On the 25th, Sunchang-gun, Jeonbuk Province, announced on the 27th that it successfully held the ‘2023 Sunchang Jangdokdae Adoption and Jang Making’ event at the Gochujang Folk Village area.
The event was attended by over 120 people, including urban residents from across the country, traditional jang artisans, and 30 officials from Jeonju Daejan Hospital, which has signed an agreement with Sunchang-gun and Nongchon Sarang Donghaeng Sunchang.
The event was organized to provide urban residents with the experience of making traditional jang firsthand in an era where households that make jang are gradually disappearing, and to promote the excellence of traditional foods by adopting jangdokdae (jang fermentation pots).
Sunchang-gun successfully held the '2023 Sunchang Jangdokdae Distribution and Jang Making' event on the 25th at the Gochujang Folk Village area. [Photo by Sunchang-gun]
Before the main ceremony, a percussion performance by the group Aquiteam was held as an opening act.
Aquiteam presented a performance that communicated with the audience by adding playful elements to the excitement and spirit of traditional rhythms, blending tradition and modernity, capturing the attention of urban residents.
The main event, the ‘Day the Jangdok Opens’ performance, was held with the hope that traditional jang making, designated as a national intangible cultural asset and registered as a UNESCO cultural heritage, would greatly contribute to the development of Sunchang’s fermentation industry.
Following this, participants followed the grand procession of Daechwita to the artisan’s house, where they learned about the history and origin of the tradition of passing down jang making through generations, the process of meju becoming doenjang and ganjang, and stories about fermentation in traditional jang, sharing the lives of ancestors and the value of intangible heritage.
Choi Young-il, the county governor, said, “We hope for the UNESCO registration of jang making, humanity’s intangible cultural heritage, and will strive harder to make Sunchang the center of global fermentation culture. I hope all participants visiting Sunchang enjoy the elegance of Sunchang’s jang, the hometown of health, longevity, and fermentation.”
Meanwhile, the jang made directly by the participants will be carefully managed and matured by traditional jang artisans and can be received by each household after October.
Sunchang = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jeong Young-gwon baekok@asiae.co.kr
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