A Comparison between the Yoruba and the Korean Traditional Marriages - Research Paper Example

Lecturer: A Comparison between the Yoruba and the Korean Traditional Marriages. In any culture or tradition, marriage does not only mark an important stage in an individual’s life, but also significantly provides the basis for the existence and continuity of a people. An attempt to study the culture of a people is therefore incomplete without the mention of marriage for it expresses the feelings, practices and attitudes of the people towards life in general and family life in particular. Even though there are varied cultures in the world, marriage as an institution provides an important aspect in which these cultures can be distinctively studied. Of much interest is a deep delve into the understanding by a way of comparison, two cultures (marriage being the common denominator) that reveals elements inherent and unique to a particular community or groups of people. Providing perfect specimens under this study is the Yoruba and the Korean traditional marriages. It will be of interest to learn how communities separated far and wide; living several miles away from each other, with no basis of interaction then, could exhibit similar features in their marriage customs. More so, sharp contrasts in some of the features evident uniquely in either of the two undeniably confirms and gives them their cultural identity as far as marriage processes are concerned. Where everything is equal and normal, records Johnson ,113, a Yoruba traditional marriage involves three stages: an early intimation, a formal betrothal and marriage. In the first stage girls are marked out from childhood with or without their consent as intentioned for marriage to particular young men. No girl would get married without the parents’ consent and such was the basis for the betrothal stage or ‘Isihun’. It was accompanied by a ceremony where the parties involved feasted and offered sacrifices, the ‘Ebo Iyawo’ or the bride sacrifice. The final stage which is marriage could be carried out at any time of the year except during the fasts (Johnson, 114). The Korean traditional marriage on the other hand is a six stage process: Exchange of the letter of four pillars, selection of the wedding day, sending of wedding gifts, the marriage ceremony, the bridal room and the new path (Lee et al, 157) Insight into these stages are illuminated in the passages below. Unique to the Korean culture is the letter of four pillars (saju) on which the year of birth, month, day and time of the bride or groom were written. Lee et al, 157, notes that the letter symbolized engagement. Arrangements of this nature are clearly absent in the Yoruba traditions. More so, among the Koreans is the significant role of the matchmaker towards the marriage process (Josta and Josta, 1). Echoing the same sentiments is Asian Info, 1 who says that that the matchmaker or the fortune teller performs the ‘kungshap’ divination to predict the marital harmony before the letters could be exchanged. Among the Yoruba it was the mediator particularly the female members of the family to look for wives for their male relatives and the parents’ approval could carry the day, not a fortune teller as in the Korean case. In addition, the eligibility for marriage among the Yoruba was undertaken on the basis of one being free from hereditary diseases such as leprosy, epilepsy, insanity etc and not on luck determination as with the Korean case (Johnson, 113). Another significant disparity between the Korean traditional marriage and that of Yoruba is to be found on the selection of the wedding day. In the former, the choosing of the wedding day was solely left for the fortune teller. Lee et al, 157 records that this is called ‘‘t’aegil’’ (choosing an auspicious day).Thus the wedding date is fixed by a fortune teller. However, among the Yoruba the solemnization of the marriage through a wedding is done on any day of the year except during the fasts, but usually after the harvesting season and following the Egugun festival (Johnson, 114). Although there is the sending of wedding gifts by the groom’s family to the bride’s before the actual wedding in both cases, there is a sharp contrast as to what is presented as gifts. The types of material goods sent vary considerably in the two contexts. Among the Yoruba, kola-nuts and alligator pepper are the essential requirements with other goods such as fine wrappers, a large covering cloth and a head tie to compliment the package. Nevertheless, there is also the giving out of money but this depends on one’s ability (Johnson, 114). Importantly, there is the breaking of the kola nuts and sharing of the same during the betrothal ceremony as a ritual to signify that the partakers are witnesses to the betrothal. The Korean tradition presents a different picture. The groom’s family sent, before the wedding, a cloth for making a skirt and vest put in a box called a ham. The person carrying the box is called hamjinabi (mister box carrier). (Lee et al, 158). The fifth stage in the marriage process among the Koreans is the bridal room. It is in the bridal’s room that the newlywed couples spent their first night. Here, they would take three months to several years (Lee et al, 158).As part of the celebration, the neighborhood women would peer into the bridal room. Thus the traditional wedding ceremony was held at the bride’s house. Asian Info 1, confirms this and specifies that the ceremony was held either in the front room or in the courtyard of the bride’s home. The same cannot be said of the Yoruba where the marriage celebrations were held at the groom’s house. The bride was brought here at night and was welcomed by the bridal party. It is on the wedding night the chastity of the bride was confirmed. If the groom was satisfied with the bride then presents were sent to her parents the next day and the festivities could continue for at least three weeks (Johnson, 115). Despite these sharp disparities between the two forms of marriage, there are a number of features common in them. In both cases, the young couple had little or nothing to say in the matter of marriage as this was arranged for them with or without their consent. Among the Koreans, the traditional marriage arrangements were made by the parents with the help of a matchmaker. More so, the couple did not meet until the wedding day (Asian Info, 1). Marriages in Yoruba land were traditionally arranged by the parents .In addition, the marriage process in both cases is not an individual affair but a community one for it involves the joining together not of two individuals but two families and, it involves the participation of people all over. As evident earlier, in the two forms of marriage, the ceremony is accompanied with celebrations with the festivities lasting for several days. Among the Yoruba for example, the festivities could last for at least three weeks. The Korean traditional marriage also involves celebrations where the newlywed exchanged wine and performed ceremonial vows. The ceremony would then last for two to three days (Lee et al, 158). Another striking feature inherent in the two cultures is that the marriage process is lengthy and elaborate; from the choosing of the marriage partner to the auspicious (wedding) day. Not to forget the numerous rituals that accompanies every stage of the marriage process. Even though there seems to be a concordance in the lengthiness of the process in both, it is important to note that the various rituals performed in either case do not marry and are unique to the respective cultures. A patriarchal type of residence is also a common feature found in the two cultures. As earlier exemplified, the bride either from Yoruba or Korea (after the wedding ceremony) joins and stays with the husband in her new home: at the husbands place. Nevertheless, in both the traditional forms of marriage the wedding gift forms an important and an integral part of the marriage process. The gifts are sent before the wedding day and this is done by the groom’s family to the bride’s. In the traditional Korean marriage a ham containing a cloth was sent by a hamjinabi to the bride’s family on the eve of the wedding (Lee et al, 157).Among the Yoruba, kola nuts and alligator pepper were key items to be presented as gifts by the groom to the bride’s family (Johnson, 114). Marriage is an initiation rite in both the cultures and as Kendal 6, points out one need to experience it once in a lifetime and more than one wedding in one’s life is an awkward idea, at least among the Koreans. There is an exception to this social rule though: unless one’s new partner has never experienced the rite. This line of reasoning is aired by Johnson, 116, about the traditional Yoruba wedding. Women are never married twice among the Yoruba, notes Johnson, 116, and incase a widow is inherited; a wedding ceremony is never under any circumstance gone over again. Discussed above are some of the major features of the traditional marriages in Yoruba and Korea. However, the same may not be said on modern marriages within the same settings, all thanks to modernization and the exertion of its tentacles on the local cultures rendering them imperceptible. This may sound like a hyperbole but the effect of westernization on these two cultures has seen a transition in the manner in which marriages were traditionally conducted to the western- style weddings of today. In a modern Korean wedding, couples spend just one night at the bride’s house after their honeymoon as opposed to three months to several years traditionally. In addition, small travel bags are nowadays used to replace the ham. The ham was delivered by the groom’s household servants while today it is the groom’s friend and a son who does deliver the bag (Lee et al, 157).More so, traditionally, Korean boys and girls played no part in the choosing of a spouse but not today. Today, writes Asian Info, 1, there are two paths leading to marriage: The first one is exclusively a love match between the two and the second is an arranged marriage by use of a go-between. Despite these changes Koreans have kept several aspects of the traditional ceremony though their modern ceremonies are closer to western marriages than Korean ones (Josta and Josta, 1). The Yoruba traditional marriage has also been tainted with the advent of modernization. Modern forms of marriage in Yoruba varies from English- style weddings under the marriage ordinance, to marriage by Yoruba customary law, to simple parental consent and blessing, to casual and temporary mutual consent( Zeitlin, 160). Das, 150, attributes this transition from the traditional norm to the introduction of statutory laws and European values which emerged on the Yoruba cultural scene. This encompasses the concept of western ideology that brought with it the religions of Islam and Christianity in Yoruba land. Thus there are Yoruba people who have converted to Christianity and those that have reverted to Islam consequently shaping their marriage ceremonies to fit in the customs and dogmas of their new faith. In conclusion, many of the traditional ceremonies and practices that forms part of the marriage process in the two cultures are still observed even with the western influence. However, it is important to note that the wedding ceremony has changed a lot in both the cases (resembling western marriages) with some of the traditional elements being tailored to fit and cope with the changing times. Works Cited Johnson, Samuel J. The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. New York: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. Lee, Eun- Joo, Park, Duk-Soo, and Yeon, Jaehoon. Integrated Korean: Advanced 1.Manoa, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. Print. Jost, Roman, Jost, Daniela. Traditional Korean Wedding. 2011. Web.21 April. 2013. “Asian Info”. Korean Society Celebrations: Marriage.2000. Web. 21 April. 2013. Das, Singh M. The Family In Africa. Kampala: M.D Publications Pvt. Ltd., 1993. Print. Zeitlin, M. F. Strengthening the Family. Tokyo: United Nations UP, 1995. Print. Kendall. Getting Married in Korea: of Gender, Morality and Modernity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996. Print. Read More