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Hot Dog!
It’s Summertime in Korea
FEATURE
By David Shaffer
WESTERN ASTROLOGY The “dog days of summer” is a familiar term that many of us quickly associate with the hottest and most humid period of the summer season. Fewer probably know that this period has traditionally referred to a specific span of time. According to Greek astrology, the dog days begin with the appearance of Sirius, the Dog Star, in the early morning sky and last until it is no longer visible. This year, that period is the 30 days from July 21 to August 19 according to Hellenistic stargazing; however, the dates and the length of the dog days vary in Western cultures: from 30 to 60 days and from early July to early September.
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July 2021
Now what is the association of the star Sirius and “dog”? The connection goes back to astrology: Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, and it can be found to the left of Orion’s belt. The constellation Orion is also known as “The Hunter,” and Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Major (aka “Greater Dog”), which is located to the lower left of Orion and appears as a dog might when following its master. Outside of ancient astrology, however, the dog days have been associated with a myriad of things disagreeable: heat, lethargy, fever, disease, drought, thunderstorms, mad dogs, and bad luck in general.
bok-nal, and Malbok (말복) is the last of the Korean dog days. The procedure for calculating when these three boknal occur is a bit complicated, as each involves a gyeong (경, 庚) day. The ten heavenly stems (천간) are involved in naming each day of the year. Gyeong is the seventh of the ten heavenly stems, so each tenth day is a gyeong day. Chobok occurs on the third gyeong day from Haji, the summer solstice (Haji is one of the 24 seasonal terms that the year is divided into). So, Chobok always occurs 20 to 29 days after the summer solstice/Haji. This year it falls on July 11. Jungbok is the following gyeong day, ten days after Chobok, so it falls on July 21 this year. Malbok is somewhat later; it is calculated as the first gyeong day after Ipchu (the “entrance of autumn,” another of the 24 seasonal terms). Since Ipchu falls on August 7 this year, Malbok is on August 10.
THE EASTERN TRADITION The Far East developed its own version of dog days: three hot days of summer, which were introduced to Korea from Qin China in the 3rd century B.C. The three days are known collectively as Sambok (삼복, 三伏). Interestingly, the character for bok has resemblances to the stellar imagery of Sirius and Orion: the bok character (伏) is made up of the radical for “person” on the left (인, 人) and the character for “dog” on the right (견, 犬) – a dog walking alongside its master. Korea has its own set of particular folk customs, foods, and foretellings associated with Sambok.
Why a gyeong day, you may ask. Why are all three of the bok-nal on gyeong days? Well, it has to do with the Five Elements (i.e., fire, water, wood, metal, earth). All gyeong days are associated with the element metal. As well, the summer season is associated with the fire element, and since metal is submissive to fire (i.e., fire melts metal), the three bok-nal are associated with an array of misfortune. Activities to be avoided on Chobok, Jungbok, and Malbok included the planting of crops, treating ailments, traveling, and even marriage.
Sambok is three bok days, each of which can be called a bok-nal (복날), but each also has its own name: Chobok (초복) is the first bok-nal, Jungbok (중복) is the middle
COOL SAMBOK CUSTOMS As with so many of the holidays of old Korea, the dog days had their associated customs, foods, and prophecies.
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