In order to preserve the bloodline and maintain the species, each has a special chip placed in its body as soon as it is born in order to keep track of them, and you need to have a government permit to remove one from the island.

A one-month old Jindo Gae on Jindo Island.

Most Jindogae fall into five categories, according to appearance;
1) Yellow dog (hwanggu,황구)
2) White dog (baekgu, 백구)
3) Gray dog (jaegu, 재구)
4) Tiger dog (hogu, 호구)
5) Four-eyed dog (nenunbagi, 네눈박이)

In very rare cased you can find Jindogae that are more reddish than yellow, or that have alternating colors like baduk board.

Yellow dog (hwanggu,황구)

White dog (baekgu, 백구)

Gray dog (jaegu, 재구)

Tiger dog (hogu, 호구)

Four-eyed dog (nenunbagi, 네눈박이)

Jindogae are famous for being highly active and thoroughly faithful to their owners. There are many touching stories about them, like when one was found next to its owner five days after the owner had died, or about one that crossed several provinces to find its way home. It is a Korean dog, one well loved for its courage and strength despite its small size, and for its intelligence.

Source: Arirang
Photos: Google

Even today, like during Seollal for example, people travel to their hometowns to spend time with their families. As a result, bus, train and plane tickets for the holiday period are sold out a year in advance, and the nation’s expressways become heavily congested, and travel time that would normally take about 3 to 4 hours ends up with 10 hours.

Since Chuseok comes in the harvest season, everything is available in plenty. Also, since it comes on the fifteenth day of the lunar month there is a full moon for you to see in the night skin and pray to. Families enjoy Chuseok by talking under the full moon with hearts that are content.

A typical Chuseok food is songpyeon (송편), a type of tteok stuffed with beans, red beans, chestnuts, jujube, and other things newly harvested, as an expression of thanks. It is usually made by family members while they watch the bright moon the night before Chuseok. Supposedly women have pretty children if the songpyeon they make is pretty, so they try to make theirs as pleasing to the eye as possible.

The day before Chuseok families make songpyeon and prepare food for the morning, when on Chuseok day they offer it to their ancestors. Family members then eat and enjoy their time together. In recent years, however, a lot of people have been taking advantage of what is the longest holiday weekend of the year to take vacations overseas. Nevertheless, Chuseok is remembered in the hearts of Koreans as a plentiful time.

Source From: Arirang TV

Happy Chuseok, Everyone!!!

This is a folk song that differs by region but shares the same title everywhere and has been passed down orally for centuries. Being a part of Korea’s oral tradition, it has  no clear author, composer, or lyric writer, and so the tone, rhythm, and words can vary considerably from region to region.

The version Korea is famous for is from the Gyeonggi region and also known as the Gyeonggi Arirang. Other well known “arirangs” include those from Jeongseon (Gangwon-do), Jindo (Jeollanam-do), and Miryang (Gyeongsangnam-do).

A lot of research has looked at what “arirang” actually means, but none of it has been conclusive. Some say it means 아리 (ari) was an ancient word for 아리따운 (beautiful) and 랑 (rang) used to refer to a person. It is a sad song, one that many Koreans thinks best represents Korea. Since so many people think it represents the country, you’ll find a lot of things related to Korea in general that are given the name “arirang”.

Source: Arirang

It’s the name of a traditional fictional character, but it is also used like ‘John Doe’, for example on sample forms you see in banks, airports, and public offices.

Hong Gildong’s birthplace

Hong Gildong is the name of the main character in the first Korean novel written in hangeul instead of literary Chinese, titled Hong Gildong Jeon. In the story he is portrayed as a Robin Hood type of figure who steals to help the poor. Every Korean knows the story, and that’s how his name came to be the most common example of a name.

Recently, some scholars have begun to claim that the novel was based on a real character by that name. The township of Hwangnyong-myeon, in Jangseong-gu, South Jeolla province, claims it has restored the house Hong Gildong was born in and has turned the structure into a tourist attraction.

You, too, should take the time to visit his ‘birthplace’ if you have an interest in someone who used mystical means to appear out of nowhere and vanish again as he punished those involved in corruption.

Source From: Arirang

It is very inexpensive, and they say farmers would drink a little while working to regain strength.

Since it is made from  grains, it simultaneously quenches thirst and helps fight a sense of hunger. It is widely enjoyed by Koreans today, especially among the “common” people and young university students.

Different brands of Makgeolli

Typical anju (side dishes for alcoholic drinks) are pajeon and kimchi. The next time it rains, why not go with your friends to a Korean-style drinking restaurant and have makgeolli and pajeon?

Source From: Arirang

One factor that helps preserve the food and ingredients contained withing is that the pots, despite the fluctuating temperatures of the seasons, tend to retain a constant temperature on the inside.

This allows for the flavor of the seasonings, sauces and pickled foods to be retained for several years. While Korean housewives may add the devotion needed to make a dish complete, it would not be a stretch to say  that these pots give birth to the very aromas and flavors found on Korean tables.

1. Traditional soy sauce pots in Korea are usually very wide in the middle. The wider the pot is, the better it will retain the proper temperature inside the pot.
2. Korean chili paste (Gochujang 고추장), is made annually and preserved in medium sized pots. The medium sized pots are placed in the front row or in the corner for convenient access.
3. The taste of Korean soybean paste (Doenjang 된장) is enhanced by sunlight. In addition, sunlight also prevents doenjang from molding. Therefore, Koreans typically open the lid of the pots on sunny days.

Pot Arrangements and Functions

Korean earthenware pots are typically lined up (with larger pots placed behind smaller ones for convenience) in two or three rows in well ventilated areas with plenty of sunlight. This allows air and moisture to slowly seep through the pots’ walls, which enhances the flavor of the food that is contained within.

Over time, these pots have been known to help filter away toxins that are hazardous to humans. Having foods ferment inside pots for a long time ensures that the pot will retain the fresh quality of the food.

Source From: Korea Tourism Organization

Wild ginseng is called sansam, or “mountain ginseng” and is supposed to be good for ailments which regular medicines are ineffective and has similar uses as regular ginseng only that is is far more effective.

Mountain ginseng is considered one of the finest of medicines, good for almost all sicknesses, so there are people who make a living by gathering it in the mountains. People who make their livelihood finding sansam are called simmani.

Since sansam is rare, it is especially hard to find. Before they head into a mountain area, simmani hold scared rituals honoring mountain gods, and when they used to discover that mountain ginseng they would cry “심봤다” (simbwatda) to tell their fellow simmani, who would gather and lie prostrate until all the sansam that had just been discovered was unearthed. Then they would give thanks to the mountain gods.

These days people use the saying simbwatda metaphorically, when they come across something as rare and precious as mountain ginseng.

Source From: Arirang

You might have learned that “Mr.” or “Mrs.” in English is (씨,ssi) in Korean, but in fact it can be somehow rude to use it when speaking to someone far older than you.

In Korean seonsaengnim is sometimes used to mean the same thing as (씨,ssi), though it is used far more in reference to adult men than women.

Do not act surprised if you hear Koreans calling people seonsaengnim in places other than schools. For example, you’ll frequently hear store owners call male customers this.

Perhaps because people traditionally had a lot of respect for teachers and the elderly in Korea that this tradition began.

Others might include hospitals, where doctors might be called uisa seonsaengnim (Doctor Seonsaengnim), or even in beauty salons, where the person best at doing hair might be called seonsaengnim as well.

It would be safe to say that the word in used in a truly diverse range of ways in Korean.

Source From: Arirang

Korean Talchum was enjoyed mainly by the common people and has been handed down as an important traditional activity. It wouldn’t be too much to say that talchum was done as part of life, that it was itself part of life and an extension of it.

It was precisely in the time and space of the common people’s lives that people did these mask dances. Korea has a variety of traditional masks. Some are designated National Treasures; Hahoe masks and Byeongsan masks.

Source From: Arirang

Rubber was once a precious material, so ‘black rubber shoes’ were more common because they could be made from recycled rubber. You can’t see them anymore.

Eventually there came to ba alot of variety, with bleach used to make white shoes, shoes with flower designs for women, children’s shoes, and other varieties. Would you like to try on a pair of rubber shoes? They’re so comfortable you probably won’t want to take them off.

Source From: Arirang