The Dog Days of Summer: 삼복
Korea's traditional calender has its origins from the Chinese lunisolar calender (夏曆), which is used to build sexagenary cycles using a combination of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Stems. Without getting into too much detail the former system is based on a belief during the Shang Dynasty that there were ten suns that cycled through the sky, while the latter system is tied to the orbit of the planet Jupiter (歳星). This system was initially used to count days before later being adopted as a way to record years, and due to the relatively common occurrence of shorter lifespans in traditional agricultural societies, completing a sexagenary cycle during one's life was fairly rare and cause for celebration. In Korea this takes the form of 환갑 (還甲; hwangap) and was traditionally used as a celebration of longevity.
Source
The Heavenly Stems are also used in Korea for calculating a few of the traditional holidays, with 삼복 (sambok) a current example. The translation in my copy of Annual Customs of Korea is 'The Three Dog Days', although a more generic way to refer to the time is to say it's the hottest period of the year. From the book:
The third gyeong day (gyeong is one of the ten characters of the Heaven's Stem used in the sexagenary cycle system) after the summer solstice is called cho-bog (the first day dog day), and the fourth jung-bog (the middle dog day). The first gyeong day after ibchu or the "Beginning of Autumn" is mal-bog (the last dog day). The three together are called sam-bog (three dog days) meaning the period between the first and the last dog days and representing the hottest season of the summer.
While I'm not exactly a fan of his transliterations - they're neither Revised-Romanized nor McCune-Reischauer - it is easy enough to find the Korean equivalents. Gyeong - the seventh stem of the Chinese system - is 경 (庚), cho-bog is 초복 (初伏), jung-bog is 중복 (中伏), and mal-bog is 말복 (末伏). Each period lasts for ten days and today, 14 July, is the start of 초복.
While the heavy downpour kept it from being unbearably hot today, a typical custom for 초복 is to eat a hot dish, with 보신탕 (boshintang; dog meat stew) and 삼계탕 (samgyetang; chicken ginseng soup) the most common selections. As the only teacher who works after our academy's dinner break on Tuesdays and Thursdays I eat alone on those days; today our vice-director suggested I have some samgyetang to observe the special occasion. Why eat hot dishes over the hottest days of the year? One report suggests it's to "fight fire with fire" and raise the body's temperature so that the outside heat doesn't feel quite so bad. I'd like to note that boshintang, ginseng, and 장어 (jangeo; broiled eel) are all described as foods good at restoring stamina, which would come in handy for anyone working out in rice fields all day. Another aspect I'd like to explore has to do with humoral theory, but that's better left for another day. If you're familiar with medical anthropology you might already know where this is going ...
삼계탕 by lokhin
Samgyetang is made by boiling ginseng, glutinous rice, dates, and herbs in a chicken that is served piping hot in a stone bowl. Other ingredients may also be used in addition to those listed, although the one I had tonight featured just the core 'essentials'. I don't generally eat poultry but it did turn out pretty nice. For a list of other summer-related Korean foods I recommend this list from the official Korean Tourism Office. It not only describes a number of dishes, but also includes restaurant suggestions for anyone looking for a good place to start. My personal favorite is broiled eel, with the nearby city of Paju particularly well-known for this specialty, although 냉면 (naengmyeon; iced buckwheat noodle soup) is also quite delicious.
Eating isn't the only thing that takes place during the summer dog days. To quote from Annual Customs of Korea again:
During this period, as one of the ways to spend the hot season people take liquor and food, go to some mountain area or visit some waterfall with their friends and enjoy the cool air. Or sometimes they spend a day by the water with their feet soaked in the cool mountain stream, which is called tag-jog meaning foot soaking.
Tag-jog, written as 탁족 in Korean (from the Chinese 濯足) and known as takjok under the current romanization system, is still popular. My co-teachers and I are planning a trip to a mountain stream this weekend to "eat, talk, and play in the water", as it was explained to me. The Dong A Weekly has an article about 탁족 that offers advice on how to approach it (those with blood circulation problems should probably avoid 탁족) and even suggests soaking your feet in the shower as an alternative. The second page includes more information on the practices of 냉온욕 (alternately soaking in hot and cold water) and 물맞이욕 (soaking in pressurized or falling water). While out for a walk along 도봉천 (Dobong Stream) over the past weekend I saw a group of construction workers frolicking around in the overflowing water -- they definitely seemed to be enjoying themselves!
초복 has already started, 중복 begins on 24 July this year, and 말복 concludes the cycle on 13 August.
I have yet to discover the cause, but apparently this year the Astronomical Society has extended 말복 by an extra ten days. If the weather's a little too hot for your liking over the next forty days, well, now you know what to do about it.
Last summer --mountain pool near 회룡사
Last week -- 도봉천 waterfall