Asian Literature

The connection between tradition and modernity in China has been a subject of historical and literary studies. The relationship has been evolving beyond the conventional lethargy giving historians and literary scholars an avenue of delving into the realm of tradition in order to understand the lived experiences of the people substantively. This paper will focus on the way in which Shanghai and Beijing have become modes of imaging the cultural authenticity in china by creating different meanings of modernity and tradition. It will also look at the cultural disposition and politics in modern china, the cities and their relationship to the rural areas.

How Beijing and Shanghai Become Mediums of Imaging Differing Meanings of Modernity and Tradition
Life in the cities of Beijing and shanghai nowadays is akin to life in most modern world cities. This has increasingly affected the local cultural set ups with modernization taking a toll on the traditional Chinese lifestyles. The connection between tradition and modernity in China has been a subject historical and literary studies .The relationship has been evolving beyond the conventional lethargy giving historians and literary scholars an avenue of delving into the realm of tradition in order to understand the lived experiences of the people substantively. Looking at the work of Madeleine Yue Dong titled the republican Beijing it is possible to understand the multilayered conception and arrangement of the political and cultural dimension of Chinese cities in the face of modernization. The treatment of Beijing as a midway between its imperial past and its future of communism and post communism does not clearly  explain the various ways in which the citys past is connected to the life in the republican Beijing. The question of resources at the disposal of people helps Dong to write against the historical portrayal of modern cities of China that have been largely focused on Shanghai, which is one of the most urbanized and westernized cities in the peoples republic of China. In this work, the author argues that though Beijing is less prosperous than shanghai, it was also modernized in that republican period. This means that the understanding of the Chinese cities cannot be understood from the study of shanghai alone, although its effects on the modern china emergence was very catalytic (Alexei 23). Explorations of the link between tradition and modernity often show modernity emerging superior. Thus the position of modern condition complete with science capitalism and democracy have adopted a linear vision where conservative, static and superstition infused traditions remain on the lower side creating a utopian element of modernity. Chinese traditions in the cities were regarded as unitary, conservative and resistance to the dynamism of the republican period (Dong 3).

 A number of embedded problems thus arise from the conceptualization of modernity because of the notion of westernization. This means that the Chinese cities are viewed as if they are responding to the precedence set by the west instead of creating their unique destiny (Alexei 18). It is now clear that the perceived traditional culture of the Chinese was constructed on the inverse of the western ideals. This means that modernity and traditions are related to each other. This means that a definition of modernity that is more value neutral would help in analyzing its bi polar relationship with modernity. The indigenization of modernity in the studies by scholars of Chinese culture indicates that modernity has always toppled traditions seeing traditions as an impediment towards the success of Chinese goals. Initial, western oriented modernity was unpalatable in a relative sense because some various aspects of westernization needed to be translated into a linguistic and symbolic implication understandable and sensible to the Chinese. This impeded the development of nationalism that is western defined. Various cultural movements have failed in their efficacy of helping the country to assert itself as a western nation. The new physical cultural dispensational movement had a deep integration in the process of creating the current nations and its perceived modernity. This leads to an exploration of how some of the Chinese activities mutated to become more western though there are some indigenous components that were retained in the transformational process. If truly, there is an existence of a western modernism that is judged by its relationship by its oriental colleague, then the perceived notions of compact Chinese traditions is just shaky (Alexei 20).


China The City and Its Relationships to the Countryside
Prior to their contact with the west, Chinese cities especially Shanghai and Beijing had a striking integration with the rural areas. All the traditional Chinese cities use to have very close ties with the countryside (Pratt, 20). However, after the contact with the west, a strong divide between the cities and the countryside emerged especially due to the changing patterns of office holding and merchant activity along the ports and the eastern edge had a lot of influence on the structure of most Chinese cities (Elvin, 6). This means that the cities were the roots of modernization of China, adopting a European design where the cities are usually separated from the countryside. The economic growth of the country promoted urbanization especially in big cities like Peking and Shanghai. Thus they became the forces that engineered economic and Cultural Revolution that led to modernity. Chinas initial encounter with contemporary industrial revolution was at the cities, though it took China so long to become modernized when compared with Japan. This was because of Chinas initial response to the western influence that was a bit lukewarm The big question that posits in the reason why a gap emerged between the rural and the urban areas at the onset of modernization, if there was no much disparity between the urban and the rural areas before the emergence of western influence. This gap began to emerge in the late twenties and early thirties especially at the time there was a serious economic decline in the rural areas. Before this time, life in the cities was not much alluring and most people preferred to live in the villages and the small countryside towns but the economic slump of the countryside made the cities a more viable alternative. The movement to the cities was drastic and men moved with their whole families and one of the cities that were affected by this situation earliest was Shanghai (Pratt 20). The modern city set up was a recipe for the destruction of the traditional social order, relationships and morals which directly attacked the essence of being a Chinese. However, others who still favored the countryside also saw the rapid commercial development of the cities as a way of jumpstarting the economic well being of the rural areas. The policies in the mid fifties that created the formal allocations of hometowns prohibited people from blindly flowing into the cities without an employment certificate. However, this plan was not effectively implemented. The Collectivization program of 1956 led to the loss of private land creating vast differences between the rural and the urban areas (Pratt 22). This led to the inflow of peasants into the cities to escape from the harsh rural miseries. The government, scared by massive migrations implemented measures that were meant to hold people in one place. This was known as the Hukou system. This brought a fundamental shift in values whereby blue collar work was snubbed by many and an urban status became a social class marker and not the intellectual achievements. Late in the imperial period the rural families would survive through economic diversification whereby they engaged in small industrial activities plus sideline agriculture to be able to move up the social and economic ladder. The notion of peasant before the western contact was non existent but as westernization crept in, the notion of peasantry became established. This made people to believe that rural dwellers were backwards and they were an impediment to national development. This belief that the Chinese rural society was made up of feudal peasants was quite discriminative bearing in mind that the area remained the heart of the sense of what it meant to be a Chinese (Pratt 22). Thus the rural masses have acquired an identity as second class citizens of the peoples republic of China.
An analysis of the things that happened to the immigrants after the economic liberalization of the 80s shows that there was a creation of a multilayered urban society that comprised of the original urbanites and the peasants. Due to their hard work especially in the informal sector, some of them became wealthier then the original urbanites because of their discovery of space that had been left by structural mistakes in the economic set up. The exploitation of these spaces helped them to retain powerful social links with their extended family members in their native villages. This helps in the reinvigoration of the contemporary connections between the city and the rural areas (Alexei 22). The migration to shanghai by the peasants created undoubted bias for the urbanites. There was a specific trend where the immigrants form the much wealthier parts of Jiangnan went to become urban elites while those from the poverty ridden Subei became the urban low class. After the migrations the immigrants were encouraged to work hard to acquire riches so as to move away from the perceived peasant status that was visualized as an inhibitant toward the path to modernity. This led to the reinvention of the peasants who wanted to shrug that sorry identity and they largely avoided jobs and customs that would link them to that identity. However, those who were not ready to shrug off their identity would continue involving themselves in traditional practices without any difficulties. Backwards customs were associated with submissiveness and led to the lower perception of the peasant immigrants.

Migrations from the Countryside to Cities
    Urbanization in china has been on the rise especially after the end of the Cultural Revolution. The relaxation of rules regarding mobility of the people aided in this. The opportunitie4s for people to move to urban areas grew and this has happened in the last thirty years. This has created a disparity between the prosperity of the urban and the rural populations. The rate of urban development of cities like shanghai has also accelerated and this rapid population growth has been responsible for the Chinese economic boom in china. The government is therefore struggling to provide amenities for the increasing numbers of urban dwellers. The growth of economy can also be said to contribute to the high level of rural urban movement because of the large amount of opportunities that are created by the emerging industries attracting rural dwellers. During the regime of Chairman Mao, there were very stringent restrictions on movement from rural areas to urban areas (Dong 40). Urbanization was not so much pronounced because of the socialistic nature of the regimes that concentrated people in the rural areas to work in social groupings. The only big cities with large populations were Beijing and shanghai. China was actually the first country on the world to have cities which were known as walled cities. They remained as centres for administrative purposes and not trading centres. Chairman Mao would send intellectuals from the cities to the countryside to learn about social life from the peasants. This created an instance of reverse urbanization where people were actually moving from the urban areas to the rural areas. There were strict policies that governed migration and the government had set a benchmark for the number of people who would be allowed to move to the urban areas. But the rise of Deng as the communist leader saw the rise of urbanization because the migration rules were relaxed meaning that there were no strict restrictions on rural urban movement (Dong 40). Deng also set up an agricultural revolution in the countryside that ensured that there was enough food to be consumed in the cities. This is another factor that promoted urbanization because the availability of food was another factor to be considered before allowing mass movement of people into cities. The increase of food supplies led to the relaxation of migration rules by the Deng administration but the agricultural reforms left many agricultural workers unemployed. These people moved to the urban centres in search of jobs. The emerging industries could absorb a large number of workers who were streaming from the countryside. By 1982, 30 percent of the Chinese population was living in the urban areas. The elevation of some towns into cities in the mid eighties also led to the increase of the number of people who were living in the urban areas. During this time, the cities were booming with a variety of new industries that presented good opportunities for the rural folks (Dong, 44). By 1985, Shanghai had more than five million people. Currently, it is among the few cities that have a population of more that 10 million people. Deng reform systems favoured smaller cities because bigger ones like shanghai and Beijing were already saturated with high populations. The problem with the smaller cities was the irrational use of land that created a myriad of economic problems that were to afflict them soon afterwards. Though urbanisation has been praised for the current economic glory that china has been enjoying, the rise of the population has not been proportional with the rise in the number of social amenities meaning that there is extra pressure exerted on the existing facilities. The infrastructure is also wanting as the one that was there before the population rose cannot handle the current high levels of population. This is especially significant in the transport systems where the Chinese in the cities have to use bicycles because the existing infrastructure cannot support a large number of vehicles that the increasingly wealthy urban population owns. Another impact of urbanisation is the widening of the gap between the prosperity of the rural dwellers and the urban dwellers. The urban dwellers are wealthy while it is documented that 80 percent of the rural Chinese population live in abject poverty (Dong 67). This is because of the little returns from the land used for agriculture while those who move to the urban areas even to do menial jobs usually get a decent amount of money that enable them to live comfortable lives. The segregation of chinas population into urban and rural serves to discriminate the rural dwellers. Experts suggest that if more people were encouraged to move to the urban areas, it would be a boost for the Chinese economy because the labour is still needed in the urban areas and the pay is lucrative. However, this seems to be a contradictory situation because the current economic crisis in the world has hit china very hard and thousands of industries in the urban areas have closed down leading to loss of jobs. Some of the urban dwellers have relocated to the villages because the economic conditions have become uncondusive. However, the depression of economies in the world is almost coming to an end meaning that it is possible that more migrations will take place as china seeks to assert itself as a world industrial and economic superpower. Therefore the government should be prepared to react to the pressures that the increasing urban population is bound to bring to the existing social amenities (Pratt 45). The infrastructure must be expanded in proportion to the needs of the population and this creates a businesses opportunity for the private sector because they will be able to mobilise resources to partner with the government in the provision of infrastructural and other services. Urban infrastructure in China has for along time been viewed as an issue of social welfare with the government taking complete control and financing ever aspect of infrastructural development (Alexei 23). However, the rapid acceleration of mobility towards the urban areas has forced other players to come into the process of improving urban standards because the traditional ways of providing the services cannot suffice to meet the growing needs of the urban population. This calls for the public private partnership to create a solution that is workable.

In conclusion, the study of cities cannot be conducted without looking at China. The country has the highest number of cities with a population of above one million people with shanghai holding a record 19 million people while Beijing has 17.4 million people. In fact the two are now being referred to as mega cities. The treatment of Beijing as a midway between its imperial past and its future of communism and post communism does not clearly explain the various ways in which the citys past is connected to the life in the republican Beijing. Future estimations indicate that more than 300 million more people will have moved into the cities by the year 2015. This will create investment opportunities worth trillions of Yuan that will propel china to greater heights of economic prosperity that have never been witnessed before.

The Good Earth is a novel written by Pearl S. Buck, an award winning American writer who spent majority of her life in China, which illustrates family life in a Chinese Village before the 1949 Chinese Communist Revolution. The novel, which won Pearl S. Buck the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in the early 30s, has a poignant and realistic portrayal of a poor farmers life and his bond with the land he is cultivating. It depicts rural China and the lifestyle of an average Chinese peasants in the early 1900s. The story revolves in the character of Wang Lung, a man who follows morals and Chinese traditions such as piety and duty to family, and his wife O-Lan, who represents Chinese women during the traditional China. Despite his simplicity as he conforms to Chinese traditional lifestyle, he is a man with many complexities illustrated by his relationship with his wife, his children, his father and his village or community. Aside from the preciousness of the land where the main protagonist equates it with his own self worth, the novel also subtly discusses womens position and social constructed roles during the early 19th century illustrated in the character of O-Lan, Wang Lungs wife. Dominantly through the character of O-lan, the writer explores womens position in traditional Chinese culture, focusing on the hardships and limitations faced by women, their powerlessness from abuse in childhood to servitude in adulthood. The writer illustrates the individual experience of O-Lan to emphasize her subtle political message about how tradition and culture during early times limits women.

    Women in Chinese tradition is viewed necessary for procreation and to fulfill the household needs. When a wife bear a girl child, they consider the child as an unlucky one. Wives can even bring shame to the society unable to produce a boy. During hard times young girls were often the ones sold into slavery or worse. Even though the writer admire the beauty of the Chines simple lives during the early times of industrialization, her outrage at the conditions of the women is apparent.  Although Wang Lungs thoughts are a bit more liberal than the readers might expect, he still maintains his distance, displaying neither open affection nor love for the woman who shares his life.

     Since Buck devoted herself to humanitarian causes and constantly fought on behalf of womens rights, it is unavoidable to assume that truly the novel contains political messages about how women is treated in the society during early times (Henkes 89). In traditional Chinese society, women were automatically assigned a position inferior to that of men. The qualities that were valued in women were obedience and loyalty especially towards their role in motherhood and domesticity. Little was expected from them in terms of physical and intellectual capabilities since men were believed to be the ones who will gratify and fulfill that. During the times in which the novel takes place, Chinese society is also showing signs of modernity while still remaining deeply connected to ancient traditions and customs. In order to acquire a deeper understanding about how women were treated in early Chinese tradition, it is significant to look deeper on the character of O-Lan.

    O-Lan in many ways is perhaps the most memorable character in the novel since she exemplifies womens situation in traditional China. She sacrifices a great deal even though she will never acquire a reward just to adhere to cultural notions of feminine respectability. Even though it may seem that Wang Lung is the main protagonist, O-Lan has the most meaningful character as she illustrates the experiences of womens subtle oppression and injustices that was constantly unnoticed during those times. O-Lan is a slave in the Great House of Hwang. Since she is a girl, she is automatically the one chosen to be sold and brought to the House of Hwang in the year of the great famine when her father needs money to feed the rest of the family. It is apparent from the novel that the birth of a girl was not greeted by the family with as much pleasure as that of a boy. The wife would be blamed for her failure to produce a son. Apparently as the novel demonstrates, it is not peculiar or unusual for an infant girl in a poor family to be sold or smothered into slavery.

    In the initial part of the novel, Wang Lung decided to buy and marry O-Lan, a poor woman who used to be a young slave in the house of Hwang, since he could not afford a wife from higher status. Wang Lung did not expect much but just a woman who would cook for him and his father, who would help him in the fields and a woman who would give him sons. O-Lan is apparently the woman that Wang Lung exactly needed, a woman who works even without being told to work. Since they are both hardworking, O-lan and Wang Lung are pleased with each other, although they only exchange few words. Even from the very beginning, Wang Lung is disappointed since O-lan does not have bound feet. Young girls in traditional Chinese families faced a painful experience growing up, they were required to have their feet bound.  The practice of binding the feet began among the aristocracy in the tenth century and spread throughout China. This tradition, which resulted in broken and misshapen bones, was extremely painful and resulted in deformed feet  (Conn 29). But the crippled foot was looked on by Chinese men as a most desirable thing since it symbolizes beauty, femininity and vulnerability. Women with bound feet is also perceived to be easily controlled. Even though O-Lan is aware that there is no emotional attachment between her and Wang Lung, she sees the marriage arrangement as a relief. She is a Chinese wife in everything except in one thing, she is ugly and has big feet. Her physical inferiority makes her work harder to make up to the beauty that she lacks. Apparently beauty for Chinese men is a great point since they find refuge in it. Women were seen as a form of pleasure by husbands especially after their long day in the field. The culture makes them believed that women should be regarded as  wife  who take care of their physical needs at the end of the day.  Wang Lung represent the usual men who regards women as inferior.

    Sometimes, working over the clods in the fields, he would fall to pondering about     her. What had she seen in those hundred courts What had been her life, that life     she never shared with him He could make nothing of it. And then he was  ashamed     of his own curiosity and of his interest in her. She was, after all, only a woman      (Buck)

Apparently in the novel, Wang Lung, though kind, sees her wife  only a woman  who is more incapable than he is. He couldnt imagine her wife in a higher position which depicts that men truly have little expectations towards their wives. 

    O-lan spends her life working for an endeavor for which she never acquired a reward. O-Lan throughout her marriage life gives all her effort and applies all her considerable capability to improve Wang Lungs position and the well being of her family but she receives neither loyalty nor passion from him in return. Her husband instead constantly insults her unbound feet and ugliness. During her pregnancy to her second baby, Wang Lung is even annoyed, fearing that his wifes condition will keep her from working in the fields. O-Lan even makes the hardest decision in the novel-- she is forced to kill and smother her infant daughter to spare food for the family, for example but endure this hard decisions with admirable posture and fortitude. Wang Lung meanwhile also became unfaithful and a concubine but O-Lan never reproached him for doing that even though she is badly hurt by his act. She is proud, strong and willing to keep her posture but the only time when she breaks down and starts to cry is when her husband took the pearls she was keeping for their daughter. Still she focuses on raising her children, on taking care of the household and fulfilling her responsibilities that conforms to the Chinese culture.

    She was like a faithful, speechless serving maid, who is only a serving maid and     nothing more. And it was not meet that he should say to her, Why do you not     speak It should be enough that she fulfilled her duty (Buck)

In the household, O-Lan does her work without complaint. But when her health started to deteriorates and when she became very ill until it was too late, her husband offer to buy the best medicine and to find the best doctor but O-Lans refused, justifying that her life is not as significant as the new land they could buy with the money.  No, and my life is not worth so much. A good piece of land can be bought for so much  (Buck 256). Apparently O-Lan sees little in the value of her life. She is used to believe that her life is not as significant as the land. The way her husband and the society treat her greatly influenced her mind setting towards herself. In the novel there is apparently a special connection between O-Lan and the earth. She gave herself as the earth gave and took nothing in return. But once O-Lan, the pillar of the family, was gone, the whole family started to deteriorate.

    Conspicuously O-lan spends much of the story in the position of victim who uses silence rather than speech to indicate the extent of her inner pain. She acquired a great deal of dignity in the readers due to endurance towards her husbands behavior. O-lan never complains about Wang Lung s cruelty in insulting her feet but she does immediately begin binding her daughter s feet in order not to disappoint her father. Her daughter often weeps because my mother binds a cloth about my feet more tightly every day and I cannot sleep at night (Buck). Her mother however warns her daughter not to complain in order not to disappoint her father. Apparently even though Olan is in extreme pain, her main objective is still to fulfill her duties not to displease her husband.  The readers see the extent of O-lan s fortitude and bravery when she makes no complaint for years about the grave illness that swells her belly. O-lan with her level of endurance represents the dignity and courage of the marginalized wife.

    Apparently, the novel is more than just the illustration of just one mans struggle to rise for economic purposes. But rather the underlying theme focuses on the depiction of Chinese women during those times. The novel portrays these women with great realism by including traditional Chinese practices like foot binding, wife purchasing or marriage arrangement and concubinism. Their roles in the male dominated world are limited to motherhood and domesticity which limit them to explore their full potentials. But women can be admired in terms of their emotional endurance and pride. Though O-lan appears to be submissive and obedient to Wang Lung where she works incessantly in silence and without complaint, O-Lan has a rich inner life. She is clever, resourceful and fiercely proud and  is no doubt the primary responsible for the survival of her family during times of starvation, and also silently helping her husband to accumulate wealth and status. This novel depicts the strength of women as the pillars of home who keep the families together and also illustrates how the old culture of China limits and controls women.

Food plays a very important role in the development of civilizations and cultures.  The cultures that were able to come up with abundant food supply were able to raise large populations that aided in them being able to control large empires.  The less sufficient populations were easily conquered by the others.  It is clear that food played an important role in all of this.  Yet, as the world turns, there is less and less emphases being placed on being able to control food supply as countries all over the world are able to trade with each other for food items.  Dominance is no longer hinged on the amount of food but in other matters.  The role of food is not being understated but rather just reduced in rank as other important matters take precedence pursuant to the fact that food supply has more or less been secured especially in the developed countries and cultures.
In South Korea, however, food still retains its prominence in the local culture and society, being important to the development of socio-political settings.  It is interesting to note that contemporary Korean cuisine has evolved through several socio-political changes which have occurred through the centuries. There are also several provincial variations in the food culture. Korean cuisine is mostly rice based with accompaniments of vegetables and meat that are reflective of the changes that have occurred in Korea itself, showing a change in meat or vegetable supply that has forced the local cuisine to adapt.
One such change can be seen in the way that Korean cuisine has adapted to local tastes.  According to Chung, Korean cuisine, shares many similarities, with the cuisine of its South East Asian neighbors, Japan and China because some of the common food ingredients used in these countries are tofu, cellophane noodles, soy sauce and a variety of fresh vegetables. (13) Stir-Frying, steaming and braising are the common cooking methods adopted by these Far East Asian countries. Another parallel that can be drawn between the a-fore mentioned countries is their utilization of chopsticks instead of forks and spoons. However there are several elements which make Korean cuisine refreshingly different (Chung, Monroe 13).
The ancient cultures of the world such as the early Native Americans, Incas, Mayas, Egyptians, etc., all ate what was available from the land around them. For example, each early Native American tribe had a specific diet based on the geography of the region of the United States they were located in. Culture, however, did have an impact on how and why many early civilizations ate the foods that they ate.  The Koreans had an abundant supply of vegetables and grains due to the fact that Korea was once primarily an agrarian society (Price 21). The main cultivated crop was rice.  It is for this reason that traditional Korean cuisine frequently has boiled rice (bap) included in the dishes (Price 21).  The preparation is such that rice is often added with barley, millet, beans and red beans for added taste and nutritional value.  One of the more well-known of these dishes is Bibimbap, which is prepared of rice, which is mixed with seasoned vegetables and meat.  Other rice dishes that Koreans consume includes Juk that can have several seasonings and toppings, Naengmyeon that are basically cold noodles similar to the cold Japanese soba that are enjoyed by Koreans as everyday meals and also during celebratory occasions (Overview of Korean Food).
It should also be pointed out that the Korean diet is quite different from contemporary cuisine or the authentic Korean cuisine that is served around the corner.  Korean cooking did not feature a lot of meat.  As such, Koreans in comparison to foreigners eat considerably less meat.  Preparation of meat dishes is mainly restricted to special occasions.  Protein rich soybean products like tofu replace meat at most Korean meals.  Bowls of salads along with plenty of fresh seasonal fruits make every Korean meal a healthy and hearty affair, as pointed out by Chung and Monroe (13).
The influence that food has had on Korean culture is also quite evident in how it has become the focal point of the basic social unit of society, the family.  Food began as fuel for the body in its simplest form, but has transformed into an important part of culture and religion.  As observed by Price, (I) think culture and geographical location play a very important part in the foods that we eat. Foods beginnings were very natural, but the changes in the way we harvest, grow and prepare foods have changed food to a very unnatural process. (12) It does seem as though food has always played an important part in the culture and religion of society.Food in Korea seems to be on a path to becoming less important in the religious and cultural values as there are so many different cultures that are being combined into one society. 
Despite this, it is still true in Korean culture, where there are several rituals that are graced by good food.  Rites of passage are marked with special types of ceremonial food. On Samchil day (21st day after babys birth) seaweed soup and beef broth are served to the new mother. Plain rice, seaweed soup with beef broth and green vegetables, steamed white rice cake, glutinous millet dumplings rolled in red bean powder and songpyeon  half moon shaped rice cake cooked in five different colors are prepared on Baekil, the celebratory occasion marking the 100th day of a childs birth (Rites of passage and ceremonial foods).  Given that this is a momentous event in a persons life, Koreans have marked this by featuring special foods that are traditionally associated with these events to commemorate them.
Aside from this, rice, seaweed soup, green vegetables, soup, steamed rice cake and millet dumplings are prepared for the unique ceremony of Doljabi marking a childs first birthday. Bongchaetteok is a special dish prepared for weddings. To mark a persons sixtieth birthday a large table is laden with a wide variety of food. Gobaesang (a table of high piles) or mangsang (a table to gaze at) is the name given for such a sumptuously arranged table (Rites of passage and ceremonial foods).
Perhaps even more unique is the fact that Koreans hold memorial services for their ancestors that feature select dishes.  During Seollal tteokguk -rice cake soup- is prepared for the dead relatives. On the occasion of Chuseok, taro soup and songpyeon is served to appease the ancestors souls.  Alcoholic beverages, fruit, dried beef, and fish, along with rice cakes are also prepared on such occasions (Rites of passage and ceremonial foods).
It is interesting to note, however, that the change that food has had in culture over the years can be attributed to its abundance.  As so aptly pointed out, food has become less important and less part of society as a cultural event because of the abundance.  In a country that has no problem with food supply, Korea, by ensuring a steady supply of food, has diminished its cultural and social impact.  The threat is that these age old traditions are endangered by the emergence of new foods that are easier to eat and do not require an occasion to serve.
As has been observed, Koreans enjoy their street food.  When they want to grab a quick bite, they head for the pojangmacha or street vendor.  Different types of finger foods are served at these street stalls and are very popular with the younger generations.  Some common types of street food are Gimbap - Rice Wrapped in Seaweed, Mandu Dumplings, Sundae Korean Sausage and Tteokbokki -Stir Fried Rice Cake (Street Foods).  It is argued that such evolution has relegated the former hierarchy of food in Korean society to something that is primarily for sustenance as opposed to its ceremonial appeal.
The evolution of food in the Korean Peninsula is a function of the geographic restrictions and territorial influences.  As has been pointed out in the book, Local Dishes, Korean cuisine also varies according to the region. In the more mountainous northern regions of Korea -Hamgyeong Province, Pyeongan Province and Hwanghae Province, cereal crops are grown abundantly, as dry field farming method is common here. Rice mixed with a variety of cereals is their staple diet. Salted fish, dry fish, seaweed and mountains plants replace meat and fresh fish which are scarce in these areas (Local Dishes).  On the other hand, people residing in the south - Gyeongsang Province and Jeolla Province and the central region bordering the western coast - Gyeonggi Province, Chungcheong Province and Gangwon Province eat plain rice or rice mixed with barley (Local Dishes).
It is clear that Korean food has evolved according to the spices and condiments that were available.  The traditionally spicy Korean food and soy sauce heavy food was an off shoot of the fact that this was readily available in the area.  According to the book, Seasoning and Style of Korean Cooking, to make food more flavorsome, Koreans use many unique condiments and seasonings.  Basic seasonings, such as salt, soy sauce, hot pepper seasoning, soybean dip, and sugar are some of the basic seasonings that are used.  To enhance the food fragrance Koreans use aromatic seasonings like ginger, mustard, pepper, chili pepper, sesame oil, leeks, garlic and pepper.
Another prominent ingredient that shows how geography affected the food is soy sauce.  Depending on the type of dish being prepared, Koreans use different types of soy sauce. In the preparation of stews and vegetables, a mild, light-colored soy sauce is used.  For boiling, drying and pickling, a denser version is preferred. Soy bean paste is used in a variety of wrap dishes - lettuce wrap, pumpkin leaf wrap, and paste cakes and in soups and stews. For seasoning fresh or boiled vegetables and other types of boiled and broiled food, hot pepper paste is used. It is also used as an accompaniment with sashimi or boiled green onion rolls (Seasoning and Style of Korean Cooking).
The manner by which Koreans adapted their food is clearly shown in the seasonal dishes that are served.  This is a reflection of the abundance (or shortage) or key ingredients and raw materials used for cooking.  During spring, Koreans eat Tangpyeongcha - made of green bean jelly, pork, dropwort and dried laver seasoned with soy sauce and vinegar, Suran -soft boiled eggs, Jogiguk - soup made of short necked clams and croakers, Hadon - blowfish soup, Domijjim -steamed sea beam, Seoyeojeungsiki -steamed hemp dipped in honey and Dongguk Sesigi - stuffed and beaded rice cakes (Special food for seasonal occasions).  Gijutteok - rice cake, Hwajeon - pan fried dough with petal topping, Eochae - boiled fish preparation, Eomandu - fish dumpling, Jijimi- stew and fruits like yellow melon are consumed during the summer months. During fall when harvest is at its peak and the Chuseok festival is celebrated special food like songpyeon -stuffed rice cake, torantang - taro soup), various seasoned vegetables and galbijjim (rib stew) are consumed (Special food for seasonal occasions).
Other special fall recipes are singwabyeong, mulhobaktteok, musirutteok, bam danja (chestnut balls) and jujube injeolmi (sticky rice cake). Dongji the Korean festival heralding the winter solstice has many celebratory foods attached to it (discussed earlier).  Nanrohoe - stir fried marinated meat in broth, Sinseollo a vegetable and meat broth, Naengmyeon - cold noodles, are other special winter foods (Special food for seasonal occasions).
As this brief discourse shows, the evolution of Korean food has not only been because of geography but also due to other socio-political events that have influenced the region.  The different settings for the season, as well as the regional flavors, all reveal the distinct influences that have had a hand in the current Korean cuisine that people now enjoy and relish.  Today Korean food has a worldwide following. Korean food has evolved to become nutritious yet tasty. Once relished, a Korean meal can never be forgotten.  Their subtle usage of spices, the varied usage of garnishes, the piquant kimchi all add to a rich gustatory experience.  Korean food is much appreciated for its restorative and rejuvenating qualities and is perhaps one of the main reasons why it has become the developed country that it currently is today.