[Korean Traditional Utensils] Yukgi (유기) Unique to Korea: Its Origin?

Our traditional brassware is a brass bowl made by melting copper 78% and tin 22% at a high temperature of 1200~1300℃, which is the optimal alloy ratio. The history of brass in Korea has represented the culture of high-class tableware along with ceramics since the Bronze Age, the Three Kingdoms period, and the Joseon Dynasty. In particular, Anseong brassware has received the best reviews nationwide, as evidenced by the origin of the idiom ‘Anseong Matchum’ (meaning ‘perfectly suited’).

Brassware has the characteristic that if it comes into contact with pollutants such as carbon monoxide, toxic substances, or foreign substances harmful to the human body, the color of the surface of the container changes to purple within a short period of time. In other words, it is a material that serves as an indicator of sterilization and cleanliness. Since ancient times, it has been said that if a person using a brass bowl experiences health problems, the surface of the bowl that comes into contact with the body will react and change color. It is also said that brass bowls were used to disinfect and eliminate pests (leeches) to prevent them.

<Explanation of the origin of brassware from the Daegu Bangja Brassware Museum>

In Korea, brassware has been used since the Bronze Age, and the manufacturing technology of that time can be inferred from various bronze artifacts currently unearthed. Korea's Bronze Age culture appears to have been influenced by the northern ‘Ordos-Liaoning’ Bronze Age culture related to the Siberian ‘Minusinsk-Scythian’ Bronze Age culture. In the early Bronze Age, they manufactured daggers and rough mirrors, and in the later period, they independently cast slender daggers, achieving their heyday. They also manufactured various tools including fine mirrors, bells, and ritual vessels.

After that, during the Iron Age, bronze coexisted with iron for a while before gradually disappearing, and it began to develop again from the Three Kingdoms period. In the case of Baekje, the 『Nihon Shoki』 records that they transmitted smelting and crafting technology to Japan. A gilt-bronze large bowl unearthed from the head part of the queen's burial in the Muryeong Wangneung tomb (525) is a balwoo (a type of bowl) made of bronze. Also, according to the records of the 『Samguk Sagi』, it can be seen that Silla had an institution called Cheolyujeon since before King Gyeongdeok (742~765), which oversaw iron and brass. As such, the Three Kingdoms period and the Unified Silla period were times of groundbreaking advancement in terms of both materials and technology for metals. The outstanding manufacturing technology of that time can be seen in various Buddhist art pieces such as the Baekrat Temple Yaksa Buddha statue, the Sangwon Temple bell (725), and the Seongdeok King bell (771).

During the Goryeo Dynasty, they produced ‘Goryeo Copper’ with a beautiful color and traded it with China. Manufacturing technology also advanced, and they manufactured various items such as Buddhist statues and Buddhist utensils, daily necessities, movable type, and various types of military equipment such as firearms in the late period. The royalty and nobility also used thin and tough bronze tableware made with the hammering technique.

During the Joseon Dynasty, from the early period, the government actively engaged in mining, and according to the 『Gyeongguk Daejeon』, there are records that the government established 8 officials for brassware production for the central government, called ‘brass craftsman’, and 4 officials for the Sanguiwon (Royal Wardrobe Bureau) under the Gongjo (Ministry of Works), and also deployed a considerable number of external officials who manufactured brassware required by local governments. During the Joseon Dynasty, due to the influence of the policy of favoring Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism, there were not many gold and metal products with Buddhist characteristics, whereas many daily necessities and folk crafts with simple and modest shapes, such as tobacco pouches, braziers, incense burners, and food trays, were produced. Even though porcelain was used as tableware by the general public, brassware continued to be used as tableware by the upper class, following the Goryeo Dynasty, and was also used as daily utensils in middle-class and upper-class households, leading to its production across the country and the formation of markets.

In the late 19th century, almost all the brassware owned by households was plundered under the pretext of requisition by Japan. After liberation in 1945, brassware began to prosper again, but after the Korean War, with the use of briquettes, stainless steel tableware was preferred instead of brassware that was easily discolored by briquette gas, and brassware gradually disappeared. However, recently, it has been highlighted through various experiments that it has functions such as sterilization of O-157 bacteria and pesticide detection, and is currently being manufactured into tableware, musical instruments, religious articles, and various other daily necessities.

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