Daeboreum's lesser-known traditions

Drawing water at a well in the late 19th century. Robert Neff Collection

• Published Feb 28, 2021 10:13 AM KST
• Updated Mar 5, 2021 9:05 PM KST

By Robert Neff

There are many traditions associated with Daeboreum including walking the bridges so that your legs will remain healthy, eating nuts to make your teeth healthy and prevent skin diseases, kite and stone battles ― tests of manhood and village pride ― and even the act of kindness by not feeding your dog so that it won't be bothered by flies during the summer. These are relatively well-known but here are some lesser-known traditions of the past.

As mentioned in yesterday's article, on the night of the first full moon, people in Seoul placed round pieces of red or white paper on their roofs to honor the moon and to seek good fortune, but in the countryside there were different traditions.

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, children in areas known for cotton cultivation would go into the mountains and gather sticks and branches which they would attach to their houses or walls and then adorn them with cotton balls. It was believed by doing this they could ensure that year's cotton crop would be bountiful.

Cotton plays a part in another tradition or superstition of this period. According to Korean folklorist Lee Dong-kwon, the sixteenth of the first lunar month was known as Magpie Day and cotton farmers would avoid working on this day in the belief that magpies would destroy their crop. However, cotton farmers were not the only ones who refrained from going out on this day. The sixteenth was also known as the Day of the Ghosts and anyone who left the sanctuary of their homes were in danger of being followed by wandering ghosts.

The fourteenth day of the first lunar month was especially busy and filled with taboos that guaranteed misfortune for those who unwisely chose to break them ― despite many of these traditions seemingly contradicting one another.

On the morning of the fourteenth and on the following day, kimchi was avoided but families would instead eat a dish made up of five grains which was believed to ensure prosperity and peace. People often invited their neighbors and relatives to come to their homes and partake of delicious delicacies. Some neighbors invited themselves in the belief that they could be guaranteed good luck in the coming year if they sampled the food of three different households with different surnames.

These meals, however, seem to contradict another belief. According to Lee, people were prohibited from taking grain from the household or giving it to others ― including, apparently, guests ― from the Lunar New Year to the fifteenth. Violating this tradition would bring ruin upon the household as the crops would be destroyed by animals and pests.

Another taboo on the fourteenth was water. No one shared their water with guests on this day because it would cause heavy flooding during the rainy season and damage the crops. “No one with any common sense would even consider asking for water” at another person's home on this day, declared Lee.

Even the members of the household had to be careful in regards to water. It was believed that, after sunset, if one drew water from a well it would influence the weather and cause flooding ― the only safe time to draw water was once the rooster crowed on the morning of the fifteenth. Once the rooster crowed it was a race to get to the well ― who ever managed to draw water first would have good luck throughout the year.

Luck wasn't always obtained through the generosity of others ― sometimes it had to be stolen. On the evening of the fourteenth, destitute people or those with bad luck would attempt to steal a handful of dirt from the gateway of a prosperous household. If they succeeded they would take the dirt to their own kitchen area and spread it about on the following morning thus giving them some of the prosperous household's luck. Of course, for the prosperous household it meant a loss of their own luck. It isn't surprising that some households set a guard before their main gate to ensure they kept their luck to themselves. This custom was said to be especially prevalent in Gyeonggi Province.

Folklorist Choi Sang-su believed that “in the old days people thought the earth was the source of rich crops and the gate earth was trodden by many people, so some unseen fortune might have been dropped there.”

In South Jeolla Province, in the evening, people swept their courtyards and in the center of it burned their trash ― if it burned well and with sharp crackling sounds, the barley harvest would be good.

On the morning of the fifteenth (which this year was on February 26), people made scarecrows and placed them upside down in the field. The farmers would then walk the perimeter of their fields with a pestle so that the banks of their paddies would not be destroyed during the rainy season.

According to Lee, small amounts of seed and grain (the crops of the field) were buried in each corner in the belief it would ensure a good harvest and the contents of the family's urine barrel was sprinkled upon the field in hopes of eradicating blight and insects.

In the evening of the fifteenth, people often gathered on the mountain to witness the first full moon and to send forth their prayers ― a rather brave act considering the number of tigers, leopards and wolves that once claimed the mountains as their domain. According to Lee, “children of the village schoolhouse would pray for better writing skills, and maidens would pray to be able to sew better. Each person prayed for his or her immediate desires, and the most popular wish was one for a good harvest.” The person who managed to spot the moon first was especially blessed.

Many of these traditions are no longer practiced; few people seem to have the interest or time to listen to the old tales and traditions of their grandparents and sadly they may soon be forgotten.

I would like to thank Diane Nars for kindly providing me the use of some of her images. For those interested in Korean folklore and traditions, I highly recommend Lee Dong-kwon's In Search of Korean Folklore.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books including, Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.