Artisan recreates traditional spoons and chopsticks
By Chung Ah-young
YANGGU, Gangwon Province — Kim Ki-chan can make only a pair of a "bangjja" spoon and chopsticks a day, at best. Since succeeding his father, Kim Yong-rak, who passed away in 2008, in the family business of making bangjja or traditional Korean hand-forged bronzeware, he has been working alone at a small workshop that is covered with black and grey metal dusts.
Kim shapes the metal by repeatedly pounding it, more than 365 times to be more specific, with a hammer, tempers and files. Originally, bangjja making was divided into several steps, such as pounding and filing, which were performed by several people. However, as fewer artisans are engaged in this traditional craft these days, he handles all the steps himself.
| Kim Ki-chan shows the process for making "bangjja" spoons at his workshop in Yanggu, Gangwon Province. He shapes the metal by repeatedly heating and pounding it with a hammer. / Korea Times photos by Choi Won-suk |
"I might be the last one to know how to perform this craft because nobody is learning it," Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times.
Kim said although he will stay with bangjja making until he dies, he is afraid that the craft will eventually disappear.
Many artisans pursue "jumul" making or bronzeware casting because bangjja making is more complicated and manual and jumul and bangjja are indistinguishable in the eyes of ordinary people. The jumul craft involves pouring hot metal into a mold. Since the hot metal contains air, the resulting jumul is weaker than bangjja. On the other hand, bangjja making involves repeatedly hammering and heating metal, resulting in a more flexible, durable product.
Bangjja has an exact copper to tin alloy ratio of 78 to 22, unlike other types of bronzeware, which usually have a ratio of 9 to 1. Because of its composition, bangjja is known to be self-sterilizing, and thus, was used mostly by the court or elite class called "yangban."
Kim said the exact alloy ratio is the most important factor in determining the durability and luster of the spoons and chopsticks. He still uses a traditional scale that was used by his father to achieve high quality.
"How much I pound the metal determines the quality of the products. The metal is strong but can break with a hit, but if it is repeatedlyheated, pounded and tempered, it becomes not only durable but also bendable rather than brittle," he said.
Coming out from his father's shadow
Kim said his father, Kim Yong-rak, never thought Kim's bangjja making skills were good enough, even though Kim learned the skills from him while in middle school.
"Making bangjja requires at least 10 years of training. My father didn't trust me until the day he died. He had high standards for me and had great pride for his job. My father was never satisfied with my work. He was always afraid that the bangjja craft will disappear during my generation," he said.
Kim recalled, however, that his father didn't force him to follow in his footsteps because bangjja making is a hard way to earn a living. However, his father let him develop an interest in the metal craft as a hobby. As a child, his father encouraged him to try to make any type of metal craftwork with his own hands to help him understand the nature of metal.
"By making my ‘toys' with my own hands, I naturally developed the required skills and an understanding of the nature of metal. Maybe I was destined to become a bangjja artisan after all," he said.
Owing to the painstaking training and actual banjja making, Kim avoided the craft and held other jobs. However, after his father passed away, he couldn't but follow in his father's footsteps. "It was like a call from my dead father. After wandering around the country for two years after my father's death, I decided to answer this call," he said.
The late Kim Yong-rak was one of the few artisans who created high-quality bangjja using techniques handed down by his ancestors from the Joseon Kingdom.
"My father still inspires me to develop my skills," he said.
After focusing on making bangjja spoons and chopsticks, he began searching for his next specialization as a traditional artisan. He has been collecting historical resources and relics, which can help in restoring traditional spoons and chopsticks from ancient times. So far, he has collected some 100 spoons and chopsticks from the Silla Kingdom to the Joseon Kingdom.
"I started as a bangjja artisan, but now, I am a collector of historical references that show how cuisine changed in ancient times through changes in the shapes of spoons," he said.
More than spoons and chopsticks
Kim is a sixth-generation bangjja maker. Originally, his ancestors made various bangjja utensils, but his grandfather and father specialized in making spoons and chopsticks because of the lack of artisans with whom they can work.
Making bowls or gongs usually requires several people to perform the different steps. Thus, as he works alone, he can make only spoons and chopsticks, which he considers more meaningful than any other bronzeware anyway.
"We use spoons and chopsticks every day, but we don't know their history and culture well. Our ancestors valued them highly," he said.
Kim said bangjja spoons and chopsticks are more than a family business — they show the history of Korean cuisine and lifestyle.
"Historically, spoons change in each era, which indicates that cuisine changes over time," he said.
For example, in the past, in lean years, the spoon's bowl was shallow and wide to enable scooping porridges, while in bumper years, it was oval and small.
Kim explained that the shapes of today's spoons are similar to the ones in the Silla era when the bowl was round.
The handle was curved and bowl was shallow in the Goryeo era when tableware designs were flamboyant and most containers were deep. Also, the shapes of the spoon handle tips were decorative, resembling a willow leaf or a swallow tail, for example. In the Joseon era, the bowl was deep and the handle was straight.
Kim creates spoons and chopsticks that were used by the elite class or the royal families in the Joseon Kingdom. The spoons in the Joseon era were designed for right-handed people. The lower parts of the handles of the chopsticks are cylindrical, while the upper parts are square.
Up until the Japanese colonial era, spoons and chopsticks were made through the bangjja craft, but after the Korean War (1950-1953), people began using briquettes to heat their houses, which produced toxic, black smoke that stained bangjja. Consequently, they began preferring stainless products to bangjja.
Nowadays, as bangjja is believed to be self-sterilizing, the demand for it is gradually increasing. Kim, however, said artisans cannot break even with making bangjja because of the significant time and labor it requires. For that reason, many of them are using machines to mass produce high-end jumul utensils.
"Nevertheless, I will never turn to machines. I cannot break the promise I gave my customers, who turn to me for my genuine bangjja. I will stick to making hand-forged bangjja spoons and chopsticks," he said.
Who is Kim Ki-chan?
Kim was born in 1962 in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. He moved to Wonju, Gangwon Province in 1967.
He is a sixth-generation bangjja maker, succeeding his father, Kim Yong-rak, who died in 2008. He began learning the skills from his father while in middle school.
Kim specializes in making bangjja spoons and chopsticks. He has also been collecting historical spoons and chopsticks. He has collected some 100 spoons and chopsticks from the Silla Kingdom to the Joseon Kingdom.
He wishes to have his own museum in which to display his bangjja and collection of ancient spoons and chopsticks.
He currently operates his workshop in Yanggu, Gangwon Province.
What is 'bangjja'?
"Bangjja" refers to handmade bronzeware with an alloy ratio of 78 percent copper to 22 percent tin. To make bangjja, the artisan shapes the metal and makes it more durable by pounding it more than 365 times with hammers, tempers and files.
Compared to "jumul" or bronze-casted ware, bangjja is durable and self-sterilizing.
Bangjja was popular up until the Japanese colonial era. After the Korean War (1950-1953), however, people began using briquettes to heat their houses, which produced toxic, black smoke that stained bangjja. Consequently, they began preferring stainless products to bangjja.
Nowadays, bangjja is becoming popular again as it is believed to be self-sterilizing.