Sacred Ritual

Once a year, a Korean noble family with over 600 years of recorded history performs an ancestral rite that begins at 1 a.m. Men of the Ryu lineage gather from across the country, dressed in traditional hanbok, and bow in synchronized sequence to honor their ancestors. The open front gate marks a symbolic passage for ancestral spirits to return and be welcomed as family.

What struck me most was not only the formality of the ritual, but its atmosphere—silence broken by footsteps, names spoken aloud, and the sense of time folding into a single moment. Guided by the firstborn heir, the ceremony continues until nearly 3 a.m., its repetition sustained by memory rather than instruction.