Melons, the Milky Way, and a Korean Folktale
Continuing the discussion from my previous entry on Chilseok, it may be worth noting two of the culinary customs of this time of year. The first is an emphasis on wheat-based foods, including wheat noodles and a type of wheat-based pancake called milijeonbyeong (밀전병). Despite its description as a pancake though, the online pictures that I've come across for 밀전병 make it look more like gimbap than a traditional pancake. For those interested you can see some photos here and a step-by-step photo-log of how to make them for yourself here. Chilseok takes place between the end of the hot Sambok period and the start of the cooler autumn season, with a couple of sources stating that cold winds ruin the scent of wheat, making Chilseok one of the last occasions to truly enjoy meals of this type.
The second food is melons, and in particular Cucumis melo makuwa. This muskmelon is known by the names Korean Yellow Melon, 참외 (chamoe or chamwae depending on which translation one prefers), and as the dua gan melon in China. They thrive in areas with hot, humid summers and the end of the season sees large numbers sold in local markets here.
참외 from 강진군농업기술센터 (Agricultural Technology and Extension Center)
In addition to the sewing and weaving mentioned in my previous entry, melon carving was another traditional display of domestic craftsmanship performed by young women in both China and Korea. I'm assuming the melon in question was 참외 but it may have been another variety. Cucumbers and gourds such as pumpkins are also common during this time of year - all of them fall within the Cucurbitaceae family of plants - and fried pumpkins were offered to the Big Dipper during an ancestral memorial service known as Chilseongjae (七星祭; 칠성제).
Returning to folktales associated with the holiday, I was very surprised by the variation of the 'Cowherd (Altair) and Weaver Girl (Vega)' story included on the Wikipedia page for the Qixi Festival. To copy and paste from the relevant section:
A young cowherd named Niulang (牛郎; pinyin: niú láng), came across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he stole their clothes and waited to see what would happen. The fairy sisters elected the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhinü (织女/織女; pinyin: zhī nǚ) to retrieve their clothing. She agreed to do so, but since Niulang had seen her naked, she agreed to his request for marriage. She proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhinü's mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to heaven. [...] On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega.
Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè Gu 3).
But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鵲橋, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.
It is said that if it rains on the night of Qi Xi, it is the tears of Niulang and Zhinü crying for a lost year apart because the magpies will not come on a night that rains.
Milky Way / Via Láctea by Chaval Brasil
There is also a variation of the story on Wikipedia that involves the Jade Emperor (玉皇), the Taoist ruler of Heaven. This version has a commoner (the Cowherd) steal the garments of the Jade Emperor's daughter (the Weaver Girl) while she's bathing, the two fall in love, and the Jade Emperor's daughter returns to heaven out of homesickness only to find out she can't go back. For those of you familiar with Korean folklore it's probably easy to see the similarities to the story of the Woodcutter and the Heavenly Maiden (also known as 'The Deer and the Woodcutter' and 'The Woodcutter and the Fairy').
In the Korean tale, a woodcutter too poor to attract a wife helps a deer hide from a pursuing hunter and is rewarded with a piece of advice that will help him find a bride. The deer's suggestion is for the woodcutter to wait at a lake on Diamond Mountain (a real mountain in Gangwon Province) for eight heavenly maidens to arrive and bathe in its waters. While they're occupied he'll have the opportunity to steal a set of clothing, forcing one of the maidens to remain on earth.
Following the deer's advice, the woodcutter prevents the youngest maiden from returning to heaven and they eventually fall in love with one another. After bearing two children the maiden asks for her clothing back but the woodcutter refuses; after she gives birth to their third child he relents and she flies away with their three kids. The deer once again appears to offer help and the woodcutter is able to gain access to heaven -- where he finds that his wife is the Heavenly King's daughter.
From the cover to Deer And The Woodcutter by Kim So-Un, So-Un Kim, and Jeong Kyoung-Sim (Illustrator)
The Korean version ends with the woodcutter growing homesick himself - guess now he knows how his wife felt - and is allowed to return if only he can avoid touching the ground during his stay. The heavenly maiden gives him a dragon horse to aid his journey and the woodcutter immediately leaves to see his mother; they have a wonderful time catching up and the woodcutter's mother even has pumpkin porridge (호박죽; hobak juk) ready to give her son. (Interesting that the Korean story doesn't appear tied to a particular date but still involves pumpkins!) The porridge bowl is so hot that he drops it on the dragon horse's back and, in response, the horse rears up violently and throws the woodcutter to the ground.
Banished to earth and unable to see his wife and children, the woodcutter dies of a broken heart. Jeong Deokbong's 1913 retelling* ends with the following epilogue:
In this way the woodcutter was never able to return to heaven. He used to stand every day in tears looking up at the sky until one day when he finally died of his grief, and was transformed into a cock. This is why tradition says that cocks climb to the highest part of the roof and crow with their necks stretched out toward heaven, for it is the woodcutter's spirit that has entered into them, seeking the highest place they can find.
If this story ever gets picked up by Disney expect it to have a drastically different ending. As you can see, though, there do seem to be a lot of similarities between the Chinese tale of the Jade Emperor's daughter and the Korean story of the Woodcutter and the Heavenly Maiden. Interestingly, when I wrote about Dano in the spring kutay left a comment on the same (?) story in connection to Changpo hair washing. I wonder to what degree the story is meant to go with one holiday over the other and how much is from regionalism and oral retelling shifting the date to suit local needs.
* As found in Folk Tales from Korea, Collected and Translated by Jeong Inseop, Hollym Press.
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