鬯

Ulchangju is a type of fragrant liquor made by brewing black millet and infusing it with turmeric fragrance. In ancestral rites, similar to how incense is used to summon heavenly spirits (청신, 請神), ulchangju—a strongly aromatic liquor—was poured onto the ground to call forth the earth spirits.

In ancestral rites, especially during the cheongsin (請神) phase (inviting the spirits), this strongly scented liquor was poured onto the ground, similar to how incense is burned to summon heavenly spirits. The scent of the ulchangju was believed to call forth earth spirits.

This character is a semantic compound formed by combining:

凵, representing a container or open vessel,

米, representing millet (a type of grain),

and 匕, representing a spoon or ladle used to scoop it out.

In Korean, the character's native name is sometimes rendered as “향풀 창” ("fragrant herb chang") or “울창주 창” ("ulchangju chang"), but the correct reading is “울창주 창.”

According to the Gukjo Oryeui (國朝五禮儀)—the official ritual manual of the Joseon Dynasty—ulchangju was exclusively used in royal ancestral rites at Jongmyo (the Royal Ancestral Shrine).

Even today, during the Jongmyo Jerye (종묘제례), ulchangju is used during the cheongsin ritual. There is a hole in the ground in front of the table that holds the spirit tablets (신위), and the liquor is poured into the hole in three separate portions.