The Story of the Twelve Animals of the Korean Zodiac
The Twelve Animals of the Korean Zodiac
영상
Scenario
#1 Opening: Human beings are subject to all sorts of emotions and must experience the four distinct stages of life. Although it is said that man is the lord of all creation, it is rare that a human lives for a hundred years. In our brief lifespan, we all wish for a happy and healthy life…… Through these wooden statues which embody our ancestors’ simple and honest wish, we can encounter the twelve zodiac animals, each of which is imbued in our nature.
#2 Main Title: "The Twelve Animals of the Korean Zodiac"
#3 The rat and the birth myth of water and fire: The world was created and Maitreya was born. However, as he could not find any water or fire, he ate uncooked food. But after he acquired the wisdom needed to find water and fire from a rat, the world was truly vitalized. This myth, which appears in the song of creation in the Hamgyeong-do region, depicts a tiny creature, the rat, as a creator that finds water and fire, which are essentials elements for human life.
#4 Definition of the twelve animals of the zodiac: As elements of the natural world, mortal human beings exist alongside many animals, live their present life, and have high hopes for the future. In human civilization, having existed side by side with humans for a long time, animals have been used by humans as a food source, as a means of transportation, and for agricultural purposes. They have also been regarded as objects of faith, like a psychic medium, that connect this world with the next, and as symbols that determine humans’ destiny and character. Among these creatures are the twelve zodiac animals, which serve as important motifs that enable us to read our culture and our emotions.
#5 The twelve zodiac animals and destiny: A particular sign of the Chinese zodiac is assigned to each of us when we are born, like destiny. Although society changes rapidly, as does our lifestyle, our zodiac sign remains in our subconscious mind and subtly influences the formation of our inner world. We begin our life with one of the twelve zodiac signs.
Why do we think that a pig brings good luck or a dog symbolizes devotion, and why do we call a cow saenggu in Korean (implying that people treat cows like human beings)? The images that Korean people project on to animals represent national sentiments. Moreover, the twelve zodiac animals provide a basis for determining and understanding each individual’s destiny and our relationships with each other.
#6 History of human and animals: Animals have long been objects of faith or fear, as well as sources of food, for humans. They are also a basis for understanding the consciousness of ancient people, particularly when studying certain relics and ruins. The images of various animals in motion depicted in the Bronze Age Petroglyphs of Bangudae Terrace in Ulsan show animals living with humans as a part of everyday life. The "tou", or clay figurines of Silla’s representative animal symbols, which were buried in graves as an expression of faith, were regarded as being in some way imbued with the deceased person’s consciousness.
#7 Changes in the twelve Korean zodiac signs: How, then, were these Korean zodiac signs created? Although the Chinese zodiac is thought to have originated from the Yin Dynasty of China (c. 1600 BC – c. 1046 BC), it was generally accepted that it was during the mid-Han Dynasty that the Chinese zodiac was first applied to orientation and time. The twelve zodiac signs of Korea are more closely associated with the deity of time and the deity of orientation. These signs were formed by combining the Four Symbols, i.e. the four mythological creatures of the Northern people, with the twelve animal deities of the Silla Dynasty. The twelve zodiac animals were placed in a circle according to the time and direction, and were regarded as guardians that warded off evil coming from the direction in which each animal was located. During the Goryeo Dynasty, the zodiac animals were placed as stone guardian statues around tombs, following the Silla tradition, although there were changes in the way of expression.
The tradition of placing stone statues of zodiac animals around or inside tombs disappeared at some point during the Joseon Dynasty. Until the Goryeo period, statues symbolizing time and direction were placed to the north, south, east and west of a royal tomb and served as its guardians. Then, during the Joseon period, only statues of the horse, sheep, and tiger were erected at royal tombs, with stone statues of horses placed behind the stone statues of a civil official and a military official, and stone statues of a sheep and a tiger to the west and east of a tomb, respectively. The horse was regarded as a means of transport for civil and military officials, whereas the sheep and tiger were viewed as guardian animals. Let’s take a look at the meaning of the twelve zodiac animals by first introducing the concept of time and direction!
#8 Symbol of the twelve Korean zodiac animals: The Rat is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac. It symbolizes fecundity and wealth owing to its remarkable rate of reproduction and its industriousness. The Ox or Cow, is loved by people for its honest and naive nature. The Tiger is regarded as the king of the mountain and is worshiped as a mountain deity. It often appears in drawings of mountain deities and on folk charms. The Rabbit, with its cute image, is a symbol of wisdom in Korean folktales such as Sugunga (Song of the Water Palace), Byeoljubu jeon (Rabbit’s Tale) and Ttokkijeon (Tale of the Hare). The Dragon, which is the only imaginary creature among the twelve zodiac animals, is regarded as a guardian that protects and promotes Buddhism, and is also a symbol of national defense. The Snake, which changes its skin, represents rebirth, immortality, and eternal life, and is associated with the creation of life and the power of healing. The Horse is a symbol of power and ability, and is referred to as a leader or head. The Goat or Sheep, a symbol of peace, is regarded as an appreciative creature as sheep suck milk on their knees. The Monkey is regarded as the most intelligent and talented of animals. Notably, the character Sun Wukong, a monkey, was depicted as a creature endowed with the power of exorcism in the Chinese novel Journey to the West (c. 16th century). The Rooster causes ghosts that are wandering at night to disappear from the earth at once with its crowing, which tells the coming of dawn. The Dog, which has lived together with human being for a long time, symbolizes a faithful servant of people. Finally, the Pig represents an offering to be sacrificed in a ritual or ceremony, and symbolizes good fortune as an creature of good omen.
#9 The twelve zodiac signs in the world: The twelve zodiac signs represented the sentiments of the Korean people and were closely associated with everyday affairs. The concept of the twelve zodiac signs is widespread throughout East and West alike. The idea of the twelve zodiac signs is generally thought to have originated in China and to be unique to the Orient, but in reality it is widely accepted among scholars that it was introduced from the Middle East sometime in the remote past. It can be said that the twelve zodiac signs embody oriental wisdom, and were invented as a means of classifying days, months, and years. The twelve zodiac signs, which are prevalent in Egypt, Greece, Central Asia, India, China, Korea, and Japan among other countries, have different names and/or expressions in each nation but their universal meanings remain the same. The major examples are the zodiac that originated in ancient Mesopotamia; the Babylonian animal symbols, which include certain constellations, beetle, lion, ram, and sparrow hawk; and the Egyptian zodiac, which includes the crocodile and flamingo. The zodiac signs reflect the characteristics, behaviors, and consciousness of each nation, exhibit distinct characteristics, and also represent certain polyphyletic cultural aspects.
#10 The crossing of life and death: The twelve zodiac animals are with us at the wonderful moment of birth as well as at the solemn moment of death. When we are alive, the zodiac signs help us to read our fortune or our destiny, and also the fortune of the year and our nation’s fortunes. Sometimes, through a sacrificial ceremony or charm, they can enrich our life. As such, the zodiac signs represent the flow of thought inherent to each one of us, and are deeply rooted in our lives.
#11 End: Animals and humans have to live together. Animals serve as objects that reflect human beings’ conscious world, and their images are inherent in our mind. As a psychic medium, they connect the earth with the sky or heaven, symbolize all kinds of human emotions, and represent a world view of time. Today, animals are still with us and bring us new hopes and dreams.
They also convey the warmth of the Korean people and remind us of the harmonious life of man and nature.
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.
