'Ojuk': black bamboo craft

Choe Seon-hui shows how to make black bamboo craftwork in her workshop in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul

Artisan bridges tradition and modernity

By Chung Ah-young

GAPYEONG, Gyeonggi Province — Choe Seon-hui, a black bamboo or “ojuk” craftswoman, removes firewood around a heater in her vinyl, greenhouse-like workshop. She opened the workshop here as a makeshift studio in 2004 but still uses it more than 10 years later because she has nowhere else to go.

“This village is my hometown, but I don’t own any piece of land here. This workshop was built on the county’s public land. I thought I would be able to have my own space soon, but I am still using this unlikely workshop,” Choe said in an interview with The Korea Times.

She has been crafting black bamboo for about 30 years, after first learning it from master Yun Byeong-hun, Seoul’s Intangible Cultural Property No. 15 and the only one in the nation who possesses black bamboo crafting skills. She moved back to Gapyeong in 2004 after working as Yun’s apprentice for more than 17 years. She was Yun’s only student.

“When I started this job, both this craft and my teacher were unknown. I began my work without certainty, but I soon fell in love with these mysterious black bamboos,” she said.

Around that time, when Choe began her job in 1986, she couldn’t make any money. “I was poor then, and I didn’t put priority on earning money because I just like black bamboos. I still live in poverty today,” she said.

Despite her financial difficulties, Choe has never looked back, because she was drawn to the high level of concentration required in the art. “Once you start this craft, you will not be able to have even a single room. This art cannot be mastered if you are not fully committed,” she said.

For her decades of dedication to this traditional art, she was named a Korea Traditional Skills Transmitter by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea in 2009.

The artisan said after receiving the title, she became even more committed to the duty of keeping the tradition.

“Regardless of my earnings, I have taken pride in making this rare traditional artwork using the skills I learned from my teacher. My only goal is to transmit this art to others. I am very glad to have found my successor,” she said.

Choe has been training her apprentice, Kwon O-gul, as her successor for about five years. He voluntarily joined her workshop after quitting his job as a tutor at a “hakwon,” or an extracurricular private academy in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province. She said like her, he works long hours in her workshop, drawn by the high level of concentration required by the craft.

“I was not allowed to do other things besides this craft when I was my teacher’s apprentice. I continued to focus solely on the craft after that. It was tough because I didn’t earn money, but the hard training led me to become a master artisan. I also want Kwon to follow suit,” she said.

Choe said Kwon is training without pay to learn the crafting skills, from harvesting the bamboos to cutting the bamboo strips.

“Like other traditional crafts, this art involves a laborious and tough process. If an artisan is not ready for poverty and hardship, he or she cannot endure this entire process,” she said.

Tradition is a spirit not a skill

The artisan emphasized that apprenticeship is more important than other avenues of learning because it imparts to trainees not only the master’s skills but also his or her spirit.

“I learned precious values related to the traditional art through living and working with my teacher. He imparted to me traditional values, like masterful perseverance and endurance and the historical significance of black bamboos. These couldn’t be gained at a school or factory,” she said.

Choe said tradition is not handed down only through tangible properties but also through spiritual links.

“Heritage involves not only tangible properties but also our way of living and thinking,” she said.

In ancient times, black bamboo was regarded as a holy item for its rarity. Bamboo is one of the four auspicious symbols representing loyalty, along with the plum blossom, orchid and chrysanthemum.

Black bamboos have a dark tone that varies according to the direction of light. In the past, it was hard to obtain “ojuk,” so artisans dyed other types of bamboos with dark colors to make them look like black bamboo.

“There are few historical records about the ojuk craft because ojuk were so rare in ancient times. It was revived by my teacher’s hands. I need to hand down not only the methods but also the historical significance and the spirit to the next generation,” she said.

Bridging between tradition and modernity

Choe learned unique techniques from Yun, who specializes in what is called “descriptive geometry” design, which makes artworks look different in color, tone and pattern from different angles according to the direction of the light.

Like Yun, she also excels in this type of design, but she has also developed her own techniques. She earned two patents for her bamboo strip processing technique. The artisan has invented a method of bending bamboo strips to any side — either inside or outside of the strips — to create diverse patterns.

The artisan said she has developed new methods to bridge between tradition and modernity through her artwork. “I have not only preserved traditional skills but have also developed modern interpretations. I live in modern days and in a modern lifestyle, but my spirit lies in tradition,” she said.

Choe has attempted other modern adaptations of the bamboo craft, such as creating accessories and decorative items.

Who is Choe Seon-hui?

Choe Seon-hui was born in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province in 1965. She has been crafting black bamboos or “ojuk” for about 30 years since she began learning the craft in 1986 from master Yun Byeong-hun, Seoul’s Intangible Cultural Property No. 15 and the only one who possesses black bamboo crafting skills in the nation.

She worked as Yun’s apprentice for more than 17 years in Seoul and Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province and then moved back to Gapyeong in 2004. She was Yun’s only student.

She won the Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Award at the Korea Traditional Craft Arts Contest in 2008. Choe was also named a Korea Traditional Skills Transmitter by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea in 2009.

She currently runs her workshop in Gapyeong with her apprentice, Kwon O-gul, whom she has been training for more than five years.

What is ‘ojuk’?

“Ojuk” refers to black bamboo or Phyllostachys nigra, a type of bamboo that has a dark tone that varies according to the direction of light. It was regarded as a holy item for its rarity and is one of the four auspicious symbols representing loyalty, along with the plum blossom, orchid and chrysanthemum. Black bamboo was associated with many historical anecdotes that symbolized fidelity.

In the ancient times, it was hard to obtain “ojuk,” so artisans dyed other types of bamboos with dark colors to make them look like black bamboo.

The black bamboo boxes that carried ginseng were thought as the best gifts that the court could give to foreign dignitaries.

The ideal black bamboo should have been grown for at least five years and should have been dried for more than 10 years to prevent the craftwork from cracking.

The black bamboo craft involves making a variety of items, from chests and tables to bookshelves and accessories.