(311) Getting over last heat of summer (2024)

By Janet Shin

Natural features are what humans must live with by either conquering or adapting to them. Yet, it has never been easy to stay in harmony as they fomented various obstacles, which sometimes resulted in desperate situations such as deaths and even the extinction of a certain ancient civilization. Human history can be defined by how mankind has managed or been influenced by the natural environment.

Climate is one of the most crucial conditions that nature yields for habitation. It is an indispensable factor for all creatures living on Earth whereas it sometimes plays a menacing role. Humans have cultivated crops under its geographical and regional conditions and this has contributed to the accumulation of wealth and cultural development as well.

The advent of feng shui has often been explained by primitive men living in caves and how they survived the severe changes of weather, adapting to the wind and the sun. Those who inhabited a cave where they could block the cold air and let the warmth of the sunshine in were able to flourish and it led to prosperity of the tribe. Those that didn't adapt simply perished. The former is definitely called good and the latter bad feng shui.

It seems more likely that managing the cold matters most for the survival. Nevertheless, unbearable heat also has something to do with the quality of life, especially related to its sentimental aspect.

By this time of the year, people are exhausted with the seemingly endless summer heat. It is around ipchu, the onset of autumn and malbok, last of the three dog days. Ipchu fell on Aug. 8 while malbok is on the Aug. 12 this year. As they fell on the same day (Aug. 7) last year, the heat may last longer this year as malbok came after ipchu. Also the total duration from boknals was 20 days last year, while it is 30 days this year. It is an implication that we will have a longer summer in 2015.

The Chinese character ‘bok'(伏) portrays a dog kneeling down in front of a man. It is an ideograph that combines two letters meaning a man and a dog. Because of this, it is called ‘dog days' as well as the hottest days. Bok literally means ‘prostrate, submit, surrender and admit'. The first boknal comes after haji, or summer solstice. It usually falls on or around June 22. According to the Chinese Classic of Changes (yijing), on haji and afterward, the basic unit, ‘gua', composed of three or six stacked horizontal lines (yao), either broken or unbroken to represent yin or yang, starts to gain the yin energy and continues to accumulate until there is six yin lines before winter solstice, ‘dongji'. Yang represents brightness and warmth while yin is the opposite. So by having the yin energy, the climate begins to cool down, as it moves toward autumn and winter.

Accordingly, people naturally expect the heat to turn down. However the heat is still intense, actually it lasts more than 20 or 30 days until ipchu. It is the hottest period in summer and the yin energy has yet to wait and submit to the strength of summer heat.

Meantime, boknal doesn't simply indicate the hottest day and eating healthy food, such as samgetang. Other than this convention, it is closely related with farm work. People would predict a rich harvest or bad by the weather on boknal. For example, if it rains, it is believed a good harvest is coming while a thunderstorm suggests a bad return. Also, certain fruit will not grow well if it rains on boknal, but this depends on the regions and crops.

Owing to this belief, many farmers carry out farming rituals on this day wishing for a good harvest. It is not just a superstitious tradition but systematically calculated referring to both lunar and solar calendars. The calendars and meteorology were the most important subjects in ancient days to influence people's living and even the fate of a nation. In the rituals for boknal, people tried to overcome the heat of summer so they could survive and continue to work hard for the harvest.

Weather and the way people conceive its changes are closely connected with anxiety in ancient days, which in turn enlightened people's intuition. This is an origin of divination by which people foretell their destiny. Instead of simply perceiving it as a superstitious tradition, we should recognize why and how it was generated.

Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teaching about the "Four Pillars of Destiny"? For further information, visit Janet's website at www.fourpillarskorea.com, contact her at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com. The writer is the author of "Life's Secrets."