Monday, March 28, 2011

week4, Yooran Kim, Chil-seok.

Chil-seok

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Yooran Kim

 

July 7th is called Chil(7)-seok(night) in Korea. Koreans hold this day on July 7th of lunar calendar. It usually rains on that day. This day is important for farmers to predict the good or bad harvest of that year's farming. Also, this day has a beautiful but sad love story descending from ancient times. Scholars guess that this love story has existed since the era of the Three States in Korea, and some scholars think that the story had derived from ancient China. I'd like to introduce you about this day and the story.

Kyun-woo, a shepherd boy in heaven, got married Jik-nyeo who was a grand daughter of the Great Jade Emperor. They were always idle even after they got marry and it made the Great Jade Emperor angry. He let Kyun-woo live in the east of the Milky way, and Jik-nyeo live in the west of the Milky way, so they can be separate. They missed each other so much, but had to live far away from each other with a big Milky way between them. Crows and magpies heard this sad story and decided to go up to the sky and be a bridge for them to meet each other. This legendary bridge is called 'Oh(crow)-jak(magpie)-gyo(bridge)'. The kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could walk on this oh-jak-gyo and meet each other on that day, but had to part and head home after night. That's why there are no crows and magpies on that day. People say sometimes few of them we can see are too sick to go up to the sky.

The crows and magpies get bald after this day and it drizzles around that day. That's because Kyun-woo and Jik-nyo have to step on birds' heads, and they have to wash off the dust of their wagon to be ready to go out. So, that water becomes rain to human world, and people call this rain 'se(wash)-cha(vehicle)-woo(rain)'. Also, if it rains at night on chil-seok day, people call it tears that Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo are crying because they're so happy to see each other. The rain at dawn the next day is considered as a sad parting tear.

This story is originated from natural phenomenon of Kyun-woo star and Jik-nyeo star which positioned across Milk way. The official name in astronomy of Kyun-woo star is 'Altair', and name of Jik-nyeo is 'Wega'. Each of them are located in the east and the west of the Milky way. These two stars show up on the western sky in the early autumn and on the eastern sky in the early spring. This ecliptic movement of two stars looks like they meet each other once in a year on the ceiling of the sky on July 7th.

July is the season that the heat wave is disappearing. So farmers could take a little break and performed a ceremony to heaven for a good harvest that year, and if it rains on July 7th, people thought Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could meet and they would help people to have a bumper year. July, after the heat wave, women prayed to Jik-nyeo for a better sewing skill, and every house put their clothes and books that were damp during the summer to dry them out. Basically, Koreans' chil-seok was the day for people to take a little break from hard farming and reorganize their households. It is so astonishing that our ancestors had an annual season for them to catch a breath which was called with a beautiful love story of Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo.

 

 

3 comments:

  1. yooran,
    thank you for introducing kyonwoo-jiknyeo story.
    I was happy to know the meaning of chilseok. Of course I knew the story of two but I did not know it was meant to take a little break from hard farming. What a clever ancestors!
    It seems you tried to explain us the story and meaning of chilseok. It was good. However, I was concerned because it is little different from ordinary process analysis essay. It seems that it was concentrated the origin of the chilseok rather than process of it. Well, I am sorry if I did not understand your intention.
    I hope to see more logical sequences in your writing. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. final draft of Chilseok : Part 1

    July 7th is called Chil-seok(seventh night) in Korea. Koreans hold this day on July 7th of lunar calendar. It usually rains on that day. This day is important for farmers to predict the good or bad harvest of that year’s farming. Also, this day is connected to a beautiful but sad love story descending from ancient times. Scholars guess that this love story has existed since the era of the Three States in Korea, and some scholars think that the story had derived from ancient China. I’d like to introduce you about this day and the story in sequence.
    Kyun-woo, a shepherd boy in heaven, got married to Jik-nyeo who was a grand daughter of the Great Jade Emperor. They were always idle even after they got married and it made the Great Jade Emperor angry. He let Kyun-woo live in the east of the Milky Way, and Jik-nyeo live in the west of the Milky Way, so they can be separate. They missed each other so much, but had to live far away from each other with a big Milky way between them. Crows and magpies heard this sad story and decided to go up to the sky and be a bridge for them to meet each other. This legendary bridge is called ‘Oh-jak-gyo(crow magpie bridge)’. The kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could walk on this Oh-jak-gyo and meet each other on that day, but had to part and head home after night. That’s why there are no crows and magpies on that day. People say sometimes a few of them we can see are too sick to go up to the sky.

    ReplyDelete
  3. final draft of Chilseok : Part 2

    The crows and magpies got bald after this day and it drizzles around that day. That’s because Kyun-woo and Jik-nyo have to step on birds’ heads, and they have to wash off the dust of their wagon to be ready to go out. So, that water becomes rain to human world, and people call this rain ‘Se-cha-woo(vehicle washing rain)’. Also, if it rains at night on Chil-seok day, people call it tears that Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo are crying because they’re so happy to see each other. The rain at dawn the next day is considered as a sad parting tear.
    This story is originated from natural phenomenon of Kyun-woo star and Jik-nyeo star which positioned across Milk Way. The official name in astronomy of Kyun-woo star is ‘Altair’, and name of Jik-nyeo is ‘Wega’. Each of them is located in the east and the west of the Milky Way. One of these two stars shows up on the western sky in the early autumn and the other shows up on the eastern sky in the early spring. This ecliptic movement of two stars looks like they meet each other once in a year on the ceiling of the sky on July 7th.
    July is the season that the heat wave is disappearing. So farmers could take a little break and performed a ceremony to heaven for a good harvest that year, and if it rains on July 7th, people thought Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could meet and they would help people to have a bumper year. July, after the heat wave, women prayed to Jik-nyeo for a better sewing skill, and every house put their clothes and books that were damp during the summer to dry them out. Basically, Koreans’ Chil-seok was the day for people to take a little break from hard farming and reorganize their households. It is so astonishing that our ancestors had an annual season for them to catch a breath that was called with a beautiful love story of Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo.

    ReplyDelete