The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 20, 2024
Spirit House
late 1800s
(1392–1910)
Overall: 30 x 35 x 14 cm (11 13/16 x 13 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The belief in two types of souls, the spiritual and the corporeal, embodied the core concept of ancestor worship in traditional China and Korea. While the corporeal soul is believed to reside in the tomb, the spiritual soul, in the spirit house, like this example, guards his or her decedents.Description
Many homes in premodern Korean society had a memorial shrine for preparing and holding ancestral rites. Placed on the top of a tall chair, this miniature edifice (called the spirit house) served as a temporary residence for visiting ancestral spirits. On the table, a variety of delicacies such as fruits, rice, meat, and wine would be placed to treat those spiritual guests.- Deuchler, Martina. “Mourning and Funerary Rites.” In The Confucian Transformation of Korea (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press), 1992.Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
- {{cite web|title=Spirit House|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.120.1