CHRISTMAS IN THE ORIENT

CHRISTMAS Why Even in the Orient?

An old Oriental belief is reminiscent of the Santa Claus of Christmas. That is the Korean belief in one named Chowangshin, and something similar can be found among some Chinese and Japanese.

Chowangshin was considered a god in charge of the kitchen, a god of fire who was related to the ancient Korean worship of fire. (In olden times, Koreans transported live charcoals carefully, making sure that these were never extinguished.) This god was believed to keep watch over the conduct of the family members for a year, after which he ascended to heaven through the kitchen stove and chimney.

Supposedly, Chowangshin reported to the king of heaven on the 23rd of the lunar month of December. He was expected to come back at the end of the year through the chimney and the stove, bringing rewards and penalties in accord with each one's conduct. On the day of his return, the members if the family were to light candles in the kitchen and elsewhere in the house. Portraits of that kitchen god bear another similarity to Santa Claus-he was depicted in red! It used to be a custom for the daughter-in-law to make a pair of traditional Korean socks and on the winter solstice give them to her mother-in-law . That was meant to symbolize her wish that the mother-in-law would have a long life, since the days get longer after that date.

Do you not see some similarities between the foregoing points and Christmas? They share stories and customs: the chimney, candles, gift-giving, socks, an old man in red clothing, and the date. Still, such similarities alone do not account for the easy acceptance of Christmas in Korea. The belief in Chowangshin had almost faded away by the time Christmas was first introduced to Korea. In fact, most Koreans today do not know that such a belief ever existed.

Nonetheless, this illustrates how customs related to the winter solstice and the end of the year spread all over the world through different paths. In the fourth century C.E., the prevailing church in the Roman Empire changed the name of the Saturnalia, the pagan Roman festival of the birth of the son-god, and made this par of Christmas. The Christmas celebration amounted to a revival of local customs with a different name tag. How was that possible?

Next time: The Role of Gift -Giving

Watchtower, 1999