How many spirit foods are there?

In an earlier post, here, I talked about 영지(靈芝), the "spirit mushroom." Then a couple of days ago I noticed there was another "spirit" food mentioned in the story below. The food is 영애(靈艾), which literally means "spirit mugwort." 영(靈) means "spirit," and 애(艾) means "mugwort," which in pure Korean is 쑥.

In the story, a bear and tiger go to 신웅(神雄) and tell him they want to become human beings. One day 신웅 gives them a bunch of 영애(靈艾), "spiritual mugwort," and 20 cloves of garlic and tells them that if they stay out of the sunlight for 100 days and eat only the mugwort and garlic, they will become human beings. The bear and tiger take the mugwort and garlic and go into their cave.

After thirty-seven days in the cave, eating only the mugwort and garlic, the tiger gives up and leaves the cave, but the bear stays and eventually changes into a woman. The woman is called 웅녀(熊女), which means "bear woman." Apparently, there are no men around who want to marry a "bear woman," so 웅녀 frequently goes and prays under the sacred tree (神檀樹) that marks the spot where 환웅(桓雄) first came down from heaven. She prays that she will become pregnant. Hearing her prayers, 환웅 changes into human form and marries her. She gets pregnant and gives birth to a son called King Tangun (단군왕검: 檀君王儉).

I copied the Korean and Chinese below from another site. I made a few changes by trying to match up the Chinese with the different parts of the Korean translation. While doing that, I noticed that the Chinese said that the tiger left the cave after 37 days, but the translation said that it was 21 days. I just left the translation as it was in case there is some calculation I do not know about.

By the way, I wonder why the character for bear (熊) has fire (灬) under it? I have also noticed that there is fire (灬) under the character for fish (魚). Anyway, here is the story in Korean and Chinese:

Korean Translation

이때 곰 한 마리와 호랑이 한 마리가(時有一熊一虎) 같은 굴속에 살고 있었는데 (同穴而居), 항상 신웅에게 사람이 되기를 원하였다(常祈于神雄 願化爲人) . 이때 신웅이 신령스런 쑥 한 다발과 마늘 20개를 주면서 말하기를(時神遺靈艾一炷 蒜二十校曰) "너희는 이것을 먹되 햇빛을 100일 동안 보지 않으면 사람의 형상이 되리라" 하였다 (爾輩食之 不見日光百日 便得人形). 곰과 호랑이는 그걸 얻어먹으면서 21일 동안 금기하였는데, 금기를 잘 지킨 곰은 여자의 몸으로 변하고, 호랑이는 금기를 지키지 못하여 사람이 되지 못했다 (熊虎得以食之 忌三七日 熊得女身 虎不能忌 而不得人身). 웅녀가 혼인할 상대가 없었기 때문에 매양 신단수아래에서 잉태하기를 빌자 (熊女者無與爲婚 故每於檀樹下呪願有孕), 환웅은 이에 잠깐 사람으로 변신해 그녀와 혼인하여 아들을 낳으니, 단군왕검이라 불렀다 (雄乃假化而婚之 孕生子 號曰壇君王儉).

Original Chinese

時有一熊一虎 同穴而居 常祈于神雄 願化爲人 時神遺靈艾一炷 蒜二十校曰 爾輩食之 不見日光百日 便得人形 熊虎得以食之 忌三七日 熊得女身 虎不能忌 而不得人身 熊女者無與爲婚 故每於檀樹下呪願有孕 雄乃假化而婚之 孕生子 號曰壇君王儉

Was 환웅(桓雄) illegitiment?

환인(桓因) was the father of 환웅(桓雄), who was the father to 단군(檀君), who was the founding father of the Korean nation. According to the 삼국유사(三國遺事), 환웅 was the "son of a concubine," which in Korean is 서자(庶子).

I do not mean to imply anything by this post. I just found it interesting for some reason. By the way, the literal meaning of 단군(檀君) is "The Birch Tree King." I also find it interesting that the 환(桓) in 환인 and 환웅 also has the tree character (木) in it.

Here is a link to a page on Buddhist art. I go to the page just to listen to the background music. It is very relaxing.

In regard to 서자(庶子), here is where it appears in the 삼국유사:

고조선(古朝鮮)

魏書에는 지금부터 2,000년 전에 단군왕검이란 분이 있어 아사달(阿斯達:經에는 無葉山이라 하고 혹은 白岳이라고도 하였는데, 白州 땅에 있다고 하였다. 혹은 개성 동쪽에 있다 하였으니 지금의 白岳宮이 이것이라 한다)에 도읍을 정하고 나라를 열어 조선이라고 부르니, 요(堯) 임금과 같은 때라고 하였다. 고기에는 이렇게 적혀 있다. 옛날 환인(桓因:帝釋을 말한다)이 있었는데, 그 서자(庶子) 환웅(桓雄)이 자주 천하에 뜻을 두고 인간 세상을 욕심 내었다. 아버지가 아들의 뜻을 알고는 삼위(三危) 태백(太白)을 내려다보니 모두 가히 인간을 이롭게 할 만한지라, 이에 천부인(天符印) 3개를 주어 가서 다스리게 하였다. 환웅이 무리 3,000명을 거느리고 태백산 꼭대기(태백산은 지금의 묘향산이다) 신단수(神檀樹) 아래에 내려와 이곳을 신시(神市)라 일컬으니 이분이 환웅천왕이다. 풍백(風佰), 우사(雨師), 운사(雲師)를 거느리고 곡식, 명, 질병, 형벌, 선악 등 인간 세상의 360여 가지 일을 주관하게 하여 세상을 다스리도록 하였다. 이때 곰 한 마리와 호랑이 한 마리가 같은 굴속에 살고 있었는데, 항상 신웅(神雄)에게 사람이 되기를 원하였다. 이때 신웅이 신령스런 쑥 한 다발과 마늘 20개를 주면서 말하기를 "너희는 이것을 먹되 햇빛을 100일 동안 보지 않으면 사람의 형상이 되리라" 하였다. 곰과 호랑이는 그걸 얻어먹으면서 21일 동안 금기하였는데, 금기를 잘 지킨 곰은 여자의 몸으로 변하고, 호랑이는 금기를 지키지 못하여 사람이 되지 못했다. 웅녀(熊女)가 혼인할 상대가 없었기 때문에 매양 신단수(神檀樹) 아래에서 잉태하기를 빌자, 환웅은 이에 잠깐 사람으로 변신해 그녀와 혼인하여 아들을 낳으니, 단군왕검(檀君王儉)이라 불렀다. 단군왕검이 당요(唐堯)가 즉위한 지 50년이 되는 경인년(당요가 즉위한 원년이 무진년이니 50년은 경인년이 아니라 정사년이므로 아마 사실이 아닌 듯하다)에 평양성(지금의 서경이다)에 도읍하고 비로소 조선이라 불렀다. 다시 도읍을 아사달(阿斯達)로 옮겼는데, 그 곳을 궁골산(弓忽山:弓이 어떤 데서는 方으로 적혀 있다) 혹은 지금의 미달(彌達)이라고도 하니 나라를 다스린 지 1,500년이었다. 주(周) 무왕(武王) 즉위 기묘년에 기자(箕子)를 조선에 봉하니, 단군(檀君)이 장당경(藏唐京)으로 옮겼고, 그 후 아사달로 돌아와 은거해 산신(山神)이 되었는데 나이 1,908세였다. 당나라 배구전에는 "고구려는 본래 고죽국(孤竹國:지금의 해주이다)이었는데, 주나라에서 기자를 봉해 조선이 되었고, 한나라가 3군으로 나누어 다스렸으니 현도(玄菟), 나라(樂浪), 대방(帶方:北帶方이다)이다."하였고, 통전(通典)에도 역시 이런 말이 있다.(漢書에는 진번, 임둔, 나라, 현도 4군으로 적혀 있는데, 여기서는 3군이라 하였고 이름도 같지 않는 것은 무엇 때문일까?)

魏書云 乃往二千載有壇君王儉 立都阿斯達(經云無葉山 亦云白岳 在白州地 或云在開城東 今白岳宮是) 開國號朝鮮 與高同時 古記云 昔有桓國(謂帝釋也) 庶子桓雄 數意天下 貪求人世 父知子意 下視三危太白可以弘益人間 乃受天三印三箇 遣往理之 雄率徒三千 降於太白山頂(卽太白今妙香山)神檀樹下 謂之神市 是謂桓雄天王也 將風伯雨師雲師 而主穀主命主病主刑主善惡 凡主人間三百六十餘事 在世理化 時有一熊一虎 同穴而居 常祈于神雄 願化爲人 時神遺靈艾一炷 蒜二十校曰 爾輩食之 不見日光百日 便得人形 熊虎得以食之 忌三七日 熊得女身 虎不能忌 而不得人身 熊女者無與爲婚 故每於檀樹下呪願有孕 雄乃假化而婚之 孕生子 號曰壇君王儉 以唐高卽位五十年庚寅(唐高卽位元年戊辰 則五十年丁巳 非庚寅也 疑其未實) 都平壤城(今西京) 始稱朝鮮 又移都於白岳山阿斯達 又名弓(一作方)忽山 又今彌達山 御國一千五百年 周虎王卽位己卯封箕子於朝鮮 壇君乃移於藏唐經 後還隱於阿斯達 爲山神 壽一千九百八歲 唐裵矩傳云 高麗本高竹國(今海州) 周以封箕子爲朝鮮 漢分治三郡 謂玄菟樂浪大方(北大方) 通傳亦同此說(漢書則眞臨樂玄四郡 今云三郡何耶)

Here is the link to the above text.

Did everyone understand my 의자 riddle?

About a month ago I posted a little riddle here. I am wondering if anyone figured it out since there were no comments about it. Anyway, here is what I was hinting at:

In Korean, the word "chair" is 의자(椅子). The Chinese character 椅(의) means 의나무 or 이나무, which is a tree with the Latin name of "Idesia Polycarpa Maxim." Here is another link. The Chinese character 子(자) means "son." Therefore, 의자 literally means "son of Idesia Polycarpa Maxim."

Why 월계수 instead of 계수?

Today, while reading a story about the Olympics ("올림픽 이야기") on the Korean Lab Web site, I came across the word 월계관, which was the laurel crown traditionally given the the winners of the Olympic games. I looked up the word and found that it was made from a "bay tree," which is a broadleaf (활엽수) evergreen (상록수) that grows in the southern part of Europe and along the Mediterranean coast. In Korean, a bay tree is called a 월계수(月桂樹), which is why a "laurel crown" in Korean is called a 월계관(月桂冠). 관(冠) means "hat" or "crown."

Here are the individual Chinese characters for 월계수(月桂樹):

• 月(월) moon
• 桂(계) a Katsura tree
• 樹(수) tree

As you can see from the Chinese characters above, the literally meaning of a 월계수 is "the moon Katsura tree," which makes this word a little strange. Why call it a "moon Katsura tree" instead of just a "Katsura tree" (계수나무)?

There is a Korean story that talks about the moon, rabbits, "the elixir of life," and a Katsura tree. Here is a link to the Korean story, and below is my translation:

Rabbits Pounding Out the Elixir of Life

Longer than a long time ago, God lived in the broad sky and ruled the heavens. The grandfather of Tangun, the founder of our country, is this very same God. In the heaven that God ruled there was a wonderful medicine called 불사약 (elixir of life). If you took this medicine one time, you would feel happy for one month. If you took it two times, you would not get sick. And it you took it three times, you would never grow old and would stay young.

One day the elixir of life was stolen, and God contemplated agonizingly, "How can I prevent further thief and safely produce the elixir of life?" Finally, he decided that it would have to be produced it in a place that no one could go.

"Where would be a good place? Of course, it could be produced on the bright moon, at night when everyone is sleeping. But who should I send to make it? I could send rabbits. Rabbits are not lazy and would work hard to make the elixir."

After deciding on his plan, God sent rabbits to the moon, together with a wonderful mortar to make the elixir of life. The rabbits really did work hard pounding and making the elixir. God caused a huge Katsura tree to grow, so that the hard working rabbits could pound out the elixir of life under the shade of the tree.

Look up at the moon one time. Can you find the rabbits pounding the motar under the Katsura tree? You are not sure?

My question is this: Why is the tree in the Mediterranean called a "moon Katsura tree," but the tree in the Korean story is called just a "Katsura tree"? It seems like the names should be reversed? Maybe because Koreans learned of the tree in the Mediterranean later and could not give it the same name as the tree in the story since they are different trees?

Here is a link to a picture of the rabbits working on the moon under what is supposed to be a Katsura tree.

Has anyone read "나무를 심은 사람"?

Here is a link to an English translation of Jean Giono's story, "The Man Who Planted Trees," and here is a link to a Korean translation. And here is a link to a Korean-narrated video of the story, which is great. The Korean video translation is different from the Korean written translation I linked to, but you can still follow the story, which is quite moving.

By the way, the Ulysses' Gaze (율리시스의 시선) site has got a lot of great stuff on it.

Do the Chinese offer us any good rules to live by?

Yes, of course, many; in fact, here are two Chinese sayings that I take especially to heart:

瓜田不納履(과전불납리)
Don't adjust your shoe in a cucumber patch.

and

李下不整冠(이하부정관)
Don't adjust your horsehair hat under a plum tree.

Both expressions suggest that you avoid doing things that may cause unnecessary suspicion. If you bend down to adjust your shoe in a cucumber patch, the farmer may think you are stealing a cucumber, and if you adjust your horsehair hat under a plum tree, the farmer may think you are stealing a plum. That is why I never adjust my shoe in a cucumber patch, nor even touch my horsehair hat under a plum tree.

Is there anything better than a tree song?

How many Korean tree names do you know? How can anyone remember them all? Maybe, by learning a song?

"나무노래"------Click to hear song

가자가자 갓나무 오자오자 옻나무
가다보니 가닥나무 오자마자 가래나무
한자 두자 잣나무 다섯 동강 오동나무
십리 절반 오리나무 서울 가는 배나무

너하구 나하구 살구나무 아이 업은 자작나무
앵도라진 앵두나무 우물가에 물푸레나무
낮에 봐도 밤나무 불 밝혀라 등나무
목에 걸려 가시나무 기운 없다 피나무

꿩의 사촌 닥나무 텀벙텀벙 물오리나무
그렇다고 치자나무 깔고 앉아 구기자나무
이놈 대끼놈 대나무 거짓말 못해 참나무
빠르구나 화살나무 바람 솔솔 솔나무

(Lyrics by ?; Music by 백창우; Singer: 김현성)

I cannot find any trees named 갓나무 or 가닥나무, but I think 갓나무 may be 감나무. If twenty-two trees is not enough for you, here is another song. There is no music that goes with it, but you should know the tune by now:

[일백목송(一百木頌) Hundred Trees Song
작자:보칠산 김신선(ID:sevensan)

십리절반 오리나무---- 한치라도 백자나무
소년시절 영감나무--- 열아홉에 스무나무
둘이라도 삼나무----- 늙었어도 애나무
사시사철 사철나무---- 셈잘한다 계수나무
대낮에도 밤나무------ 쿨쿨잔다 잣나무
밤낮없이 자두나무---- 깨자마자 졸참나무
앞인데도 등나무------ 뒤인데도 배나무
새거라도 더덕나무---- 어두워도 박달나무
삐까번쩍 광나무------ 시뻘겋다 녹나무
목에걸려 가시나무---- 칼로베어 피나무
입었어도 벚나무------ 죽어서도 살구나무
와들와들 떨기나무---- 부들부들 사시나무
망했구나 작살나무---- 조졌구나 개피나무
어서가자 갓나무야---- 다시오자 옻나무
가다보니 가닥나무---- 오다보니 오동나무
다갔는데 오구나무---- 오자마자 가래나무
쉬자마자 갈참나무---- 다리절뚝 전나무
껍질벗겨 가죽나무---- 새신사서 신갈나무
오줌싸고 쉬나무------ 방귀뀌어 뽕나무
대끼놈아 대나무------ 화가나도 참나무
앵돌아져 앵도나무---- 미안허다 사과나무
두손싹싹 비자나무---- 잘못했다 참회나무
용서해라 아그배나무-- 그렇다고 치자나무
농부들아 가문비나무-- 경읽어라 소귀나무
냄새난다 노린재나무--냄새좋다 향나무
더럽구나 쥐똥나무---- 불싸질러 검은재나무
꿩대신에 닥나무요---- 염소사촌 백양나무
홀애비야 각시그령나무 손목쥐어 쥐엄나무
입맞추자 쪽나무------ 약올리자 조롱나무
열매없다 무화과나무-- 경계있다 분단나무
얇다해도 후박나무---- 승패없이 순빅나무
활짝펴도 구기자나무-- 풀었어도 매자나무
바로서도 물구나무---- 내가써도 복사나무
한푼두푼 돈나무도---- 목돈되네 은행나무
먹기싫다 조팝나무---- 먹고보자 이팝나무
말아먹자 국수나무---- 갈라먹자 떡갈나무
시금털털 신나무------ 앗쓰거라 소태나무
긴털잘라 털댕강나무--민둥민둥 중대가리나무
병신이다 팔손이나무--등신이네 한다리나무
튼튼하냐 무환자나무-- 괴롭구나 고로쇠나무
춤이라도 추자나무---- 노래불러 소리나무
둥기둥둥 장구방나무-- 덩기덩덩 장구채나무
여기봐라 주목나무---- 반말찍찍 야자나무
한번쏘자 화살나무---- 빵빵쏜다 딱총나무
애기깰라 자작나무---- 젖먹여라 수유나무
잘도큰다 꿈나무------ 빵긋빵긋 함박나무
정도많다 다정큼나무-- 사귑시다 아가시나무
요리조리 박쥐나무---- 네가해라 미루나무
잉잉엉엉 때죽나무---- 하하호호 빗죽나무
잘그린다 회화나무---- 크긴크다 말좆나무

There are many interesting verses in the above song. Some verses refer to things I have talked about on this blog, such as the verse for 회화나무, which means "pagoda tree," but which the verse suggests means the "picture tree." I talked about 회화(繪畵) here. Some of the verses are a little crude, but funny, such as the verse, 크긴크다 말좆나무 (It's really big, the horse ***** tree.) I was not able to find a picture of a 말좆나무, and maybe that is a good thing.

Some Links:

National Science Museum Dictionary
Forest Korea
Korean Lab: "나무 노래"
Article that Mentions the "나무 노래"

What does 언중유골(言中有骨) really mean?

언중유골(言中有骨) is used to refer to language that contains an implied or hidden meaning, which is usually sarcastic or critical. The literal meaning is "There is a bone in the middle of the words." Here are the individual characters:

• 言(언) speech
• 中(중) middle
• 有(유) exist
• 骨(골) bone

Since first learning this saying, I had always been curious about the expression 有骨(유골). I had always wondered why there was a "bone" in the words, and not something else? Well, today I came across another expression that also has 有骨(유골) in it, and now I think I understand its real meaning.

Today I came across the saying 鷄卵有骨(계란유골), which literally means, "There is a bone in the egg." The expression is used to refer to an event where the luck of a normally unlucky person seems to be changing, but ends up being a continuation of the same bad luck. Here is the story behind the expression:

황희(黃喜) was a Choseon Dynasty prime minister during King Sejong's reign. He lived an honest and simple life, and was very poor. The roof of his house leaked, and he had only one set of court robes.

King Sejong felt sorry for 황희 and decided one day to help him. The king told him that he could go to South Gate market the next day and buy for himself all the goods that came in that day. Unfortunately, there was a big rain storm all day the next day and no merchants came to the market, except one old man carrying a bundle of eggs. 황희 bought the eggs and carried them back home. Later when he tried to cook the eggs, he discovered that they were all rotten.

In Korean, a rotten egg is called 곯은 달걀, and according to this site, because 곯 and 골(骨) have the same sound, Koreans used the Chinese character 골(骨) to represent 곯 in writting. Therefore, 鷄卵有骨(계란유골) actually means, "The eggs are rotten."

If 유골(有骨) means "rotten," then the intended meaning of 언중유골(言中有骨) would be, "Among the words, some are rotten."

Where is the 3-fields "田田田" character?

This morning I came across the Chinese character 疊(첩), which means "to pile up" or "to stack." I wanted to understand the character better by breaking it down into its component parts, but I had trouble finding one of the parts.

I found the bottom part of the character. It is 宜(의), and it means "appropriate" or "suitable." However, I could not find the top part of the character, which is three 田(전) characters stacked in a pyramid. Finally, I looked up 疊(첩) is my Chinese character dictionary and found a comment that said that the three fields (田) on top of 疊(첩) was a mistake, and that the original character was written with "three suns." That means the character on top was originally 晶(정), which means, appropriately enough, "bright."

Sometime in the past 疊 was written incorrectly, but I guess they did not find the mistake until it was too late.

疊

What is the difference between 야심 & 심야?

Please consider this post a 1-man rambling session.

야(夜) means "night," and 심(深) means "deep." That means 야(夜) is a noun, and 심(深) is an adjective. My dictionary says that 야심하다 means "late at night," and 심야 means "the dead of night" or "the middle of the night." Both words seem to mean about the same thing in English, but notice that 하다 is attached to 야심, but not to 심야. Maybe that is because 야심 is a "noun-adjective" combination, but 심야 is an "adjective-noun" combination?

As I mentioned above, 야(夜) is a noun, and 심(深) is an adjective. When the noun comes before the adjective in Chinese writing (한문: 漢文), that usually means that the noun is acting as the subject of the sentence, and the adjective is acting as the predicate. Since 야(夜) is the noun and 심(深) is the adjective, 야심(夜深) means "The night is deep." In the case of 심야(深夜), the adjective comes before the noun, which means that the adjective is just describing the noun, so 심야(深夜) means "deep night." That would imply that 야심 is a sentence, but 심야 is just a modified noun. Maybe Koreans added 하다 to 야심 to show that it is a complete sentence in Korean? Therefore, 야심하다 means "The night is deep." To make 심야 into a complete sentence in Korean, they would have to add 이다. 심야(深夜)이다 would mean "It is a deep night."

I just came across the word 개화(開花)하다, which meaning "blooming" or "bursting into bloom." 개(開) means "to open," and 화(花) means "flower," which means 개화 literally translates as "open flower." My Korean-Korean dictionary says that 개화 means "꽃이 핌," which I would probably translate as "the blooming of a flower." That means that if you add 하다 to 개화, the meaning would be "do the blooming of the flower," which seems possible. However, instead of "꽃이 핌," I would have thought 개화 would mean 핀꽃 or 피어난 꽃. To get the meaning of "꽃이 핌," it seems like the character order should be 화개, instead of 개화.

Anyway, I had to go back and rewrite this whole post because it was just a bunch of virile male cow excrement.

What character sounds are lonely?

Today when I was looking at the Chinese character 墨(묵), which means "ink stick." I noticed that it is a combination of 黑(흑), which means "black", and 土(토), which means "dirt." Therefore, 墨(묵) literally means "black dirt." When I looked up 黑(흑) on the Naver Chinese Character dictionary, I noticed that there was only one Chinese character under the sound "흑." That made me wonder how many other sounds listed only one Chinese character. Ignoring characters that are not among the 3,500 useful characters recommended by the Korean government, here is what I found:

• 갹: 醵 a drinking party
• 귤: 橘 tangerine
• 긴: 緊 tense; taut; rigid
• 김: 金 a surname
• 끽: 喫 to drink; to eat
• 녀: 女 female; daughter; you
• 논: 論 discuss; debate
• 득: 得 to have; to possess; to obtain
• 랭: 冷 cold; chilly
• 론: 論 discuss; debate
• 룡: 龍 dragon
• 륭: 隆 to raise; high
• 름: 凜 cold; gallant; brave
• 몌: 袂 sleeve
• 본: 本 foundation
• 북: 北 north
• 솔: 率 to lead
• 쇠: 衰 become weak
• 숭: 崇 high
• 쌍: 雙 pair
• 씨: 氏 surname; clan name; Mr.
• 엔: 円 Japanese currency unit
• 왈: 曰 say; tell
• 을: 乙 bird; second
• 잡: 雜 varied; mixed
• 죄: 罪 crime
• 즐: 櫛 comb
• 층: 層 level; story; layer
• 친: 親: intimate; related; parents
• 칩: 蟄 hide; gather
• 쾌: 快 happy; cheerful; agreeable; quick
• 탱: 撑 resist; push aside
• 터: 攄 spread out; unfold; scatter
• 퍅: 愎 eccentric; fussy
• 폄: 貶 drop; lessen; belittle
• 헐: 歇 breathe; use up
• 혐: 嫌 to dislike; to be suspicious of
• 흑: 黑 black; dark
• 흥: 興 arise; raise up; start; enjoy

Why are 2 characters needed for 1 word?

Yesterday, I was reading an article and came across the word 회화(繪畵), which means "picture." I knew that 畵(화) meant "picture," but I was not sure what 繪(회) meant, even though I had come across it a couple of weeks ago when I was writing a post on 膾(회), which means "raw meat" or "raw fish." Anyway, I looked up 繪(회) and found that it also means "picture." When I saw that, I could not understand why two "picture" characters were needed to make the word for "picture." Why not just use one of the two? Still curious this evening, I decided to check a book on Chinese writing (한문) that I had, but had not read. I think I may have found the answer, even though I have only read just a few pages.

Besides meaning "picture," 繪(회) also means "to draw" or "to paint." In fact, 畵(화) also has both meanings. In other words, 繪(회) can function as both a noun and a verb. In the case of 繪畵(회화), I think the literal meaing is "그린 그림," which means "a drawn picture." Since that is redundant, we just say 그림(picture). We do not know if it is "ink drawing," 묵화(墨畵), or a "colored picture," 채색화(彩色畵); we just know that it is a "drawing" or "picture." In other words, the word seems fairly generic.

I am only guessing at the above, so if anyone would like to correct me, please feel free. In fact, I would appreciate it.

What do I consider treasure?

I consider links like this a treasure for those people studying the Korean language because it breaks up the language into both grade level and subject area. Unfortunately, the mean people at Encyber 교육과정분류 require registration and a Korean national ID number (주민등록증 번호). Nevertheless, you can still get vocabulary from it and links to pictures such as these:

• Animals
• Birds
• Butterflies
• Cactus
• Deer
• Fish
• Flowers
• Fruit
• Insects
• Leaves
• Minerals
• Mammals
• Monkeys
• National Treasures
• Plants
• Reptiles
• Rocks
• Roots
• Stems
• Vegetables

What does 화훼(花卉) mean?

화훼(花卉) means "a flowering plant." 화(花) means "flower," and 훼(卉) means "plant."

The word 화훼(花卉) seems a little strange to me because of the Chinese character 卉, whose radical is 십(十), not 초(艸). The radical 艸 means "grass" or "plant" and is usually used with characters that refer to grass, plants, and flowers, usually in its simplified form, which is 艹. Notice that even 화(花), the character for flower, uses 艹. So isn't it strange that a Chinese character that means "plant" does not use the radical for "plant"? However, even though 艹 is not used as the radical for 卉, it looks like it is being used as the bottom part of the character, which means the literal meaning of the character is "ten plants," or "many plants."

Another thing that bothers me about 卉 is its pronunciation, "훼," which is relatively uncommon in Korean. About the only time I can remember seeing 훼 is when it represents the Chinese character 毁, which means "to destroy," "to slander," "to pine away," "to cause injury," and "to kill off." Here are some words that begin with 훼.

• 훼기(毁棄) 하다 to demolish
• 훼단(毁短) 하다 to use a person's weak point to criticize him or her
• 훼방(毁謗) 하다 to interrupt; to slander
• 훼상(毁傷) 하다 to injure; wound
• 훼손(毁損) 하다 damage; injure, impair; spoil
• 훼예(毁譽) praise and [or] criticism
• 훼절(毁節) 하다 betray

What is the mushroom of the immortals (신선)?

The mushroom eaten by the immortals is, of course, the 영지(靈芝), which literally translates as the "spirit mushroom." 영(靈) means "spirit," and 지(芝) means "mushroom."

The 영지 is part of the Ganoderma family of mushrooms, which in Korean is 불로초과, the "family of eternal herbs." We have all heard of 불로초, right? By the way, if you need a good mushroom dictionary, there is one here.

It is said that the 영지 was eaten by the immortal hermits who lived and meditated up deep in the sacred mountains. As might be expected, this "herb of eternal life" is quite medicinal. Here are some ailments it supposedly helps treat:

• 허로(폐결핵)--- pulmonary tuberculosis
• 고혈압--------- high blood pressure
• 저혈압----------low blood pressure
• 동맥경화------- hardening of the arteries; arteriosclerosis
• 신부전증------- renal insufficiency
• 뇌졸중--------- (cerebral) apoplexy; stroke
• 건망증--------- amnesia
• 불면증--------- insomnia
• 위궤양--------- gastric [stomach] ulcer
• 급성간염-------acute hepatitis
• 만성간염-------chronic hepatitis
• 신경쇠약-------nervous breakdown
• 관절염--------- arthritis
• 허약 심장------ weak heart
• 허약 위장------ weak stomach
• 소화불량------- indigestion
• 변비----------- constipation
• 하리(이질)-----dysentery
• 복통----------- stomachache
• 발열----------- fever
• 알레르기증---- allergies
• 빈혈----------- anemia
• 심계항지------ heart palpitation
• 도한---------- night sweats
• 신우신염------ pyelitis
• 폐결핵-------- pulmonary tuberculosis
• 만성기관지염- chronic bronchitis
• 천식---------- asthma
• 폐렴---------- pneumonia
• 감기---------- a cold
• 눈병---------- eye disease
• 비염---------- nasal inflammation
• 중독---------- poisoning
• 탈모증------- balding; alopecia
• 성인병------- geriatric diseases

While researching 영지, I found a nice little article on Folk Art, which was written for middle school students. I think it is worth a read. I cannot link directly to the article, but you can find it on this site: 우리 민화

Can I write a Korean poem, too?

I do not know much about writing poems, but sometimes things just pop into my head that I feel like writing down. Here is what popped into my head today.

약속----------by Gerry Bevers

-

간다 간다 간다고 결국 안 간다.
한다 한다 한다고 결국 안 한다.
약속 안 지키면 친구 없어진다.
살다 살다 살다가 혼자 죽는다.

-

Promise---------by Gerry Bevers

-

I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there, but then I'm not.

I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it, but then I don't.

If we neglect our promises, we lose our friends.

We live, and live, and live, then we die alone.

What does 복개공사 mean?

Maybe no one noticed, but I have added a link to the "Tour" section on the "Life and Culture" page of the KBS World Web site. I added the link because some of the articles on the page include audio files.

The articles are interesting, but one problem with "Life and Culture" articles is that they are somewhat difficult to read. Writers of such articles seem to like sentences that are long, complicated, and poetic, which causes a lot of problems for me and probably for other non-native speakers, as well. I can usually follow the written article, but when it comes to audio, I get lost easily. Also, translating such articles can be frustrating. When I can listen to and fully understand such articles, then I will proclaim myself truly fluent in the Korean language. Consider this paragraph from "살아있는 서울사 박물관, 청계천," which seems unnecessarily complicated:

2005년 10월 1일. 청계천의 물길이 열렸다. 지난 47년간 회색 콘크리트 속에 매몰됐던 도심의 하천. 복개 공사 이후, 잊혀지고, 다시는 못 볼 거라 여겨졌던 청계천이 이 날. 푸른 물이 흐르는 열린 물길로 되살아난 것이다.

On October 10, 2005, the Cheonggye-cheon waterway was opened. Buried under gray concrete in the middle of the city for forty-seven years, Cheonggye-cheon was a stream forgotten, and one never expected to be seen again after the work to cover it was finished, but on this day the reopened waterway was revived by the blue water flowing through it.

The audio file linked to the above article is a mislink since it is the file for another article on 목포, which is just as difficult to understand as the above article. Try listening to the file and see if you agree.

복개공사(覆蓋工事) means "work to seal off or cover something." 공사 means "work" and 복개 means "to cover." Actually, both the Chinese characters in 복개 mean "to cover," so the two characters can be switched to 개복 without changing the meaning.

What do the seven dwarves do each day?

Today I read a story on the Korean Lab Web site entitled, "여름 日記." I liked it, and I liked it for two reasons. One reason was that the story was written by a child, who expressed herself in a very innocent, honest way. The other reason I liked the story was because of the following line from a song mentioned in it:

숲 속 나라 난장이는
일곱 식군데
아침마다 숲 속으로
일하러 가네.

A family of seven dwarves
From a land within the woods
Into their woods they go each morn
On their way to work.

Try singing the Korean lyrics. You will probably be singing them all day.

Which came first, 호리병 or 호리병박?

호리병박 is a "bottle gourd," which is also called a 조롱박. 박 means "gourd, and 호리병 is defined in my Korean-Korean dictionary as 호리병박 모양으로 만든 병, which means "a bottle made in the shape of a bottle gourd." So, my question is this: Which came first, the "bottle gourd" or the "bottle shaped like a bottle gourd"?

The bottle gourd (호리병박) gets its name from 호리병, but 호리병 is defined as "a bottle shaped like the bottle gourd." In other words, a 호리병 is a bottle shaped like a gourd that is shaped like a 호리병. Or we could say that a "bottle gourd" is a gourd shaped like a bottle that is shaped like a bottle gourd.

Ooooooh, I am sorry, but I have to stop here. This chicken-or-egg thing is making me dizzy.

What's the difference between 잎 and 이파리?

Today I came across the word 이파리 in a story on the Korean Lab Web site entitled, "동네 한 바퀴." I became curious about the word and looked it up.

이파리 is defined in my Korean-Korean dictionary as "잎의 낱개," which means "a leaf." Actually, the literal meaning of the definition is "one of (a number of) leaves," which implies that 잎 is plural, even though my Korean-English dictionary defines 잎 as "a leaf" and then gives examples of it being used in the plural.

Does 잎이 예쁘다 mean "the leaf is pretty" or "the leaves are pretty"? It is a little confusing, especially since the writer of "동네 한 바퀴" made 이파리 plural by writing it as 이파리들. Actually, I think the writer used 이파리들 instead of 잎 because it sounded cuter and more appealing to children.

By the way, the Korean word for "grass" is 풀, and the Korean word for "a blade of grass" is 풀잎. Also, the Korean word for "flower" is 꽃, and the Korean word for "flower petal" is 꽃잎. Therefore, why can we not refer to a single leaf as an 잎잎?