The Story of the Twelve Animals of the Korean Zodiac
The Twelve Animals of the Korean Zodiac
Even for the same animal, the zodiac sign representing the animal may differ completely or be interpreted differently depending on the time and the place. For instance, a spider can be interpreted as a good or an ill omen, depending on the time: For instance, "The spider in the morning brings good luck, but the spider in the evening brings worries." Thus, people would let a spider go in the morning, but they would kill it in the evening. The deer, which is exalted in the Korean poem Deer, "The long neck makes him a sad creature……," was regarded as a symbol of ill fortune by merchants, who were reluctant to see a deer even in their dreams. As such, animals are viewed in various ways according to the place, time, and viewpoint - even in the same cultural area. Since prehistoric times, people have frequently used animal symbols with certain meanings to express aspects of their lifestyle and culture, and the beliefs and ideas of the time. Thus numerous animal images can be seen in rock paintings, cave paintings, clay figurines, pottery, and ancient murals among others in diverse features. These animal symbols reflect the conscious world (meanings and ideas) of the people of a given place and time, and express aspects of their lifestyle too.
① Animals' impressive strength and size often evoke feelings of fear and awe in humans, giving them the psychological motivation to shift their perception of animals from fearsome creatures to objects of worship or guardian deities. A tiger is a representative animal deity in folk religion. In fact, tigers have enormous strength and courage that human beings cannot even imagine. Their strength and courage are combined with dual notions of fear and respect, ultimately making tigers a divine being or deity to be worshiped. In the past, tigers were considered mountain gods and sacrifices were offered to them, as the following record suggests: "In Dongye (a tribal state located in South Hamgyeong Province and North Gangwon Province of Korea, in the early first century), a sacrificial ceremony was performed for the tiger god." Worship of and belief in a tiger living deep in the mountains was not limited to Dongye, but would likely have been the universal faith of the entire Korean Peninsula. Worship of the tiger may have originated from mountain worship in an area with a big mountain, and then become a popularized belief in which the tiger was regarded as a village’s guardian spirit and enshrined in the Dongjedang (a shrine of a mountain spirit). Then, the mountain god, having become an object of popular belief, was assimilated into Buddhist belief, and shrines to the mountain spirit would have been built at Buddhist temples. Paintings of a mountain god usually depict a Taoist hermit as the mountain god, sitting on an oddly formed rock under a pine tree, always accompanied by a tiger exuding a certain grandeur, rather than a fearsome image, in a prone position and with an amiable appearance.
② Animals have the mysterious power of rebirth and transformation, and the ability to predict the future. Bears, snakes, and frogs experience the 'death' of hibernation in winter and 'rebirth' in spring. Migratory birds such as geese disappear and reappear from somewhere (in the past, people thought birds flew to the celestial spheres) for a season. This characteristic was perceived as a symbol of rebirth from death, or as a symbol of a divine spirit or as a messenger or mediator of divine will. As in many stories of animals’ ability to transform themselves, including the bear (i.e. the myth of Dangun), the snake, and the fox, they can turn into a human being in order to seduce, harm, or take revenge on people, or repay human kindness. Moreover, the senses possessed by animals surpass those of humans. Sometimes, they foreshadow the future or some natural phenomenon which cannot be recognized by humans. There are many examples throughout history of animals that inform people of the ups and downs of a country, climate change, the birth and death of a wise king or a sage, success or failure in important matters of state, and so on. The idea that animals possess such supernatural power has led to the worship of animals.
③ The worship of animals was led not only by psychological motivation deriving from a sense of fear, but also from a sense of intimacy with animals or feelings of gratitude for their labor or provision of food. The cow had a close relationship with the agricultural way of life of Korea and was considered a part of the family beyond the simple meaning of livestock. The cow was not only an invaluable source of labor but also a means of transport and a financial cushion as it as possible to make a large sum of money from selling one. The cow was the most familiar animal to most people. In general, the cow is regarded as an animal that is simple, honest, diligent, gentle, persistent, powerful, and obedient. These attributes have merged with the Korean people’s sentiment, creating various ideas and customs. Thus, our ancestors said, "The cow doesn’t speak, but it has twelve virtues." The image of the cow that was passed down from ancient times among Korean people whose basic occupation was farming was one of honesty, sacrifice and faithfulness. Although the cow is more useful, practically speaking, than any other animal, it has retained its generous, noble image and divine status.
④ When an animal is used for a sacrificial ceremony or as a charm, divinity is assigned to it. Representative animals offered up as a sacrifice include the cow, pig and sheep. The pig has been offered up as an object of sacrifice since ancient times. In Records of the Three Kingdoms (a Chinese historical text published in the third century) and Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, compiled by the Goryeo Buddhist monk Il Yeon in 1281), the pig was held to a sacred animal endowed with divine power. The pig’s head was treated as the most important ‘offering’ in various sacrificial ceremonies, including a Goguryeo harvest ceremony in which a goshi (sacred pig) was offered as a sacrifice, a ceremony for heavens, mountains and rivers held on the 3rd day of the 3rd month, the Hunting Day of December, village tutelary rituals, and other shamanistic rituals. The pig was offered as a sacrifice to the gods, and was also believed to have the power to decide the national capital. In other words, the pig served as a prophet or a guide who could bless holy land, foretell whether a queen would have a son who would rise to the throne, or save a king from a crisis.
⑤ As the fertility of certain animals is interpreted as a sign of abundance and a good harvest, they symbolize gods of fertility and wealth. The rat and the snake are both worshiped in folk belief. The rat has a very high reproductive rate, so it is widely regarded as a symbol of fertility and abundance. On High Rat Day people performed Jwibulnori, a type of "play" in which fires were lit in the paddies and fields to exterminate harmful insects and rats during the first full moon of the year, and other customs relating to the rat, which was perceived as a symbol of wealth and a good harvest. There are two kinds of snakes – one that lays eggs and another that gives birth. Snakes lay as many as one hundred eggs once a year. The snake is considered a dangerous animal due to its poison, and represents 'rebirth' (awakening) from winter sleep, and prolificacy. Thus, the snake symbolizes the guardian god of a tomb or the god of the earth, embodying wishes for birth or rebirth. It is also regarded as a god of work (業) that protects one's wealth, and as the Dangsin, a village guardian deity, in Jeju Island. The worship of animals as sacred beings has continued since ancient times. The reason why certain animals are revered as divine beings in folk belief is that their attributes, appearance, behavior, and ability surpass those of human beings.
⑥ Because of their ecological diversity and duality, animals which can fly in the sky, walk on the ground, and swim in the water are perceived as psychic mediums or god's envoys that travel between the earthly world and the spiritual world. Animals that can transport souls must have the ability to transcend space. Birds fly freely over the earth and through the sky; snakes and frogs live both on land and in water; turtles are found in the sea as well as on land or in mountains; and crabs can also live in the sea and on the seashore (land). However, men can only live in one space, on earth, while other animals can freely cross several spaces. Animals with these abilities were believed to transport and guide souls between two worlds. The range of activity of the dragon includes sea, earth and sky, transcending the world view of people of the Silla period. The dragon, which originated from the sea and the river, and then ascended to heaven, symbolizes a divine animal that is active in heaven. The dragon is primarily a mythical animal that represents the world of water. At first, it lives in the water and then ascends to heaven. Animals that live in the water and come on to land include terrapins, turtles, and crabs among others, but the dragon which ascends to heaven becomes a divine being. However, it also turns into a fish or, sometimes, a human in order to marry. The dragon has the ability to change its form as it wants, and to freely appear or hide itself. It was believed to have the best weapons of all animals, as it could create clouds and rain, and to be free to act in as it pleased on earth and in the sky. Meanwhile, birds, chickens and horses freely travel between the land, mountains, and sky to carry or guide souls to the heavenly world. In ancient times, birds flying freely between heaven and earth were regarded as spiritual beings, heavenly guides, or messengers of heaven. In Dongyijeon (Story of the Eastern Barbarians) from the Records of the Three Kingdoms (a Chinese history text published in the third century), it is written that: "In Byeonjin (or Byeonhan, a confederacy of chiefdoms that existed from around 42 to 562 in the southern region of the Korean peninsula), when a person dies, the dead body was decorated with the feathers of big birds for the funeral, in the hope that the dead would ascend into the sky." Ancient people thought that because heaven was home, they came down to earth, and when they died they returned to heaven. At that time, the bird symbolized the guide of a person’s body and soul to heaven. As ducks can fly in the sky, walk on the ground, and swim across the water, they were worshiped as divine beings that could cross the three worlds of sky, earth, and water. That is why a duck was placed on the top of the sotdae (pole), which was believed to communicate with the god of heaven. Sotdae were usually erected at a ceremony for an exorcism to avert a disaster as smoothly as a duck swimming against a strong current. According to the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, compiled by the Goryeo Buddhist monk Il yeon in 1281), the rooster emerged as a symbolic being of Korean culture from the birth myth of Silla, which was founded by Park Hyeokgeose and Gim Al-ji. The Samguk Yusa states that the rooster was depicted as a bird of good luck and good omen, and could foretell the advent of a king or queen, such as Gim Al-ji (a legendary figure and founder of the royal Gim clan of Silla) and Lady Aryeong (the wife of Park Hyeokgeose). The rooster was also considered ‘the bird of the sun’ as it announced the dawn, the advent of light, by crowing. Its crowing also informs people of the time, as well as foreseeing future events. People believed that when a rooster crowed for a long time (over three times) and wagged its tail, savage beasts would return to their mountains and evil spirits would disappear. Along with ancient historical records, relics discovered in ancient tombs - such as eggshells from the Cheonmachong Tomb (a Silla royal tumulus thought to date to the fifth or sixth century, in Gyeongju, Korea), chicken bones from the Ancient Tombs in Jisan-dong, Goryeong, and eggshells from a high-footed cup of Baekje - indicate that roosters had been important offerings since ancient times. When the Cheonmachong Tomb was excavated, dozens of eggshells were found inside a jar; and chicken bones have also been discovered in many ancient tombs of Silla. The eggs and chicken bones recovered from ancient tombs can be interpreted as the remains of grave food intended for the deceased in the next world, or as the re-birth and resurrection of a new life. In addition, horses are depicted in ancient tombs as mediums between two worlds, earth and heaven. Paintings of horses and horse-shaped relics have been found in the ancient tombs of Silla and Gaya, and horses are also depicted in the ancient tomb murals of Goguryeo. As a psychic medium between this world and the next, the horse symbolizes an animal that transports the occupant of a tomb to the other world. Thus, earthenware objects, clay dolls, and mural paintings featuring or representing a horse all have the same meaning, i.e. grave goods that were placed in the tomb to enable the deceased to ride to the other world. In oral folktales and literature narratives the horse is presented as a sacred animal, a messenger of heaven, a mystical creature or a spiritualistic medium capable of foretelling the birth of an important figure and predicting the future. Notably, according to the records in the Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) and the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), the horse was regarded as a sacred animal and the bearer of good omens, including the birth of the founder of a nation or kingdom, such as Geumwa of Dongbuyeo, Park Hyeokgeose of Silla, or Jumong (later King Dongmyeong) of Goguryeo; or the bearer of an ill omen, such as the collapse of the Baekje Kingdom. As such, since ancient times, human beings have recognized animals’ spiritual power and through them have strived to understand and interpret the relationship between nature and men, and diverse aspects of their life. These relics of animal symbols reflect the conscious world of ancient peoples and were an important part of their life.
