ISALC, Lewis and Clark College

How to Celebrate Pebeck by Mi Sun Choi

 

In every country, a wedding is a very important event for brides, grooms and their families. Most of them have a special wedding ceremony for their own culture. Nowadays, many people are performing a wedding that is similar to American style and then also performing some their own culture's ceremony. In Korea, we also have a special ceremony from a long time ago, which is called "Pebeck." It means a bride's introduction to her parents-in-law.

On a wedding day, anywhere, a bride and groom are very busy, but especially in Korea a bride and groom are even busier. They must wear wedding clothes like a tuxedo and wedding gown for the wedding ceremony, Korean traditional wedding clothes for Pebeck, and reception suits for the reception. Sometime, they change more than three times while they are holding the ceremony.

On the wedding day, there is an important time when the bride and groom change into their traditional clothes. That is Pebeck. When the wedding ceremony ends, the bride and groom change into traditional clothes because they have a special ceremony. After they change, they have to go to a special room furnished in Korean style for Pebeck. The room has a big low table that is prepared with many kinds of food, such as many chestnuts and Chinese dates. Also there is a folding screen, painted traditionally, next to the low table. Many relatives and well wishers observe the Pebeck. Between the table and the folding screen, the groom's family has to sit and the bride and groom have to stand in front of the table. As the family sits there, the bride and groom make a bow, on their bended knees, politely. Especially, the bride has to make a deep bow, with her hands together in front of her forehead, so there are always two women to help the bride, on both her left and right side. Making a bow while wearing traditional clothes is very hard for the bride because Korean traditional clothes cling to her body. When the parents are presented with the bow, they pick up and throw chestnuts and dates from the table to the bride and groom. After the bow, the groom holds the bride's long, wide sleeve and makes it into a kind of basket to catch the fruit and nuts. A Chinese date symbolizes a boy and a chestnut symbolizes a girl, so when parents throw the fruit and nuts, they tell the bride and groom, "have this many children. "Since old times, people have thought that having many children is good luck. Therefore parents throw the Chinese dates and chestnuts as much as they want. Also groom's relatives receive an introduction. After they are introduced, they give some money or small presents. The groom's brother or sister also sits there, and they make a bow to each other.

Eventually., when the bride and groom finish their presentation, the wedding is over. Modern wedding style has an another event, a reception, as many people know. All the people enjoy the Pebeck and take pictures of the bride and groom in traditional clothes, but in the old style, Pebeck was hard, especially for the bride, because at that time the bride and groom had to bow so many times to many relatives. So many people avoid the traditional Pebeck ceremony.

Actually, Pebeck traditionally served as a bride's introduction to her parents-in-law , but recently this has changed because a bride and groom introduce themselves to their in-laws. A long time ago, a bride and groom got married though they didn't know each other. Just their fathers had met and arranged for a wedding. Even on the wedding day the bride and groom could not see each other because they were nervous and embarrassed. Pebeck originated in those days. The bride could see the groom and his family for the first time after the wedding ceremony. I thought that Pebeck was just a formality before. A bride had to bow several times and could not stand without help. However, now, I think that it will be remain a fragrant memory for me.

Created by: krauss@lclark.edu
Updated: 10/23/99