Study of Korean’s Language and Culture

【摘 要】朝鮮族語言和文化具有悠久的歷史，在表現形式上具有獨特的特征。朝鮮族的結婚儀式具有很多講究，在孩子出生以及老人60歲花甲禮的儀式非常隆重，在宴席上的安排非常的考究。了解朝鮮族的語言文化對于我們研究朝鮮族的歷史及發展脈絡具有重要的意義。

【關鍵詞】語言；文化

【Abstract】Abstract： Korea Nationality has a long history with special features. The wedding ceremony is very formal as well as new-born ritual and sixty-year anniversary， which are shown in dinners. It is meaningful for us to research on Korea's language and culture.

【Key Words】Language；Culture

With a total population about two million， the Chaoxian ethnic minority （also known as 'Korean'） is the 13rd largest ethnic minority group in China. Chaoxian ethnic minority is scattered mainly in Heilongjiang， Jilin and Liaoning Provinces. Smaller populations of Chaoxian people live in other areas in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region， Beijing， Xi'an and other cities. Members of this minority living in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Perfecture in Jilin Province speak and write in Korean while those living in other parts of China usually speak Chinese.

Ⅰ.History of Korean

Throughout history， due to the close interactions between China and Korea， some degrees of population movements have always occurred between the two neighboring countries. There were written records of Korean migrations in the early Qing Dynasty， Ming Dynasty， Yuan Dynasty， Tang dynasty and earlier. The majority of early Korean populations in China had assimilated with Chinese society. The current Korean population in China is mainly descended from migrants who came between 1860 and 1945. In the 1860s， a series of natural disasters struck Korea， leading to disastrous famines. Along with the Qing dynasty's loosening of border controls and acceptance of external migration into Northeast China， this pushed many Koreans to migrate. By 1894， an estimated 34，000 Koreans lived in China， with numbers increasing to 109，500 in 1910. By 1936， there were 854，411 Koreans in China. As Japanese rule extended to China， the Japanese government forced Korean farmers to migrate north to China to develop the land. During World War II， many Koreans in China joined the Chinese peoples in fighting against the Japanese invaders. Many also joined on the Communist side and fought against the Chinese Nationalist armies during the Chinese Civil War. After 1949， many chose to return to the Korean peninsula. But most Koreans chose to stay in China and took up Chinese citizenship between 1949 （the end of the Chinese Civil War） and 1952.

Ⅱ.Traditional holidays of Korean nationality

Korean nationality and han nationality almost have same holidays. But there are 4 holidays belong to Korean nationality. They are new-born baby’s first birthday， hair-washing holiday， sixty years birthday party and sixty year marriage anniversary.

New-born baby’s first birthday is mostly stressed on among the rituals of Korean nationality. The celebration of new-born baby’s first birthday is very grand. When the baby’s birthday is coming， its mother will dress herself up beautifully and then put it on a carefully designed costume of nationality. After that， the baby will be taken to the birthday table and see the objects specially prepared for it. Some symbolized objects like candies， foodstuff， pens， books， toy guns are on the table. After all the guests being arrival， the baby’s mother will ask the baby to choose what it wants on the table. When the baby reaches its hands to get one object on the table， the guests will be excited and say good words for it. In some other places， the old man will circle the baby’s neck with a coil of white wire to hope the baby to be a pure and clean man as well as to live as longer as the wire.

June 15st is hair-washing holiday of Korean nationality according to lunar calendar， which is seen as a lucky day. In the morning all the people should go to the bank of river to wash hair. It is said that one will be lucky if hair is washed by the stream water running towards east. In the evening people will make dinner and sing for hair-washing. After that， all the family members will gather together and eat a good meal.

sixty years birthday party is the celebration that an old man lives for 60 years and he is hoped to live longer and healthier.

Sixty year marriage anniversary is the most grand holiday among Korean nationality’s family holidays， which is also called “huihunjie” or “guihunjie”. It must meet three requirements that“huihunjie” can be held. The first requirement is that the old couple is alve； the second is their sons and daughters are alive； the third is that grandsons and granddaughters are all alive. It is a great honour for any household that can hold “huihunjie”， for which relatives and friends must come to celebrate it.

Besides traditional holidays， the children’s birthday， wedding ceremony and sixty years birthday need to prepare good meals and invite guests. At these occasions a boiled cock sucking a red pepper in its mouth should be made on the dinner table. The traditional dishes are not only various but also beautiful and splendid. The dinner of sixty years birthday is the most formal and magnificent among all the meals.

【References】

[1]Jin Yuanshi.The connotations of Korean in China[J].The research of history and geography of China，2003.

[2]Zheng Xinzhe.The Great effect of demographic flow of Korean and its solving strategies[J].The academic journey of Yan Bian University，1999.