Traditional market as place of commuication

The cover of “Traditional Village Markets” (2015) by Jung Young-sin

By Bae Eun-joo

• Published Feb 13, 2015 5:05 PM KST
• Updated Feb 13, 2015 5:05 PM KST

By Bae Eun-joo

“Traditional Village Markets” (2015) by Jung Young-sin is a collection of essays and photographs on Korea’s traditional five-day markets (held every fifth day) across the nation. This is the third in a series of Jung’s books on such markets, following “Village Market Story” (2002) and “Traditional Village Markets” (2012).

Novelist and photographer Jung has visited more than 552 traditional markets nationwide over the last 30 years with her photographer husband Cho Moon-ho and has been a leading figure in a movement to revive the disappearing traditional markets. Traveling from the small town Geojin, Gangwon Province, across the sea to Mosseulpo, Jeju Island, the couple has been drawing a map to guide travelers to the remote corners of the nation.

Having been around for more than a century, the market is one of the most historical and oldest markets held on five days every month. The market originated at the end of the Joseon Kingdom (1932-1910) and served as a transaction point for businessmen and local residents as well as an exchange point.

Called “bobusang,”or bag merchants, vendors brought various products from across the country, including agricultural produce, hand-made goods, sea food and herbs to the five-day markets. During the Korean War (1950-53), the market was held near refugee camps. With the rapid modernization and industrialization of Korean society, the traditional market places were slowly overtaken by supermarkets and large-size shops in the 1970s.

“The five-day market in the past was a place for communication,” writes Jung in her book. “It was not merely a place to sell or buy. It was a gathering place, a plaza, a public place for local residents, villagers from near and far.”

Jung stresses that a conventional five-day market was a simple distribution system that provided the people with food and goods they needed for the next five days, unlike the large-size discount stores that overwhelm customers nowadays.

“People who come to the traditional village market are there not only to purchase. They all say with one voice that they are there because they miss other people,” she says. “This certainly differs from a department store or a grand-scale market.”

The book introduces some 50 traditional markets across Korea’s eight provinces, telling stories about the people the author met on her travels and their lives. A reflection of the changing society, the author says, it is common to find multicultural housewives or daughters-in-law selling home-grown vegetables or foreign immigrant workers buying goods at the traditional markets nowadays.

These are some of the five-day traditional markets introduced in the book.

Seongnam Moran Market

The most famous and biggest folk market is Moran Market located in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, Geonggi Province. Taking subway No. 8 line from downtown Seoul will lead the visitors to the nearest five-day traditional market which is held on the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th and 29th day of each month. Held on of 3,000 pyeong (9,917 square meters) of space, the market draws over 100,000 people from across the nation.

Built in 1962 on wasteland, Moran Market started to gain its reputation during the 1980s as “the traditional market within the city” due to its proximity to Seoul.

Jung writes about a 75-year-old woman surnamed Lee, who has been selling “jeon,” or Korean pancakes, at Moran Market for the last 35 years. Lee, like other vendors, prepares her food from 5 a.m. “I’ve been here so long, I may forget my hometown. Thirty-five years ago, I was a young mother and came here to feed my little children. Now I’m all grey-haired.”

Divided into 13 sections, Moran Market is easy to shop around. Besides seasonal delicacies, visitors will find an alley full of cooking oils, the best selling item at the market. “Sesame seed smells fill the air at the alley where 42 shops sell cooking oils. Sesame, perilla, pepper, safflower and many other kinds of oil are available. A stream of regulars have packed the oil section for the last 30 years,” Jung writes.

Seocheon Specialized Market

Seocheon Market in South Chungcheong Province sells regional specialties. Clothes made of Hansan ramie fabric; Hansan grain wine; sandeel fish sauce; bamboo salt; Soecheon rice; and Seocheon laver are some of the best-selling specialties at Seocheon Market. Another specialty, Seocheong “sogokju,” or traditional malt liquor produced in the region is made from sweet rice which has been fermented at least for 100 days.

“Over 1,500 years have passed since the Baekjae Kingdom (18 B.C.-660 A.D.) ruled this southwestern region. But still, you can smell the scent of its arts and culture here,” Jung writes.

At the end of the marketplace, there is a pet shop selling dogs, chickens and other house pets. Cho Sung-gu, 62, who came to buy a dog says a dog is a family member in this small town. “While the family goes out to work on the farm, the dog will watch the house.”

Strolling around the corners, Jung meets Lee Kil-hee, 82, an old lady vendor with her back bent down, who has been pushed around by other sellers. Finally, she finds her place at a little corner and opens up her wrapping cloth, which unveils as simple as a bag of bracken, three bundles of chives and three bottles of salted oysters. Lee tells Jung that it took her 30 minutes by bus to get here. As Jung dawdles about the petite vendor, Lee whines “It took me four days to pick the bracken. Look at my crooked back. Take pity for the old lady.” The author takes out a 10,000 won bill and asks for bracken. Lee smiles with her mouth wide open.

Over the last 30 years, the author has photographed and written about 552 traditional markets across the country. “To me the market is not the end. As long as the five-day market exists, I will keep on my journey. And at some point, I have noticed that my views have shifted from the market to the people. If you don’t know the people, you cannot contain their hearts or stories in your books,” Jung concludes. “The traditional market is where the human spirit comes alive, where hope still lives on.”