This paper is written to prove that Gu-jeol-pan was not a dish just for the Royal Palace but also for the ordinary people as well. Ojeolpan, which was discovered in the Fort Acha, Chijeolpan of Cheonmachong, and celadon Gu-jeol-pan Koryeo Dinasty prov...
This paper is written to prove that Gu-jeol-pan was not a dish just for the Royal Palace but also for the ordinary people as well. Ojeolpan, which was discovered in the Fort Acha, Chijeolpan of Cheonmachong, and celadon Gu-jeol-pan Koryeo Dinasty provide a good clue about Gu-jeol-pan’s history, its round shape, and the social class of the users.
Gu-jeol-pan is so beautiful in taste and in its presentation that Pearl S. Buck, the famous auther of the Good Earth praised it very highly. There are two types of Gu-jeol-pan, wet and dry. The dry Gu-jeol-pan is used for serving dry food whereas the wet Gu-jeol-pan is used for serving wet foods such as vegetables and meat, which are served wrapped in wheat pan cakes. The dry Gu-jeol-pan can nowadays be seen on the Pebecksang and Anjusang.
The wet Gu-jeol-pan is specially meaningful in being presented in 5 different colors, and also in proving the old idiom, Uisikdongwon, meaning Food and Medicine have the same origin. Gu-jeol-pan, in its color and direction, can be related to the principle of Googoong. The idea of Uisikdongwon of Oriental Medicine, which is influenced by the oriental theory of divination, assumes that there is a close relationship between human health and Obang colors. There is a very close relationship between the oriental theory of divination and human health as much as there is a method of diagnoses called Osaekgin, which relates the color of human face to his illness. From this point of view, it can be said that Gu-jeol-pan is a health food which provides balanced nourishment through foodstuff of five colors conforming to the Oriental divination theory.
However, it is regrettable that Korean Foods are not quite widely popular yet despite of prevailing Korean Hanryoo overseas. It is problematic that Korean Foods are not yet recognised as a health food whilest the Korean foods of high calorie such as Chimaek and Bulgogie are getting popular. Korean Food, Gu-jeol-pan in particular that provides a balanced nourishment, requires better effort in publicity in order to achieve the globalization of Korean Foods.