Gwangju News

Culture, Korean

Many would agree that the tiger can symbolize Korea, especially if we look back at the mascot for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which was named ‘Hodori’, which is similar to the Korean word for tiger, ‘horangee’.

By  Ahn Hong-pyo

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! The tiger is related to us in a few ways. First, many readers of the Gwangju News probably enjoyed the victory of the KIA Tigers last year. Second, many of you possibly have seen an image of the Korean peninsula, which some people say looks a little like a tiger. In addition, some of you were probably born in the year of tiger, which happens every twelve years, counting back from 2010.

The idea that each of twelve animals represents a specific year has come from China, whose culture has affected the Korean way of life in many aspects. The 12-year system is called Earthly Branches. Chinese scholars observed the movement of Jupiter and divided its orbit into twelve sectors. Next, they assigned twelve animals to each sector to represent certain directions, double hours, months and years. The Chinese calendar system is based on the observation of the sun and stars. As a result, every New Year starts at the first new moon after the winter solstice, which is why it is called the Lunar New Year.

At this point, many readers might be tempted to compare this system to the Zodiac horoscope that is quite well-known in Western societies. There are some similarities, but also some differences. The most prominent similarity between them is that the number of animals and symbols used in each system is both twelve. Earthly Branches consists of the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, while the Zodiac is symbolized by the Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Scale, Scorpion, Centaur, Sea-goat, Pitcher and Fish.

Many would agree that the tiger can symbolize Korea, especially if we look back at the mascot for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which was named ‘Hodori’, which is similar to the Korean word for tiger, ‘horangee’. Moreover, the legend of how Korea was born also includes a story of a bear and a tiger who wanted to become human. At the same time, however, a tiger in Korean society is associated with some images of fear, as stated in ‘Hohwanmama’. Here, ‘Hohwan’ means some harm on people or property by tigers and ‘mama’ refers to smallpox. In every Korean VTR tape in the past, there was a warning included, which read “For children in the past, the most fearful catastrophes were hohwan, mama and war”.

According to ancestor’s belief, a person who is a tiger is thought to have great talent in leading people by his early maturity. He gets promoted quickly in organizations, takes huge responsibilities and becomes a man in people’s appraisal. His behavior is rather impulsive and he is always so energetic that he tries to intervene in other’s work without much patience. At the same time, he perceives matters suspiciously and thus either hesitates or decides something too early. He feels difficulty in trusting others and in soothing his own temper. One thing he has to be aware of is to make decisions after giving them a second thought. If he does not, he might face failure in business. His chivalrous spirit drives him to take care of other’s concerns through the end, even though this results in a lot of pain. When he feels depressed, words do not help, but real sympathy does. People around him had better not soothe him in a stingy manner. When he recovers, he will repay you twice as well as you have provided for him.

According to the teachings in ‘Four Pillars’, which is all about an individual’s fate in relation to the year, month, day and hour of one’s birth, those born in the year of the tiger will make good, close relationships with those born in the year of either the horse, dog, or pig.

To the readers of the Gwangju News, I hope that all of you succeed in what you currently do or plan to do in this, the year of the tiger.

By Ahn Hong-pyo

Hong-pyo is a senior student at Chonnam National University

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