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Korea-Hanok-Jars-Kimchi-01.jpg · by Drab Makyo · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Tradition at the table

Why elders are served first, and why “family style” is the default.

The table is a social machine

Shared stews, shared banchan, individual rice. Pouring drinks for others, two hands for a pour from a junior — these are not Instagram props. They encode Confucian age hierarchy that still operates in offices and homes. Tourists are forgiven; repeating the gesture is noticed kindly.