Gangneung is a city of traditional arts where the culture of ancestor rites has grown and is still practiced today. Among them, Gangneung Danoje Festival has been listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and there are sixteen rites held by a number of Hyanggyo and Seowon (Confucian academies and shrines), in addition to the Neunghyang Jerye Rite for King Myeongju-gun of the Gangneung Kim Clan, Seokjeon Daeje Rite at Gangneung Hyanggyo Confucian School, Shin Saimdang Memorial Ceremony, and Yulgok Yi Yi Memorial Ceremony. And ritual food evolved with ancestral rites.

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  Yulgok Yi I Memorial Ceremony

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  Neunghyangje, Ritual King of Myeongju

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  Seokjeondaeje of Gangneunghyanggyo Local Confucian School

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  Gangneung Obong Seowon Ritual

Danoje, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, also features a food-sharing event among a variety of rituals and festivities.
The libations and surichwitteok (Synurus cakes) used in the ritual are produced with rice collected from and shared with all Gangneung citizens to wish for the happiness of the community.
Surichwitteok are rice cake slices created by crushing surichwi or mugwort and blending it with nonglutinous rice flour to make doughs, which are then molded to look like wagon wheels.
A widespread belief in Gangneung is that if you do not consume surichwitteok and libations on Dano, you will not have a good year.

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  Dano Surichi Tteok Sharing Event

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  Dano Surichi Tteok

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  Making Dano Shin-ju

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  Dano Shin-ju

Members of the Yerim Society, a women's club, have been directing the memorial service for Saimdang, upset by the fact that, despite an annual celebration for Yulgok Yi Yi being held, there was none for his mother.
It is the only female-led ancestral rite in Korea, and Yerim Society makes all ancestral food by hand, from libations to after-ritual meals.
Yerim Society gathers azaleas in spring and brews Dugyeonju wine with them to make libations, and pine needles from Gangneung's pine trees are added to make pine Dugyeonju.

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  Sjhinsaimdang Ritual and Ritual Food

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  Sjhinsaimdang Ritual and Ritual Food Lunch Box

The Yerim Association is in charge of all processes, including making Jeju, preparing for rituals, conducting rituals, and drinking.
It is very meaningful in that it is an event organized by women from the existing male-centered traditional Confucian ritual culture to preparation and rituals. Jeju uses dugyeonju made by picking azaleas grown in spring in the sea breeze, and yakgwa, dasik, jujube, dried persimmon, fish, sanjeok, jeon, rice cake, and Guazle are also made by members of the Yerimhoe.
Eumboksang is a different table setting from the ritual table, which is also very colorful, so it can be said that sharing Eumboksang and chatting together is the virtue of the Saimdang Memorial Festival. In 2022, when it was difficult to eat as a group due to COVID-19, homemade food and beverage lunch boxes were also produced.