members. However, some distinguished families had scores of sobans, because they prepared spare sobans for their dependents and for those who were gathering during their family events like ancestral worship.
Section 2. Soban, Viewed by Its Usage
Originally, a soban was made for serving food and eating. But Joseon people did not limit its usage as such. They used a soban in various ways for ceremonies, religious life and calendaric rituals, let alone daily life.
A soban was not merely used as a dining table. Diverse names were given to a soban according to the served food and to the involved functions. Some sobans were manufactured particularly for special functions and they were different from ordinary sobans in other cases, a soban for dining was temporarily used for serving other kinds of food.
A soban was used with a symbolic meaning in rituals and events which commemorated special events. In other words, it was used in various rituals from formal national events such as Royal banquets to individual rites of passage such as the ceremonies of coming of age, marriage, funeral and ancestral worship. During such rituals, a soban conveyed the significance that a table symbolizing the meaning of those events was offered according to the procedure of the rituals in order to possess decorum. Additionally, it functioned as a base onto which diverse symbols used in those rituals were put.
A soban conveys the earnest desires and wishes of Joseon people. It functioned as a holy container for tools involved in religious behaviors everywhere Joseon people prayed for the safety and peace of themselves, their families and their communities.
The various usage of a soban gives us a key to observe every aspects of the traditional Joseon culture and rituals.
1) Soban, Serving a Taste
A soban was named according to the kind of the food it served, or was specially manufactured for a certain use. The general dining tables for daily meals were called bapsang or siksang, which means a dining table. There was a particular dining table specially manufactured, a meal table for an official on duty: it had a proper structure for being carried some further distance.
For a drinking table serving a bottle, wineglasses and several humble side-dishes, a soban for dining was used except for formal rituals or great feasts.
A tea table was not as strong as ordinary sobans and was made small in size since it served lighter tableware than a dining table for regular meals. The typical tea table is a single-legged small table.
2) Soban, Offering Decorum
The organization and order of the Joseon society were operated in accordance with "the decorum of Confucianism." Therefore, rituals with particular meanings were executed even among ordinary people, let alone in the Dynasty and in the Royal Household; sometimes sobans were used according to the procedures of such rituals. At that time, the food served on sobans was not merely to eat and drink but to convey the meaning and symbol of the rituals. For an instance, the meaning of congratulation or auspiciousness was delivered in feasts and the meaning of respect and memorial for one's ancestors in ancestral worship. In one's first birthday, marriage and funeral, food or things conveying the meaning of the ritual were offered according to each procedure. Moreover, the food used in such rituals was shared with those who were in charge or those who had participated in, given by serving on sobans.
3) Soban, Conveying Wishes
In the Joseon Dynasty, where the country and the society were operated on the basis of Confucianism, shamanism was not approved. However, exorcisms or offerings for the safety and peace of an individual, his or her family and community were continually practised among ordinary people. At that time, a soban was used on which tools for an exorcism or fortunetelling were put. Also, it was used for offering the food to the religious object. Such sobans were not manufactured in particular ways, but their names varied with their usage and the names of the deities they served.
Section 3. Soban, Viewed by Its Shape
The basic structure of a soban consists of a plate, where food is put, and a leg or legs that supports the plate. By changing that basic structure, the kind of sobans became diverse and they were named by reflecting their distinctive features. A plate was manufactured into a shape of a rectangle, square, polygon, circle or flower. The basic structure of legs is four-legged or two-legged consisting of two plates. In case of a four-legged soban, the shape of the legs is sometimes cylindrical and sometimes curved like "S" or a dog's leg.
A soban had a traditional form in each region, so the name of the region where it was manufactured became the name of the soban in some cases. Among those cases, the dining table manufactured in Naju area, that in Tongyeong area and that in Haeju area were standardized in its form and manufacturing method; they represented the basic forms of the Joseon sobans. By adding decorations to these basic forms or mixing the characteristics of other regions, many kinds of modified forms appeared.
1) The Beauty Penetrated into the Forms of a Soban
When we classify sobans according to their forms, the most basic standard is the shape of the plate and the legs. Although the plate has many kinds of shapes, its corners are not accentuated. In case of a rectangular or a square soban, the four corners are not at exact angles, but are rounded off or in the shape of a diamond; or the edges are cut off, making the rectangle or square into an asymmetric octagon. This considered the safety and convenience of the soban-users and gave out the feeling of peace and tenderness.
The shapes of the legs are "S"-shaped, in the shape of a dog's leg, two-legged, single-legged and so on. "S"-shaped and the shape of a dog's leg are curved-legs. Two-legged consists of two plates functioning as legs. Single-legged is a cylindrical support made out of trimming a log. The legs of a sobandiffer in their form, thickness and length according to the shape and size of the plate. Also, the addition of decorations or the varied proportion considering the harmony with each part reveals the individuality and taste of each soban.
2) The Individuality of Various Regions
Sobans were made from all around in the Joseon Dynasty. In most cases, its manufacturing was not in so large a scale and was executed by craftsmen in each region. Therefore, a distinct individuality came out as differences in forms or structures appeared by regions. This is how sobans named after regions have been handed down.
Such sobans with regional characteristics sometimes clearly differ from others in their forms, even to the point we discern them at first sight; at other times, they seem identical at a glance but have delicate differences in the manufacturing and expressions of the legs and the plate.
The most typical regional sobans are the dining table manufactured in Naju area, that in Tongyeong area and that in Haeju area. Those regions have in common that they were economically affluent since they have plains and the sea in their vicinities and had easy supply of wood from the nearby mountains. We infer that such environment became the background of an active production of sobans.
Section 4. The Foreigner's Eyes on a Soban
Since the opening of some ports in 1876, many foreigners visited Joseon, toured Seoul and the provinces and photographed the scenery and customs of Joseon.
Those photographs include ones which show the lifestyle involving in sobans. This tells that a sobanis not a daily utensil any more, but that it became an object of interpretation from the perspective of outsiders. It has a limit since it was scenery and customs viewed from the perspectives of the powers; however, it also has a meaning as a material to show the feature of and the changes in the traditional culture of Korea in the modern times.
Sobans were more actively analyzed by Asakawa Takumi(淺川巧), Yanagi Muneyoshi(柳宗悅) and others who visited Joseon during the Japanese colonial administration, had interests in the Joseon crafts and interpreted them. This also has a clear limitation since it was perspectives of those who unjustly dominated Joseon. Nevertheless, it ought to be noted that worth and significance from the perspective of "crafts" began to be conferred on the daily utensils of the Joseon Dynasty.
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