Onggi

Onggi
Korean name
Hangul 옹기
Hanja 甕器
Revised Romanization onggi
McCune–Reischauer onggi

Onggi (Korean: 옹기, 甕器) is Korean earthenware, which is extensively used as tableware, as well as storage containers in Korea. It includes both unglazed earthenware fired near 600 to 700°C and pottery with a dark brown glaze that burnt over 1100°C.

The origin of onggi dates to around 4000 to 5000 BC.[1] The two types of earthenware are a patternless earthenware which is called mumun and a black and red earthenware. The former, a patternless earthenware, was made with lumps of clay including much fine sand; however, the predecessor of Goryeo celadon and Joseon white porcelain, a black/red earthenware, was being made with only lumps of clay. The color of earthenware is determined by the iron contained in the clay and the way of burning the pottery. The present onggi shape dates from the Joseon era. Many records about onggi are found in Sejong Sillok Jiriji (Korean: 세종실록지리지, "King Sejong's Treatise on Geography"): "There are three kilns that make the yellow onggi in Chogye-gun and Jinju-mok, Gyeongsang Province".[2]

Uses

Compared to porcelain, onggi has a microporous structure and has been found to assist in the fermentation in food processing such as the preparation of gochujang (fermented chili pepper, bean and rice paste), doenjang (fermented bean paste), kimchi (fermented seasoned vegetables), and soy sauce. Onggi with proper porosity and permeability needs to be used in order to produce an optimally ripened quality in fermented foodstuff. Fine-tuned onggi containers are, in fact, suitable for many different kinds of fermented products.[3] Since early times, Korea has been famous for fermented foods. In ancient Chinese historiography, in the Biographies of the Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Dongyi (traditional Chinese: 烏丸鮮卑東夷傳) in the Records of Wèi (traditional Chinese: 魏志), which is part of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, there is this remark: "Goguryeo people have a custom of making fermented foods".[4] The abundance of soybean, which grows naturally in Korea, the fresh fishery resources from the sea surrounding the Korean Peninsula and a proper climate for microbial development, all give account of the importance of fermentation as food processing. However, onggi ware also contributed to the development of fermented dishes within Korean cuisine. Large onggi ware were stored on the jangdokdae, an elevated floor near the house.

Features

The earliest known painted representations of onggi ware from 1781, in a scene on the panel of A Pictorial Biography of Hong Yi-san, exhibitied at the National Museum of Korea.[5]

Onggi, which are made by a specialized group of workmen called onggijang (Hangul: 옹기장), has been influenced by the characteristics and climate of the regions where it has been made. Therefore, there are shapes and sizes of onggi and ways of manufacturing it that vary from region to region.[6] Nevertheless, all onggi types share some properties. These are biodegradability, porosity, and its proof against rot as well as firmness or "vertebration".[7] Due to the low firing temperatures often used in producing onggi, they are rarely found archaeologically since the sherds return to the clay state or is used as grog.

Porosity

While burning onggi, the onggijang master glazes its surface. This glaze plays a key role in giving a waterproof surface and preventing leaks. Following up, many particles of sand are included in the body of the clay acting as passages for air. This way, air can move through onggi while water cannot. Koreans call this action "onggi drawing breath." This is one of the most critical reasons to use onggi in making Korean fermented foods.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moon, 74-91
  2. ↑ Lee and Chung, 16
  3. ↑ Changwon Jeonmun Daehak, 7, 39-64.
  4. ↑ Lee and Chung, 100
  5. ↑ Sayers, 18
  6. ↑ Jeong, 138
  7. ↑ Jeong, 132
Literature
  • Changwon Jeonmun Daehak 창원전문대학 [Changwon College], "Balhyosikpumui pumjire michineun onggiui mulseongpyeongga" 발효식품의 품질에 미치는 옹기의 물성평가 [Property evaluation of onggi on the quality of fermented food]. Nongnimbu, 2004
  • Jeong Byeongrak. 옹기와의대화 [Conversation with Onggi]. Dongkwang Publisher 동광출판사. 1998. OCLC 41132937.
  • Lee Hoonseok and Chung Yangmo. Onggi. Daewonsa. 1993. OCLC 27170579.
  • Moon Yongrin 문용린 and Oh Hyeonseok 오현석, "A study on the actual state of scarce resources and the extinctive process", Gyoyuk Gwahak Gisulbu 교육기술과학부. [Ministry of Education, Science and Technology], 2004
  • Robert Sayers (1987). The Korean Onggi Potter (PDF). Smithsonian Institution Press.
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