notes on #24

[ajk]

Three lines in #24 interested me enough to look into them a bit. Here's what I found:

1. Prince Kyoungnyeong tells Yi Sookbun that “you could become [the crown prince’s] Zhang Zifang.” Did not know this reference, but it turns out that Zhang Zifang is merely a different romanization of Zhang Liang, the Chinese advisor whose name was mentioned in Ep22 in a very similar context. I posted some info and a link about this person in the “weird line in #22” tread, if anyone hasn’t noticed it yet.

2. Yi Sookbun says to the crown prince, “Life is not all beer and skittles.” Skittles? No, not the candy. Skittles is a term for an informal game of chess; it’s also the name of an old European form of bowling. Neither of these uses seems like it could be old enough for a Joseon-era reference, so maybe the translator used the term as the best match for a historical concept that has no current Western equivalent. But if anybody else knows for sure, please do post something and straighten me out.

3. Ok Hwan talking about Auri: “She will take care of the useless libertine for us.” According to Wikipedia, the word “libertine” means a person who is “devoid of any restraints, especially one who ignores or even spurns religious norms, accepted morals, and forms of behavior sanctioned by the larger society.” Like the words above, libertine is too new of a word to have been used during Sejong’s lifetime, so this must be another best-option word for an older concept. (Solid work by the translators for even knowing these English words in the first place!)

And then there's the one thing in #24 that I couldn't find any info on: chuksukhee, the sport we saw them playing. Seeing those guys throwing rocks at each other point-blank, my initial reaction was You've got to be kidding; that can't possibly be a real sport. But on the other hand, I don't know why the writers would make up something so bizarre. If anybody can fill us in on it--is it real, what are the rules, etc.--I'm sure everybody here would be very interested and would appreciate it. We've seen some weird stuff in these historical dramas but this one has to be right up at the top.

[florel]

"Chuksukhee" is a tranditional play from Antiquity, Goguryo times. It's also called as Seokjeon, literally meaning "Stone-War". It means it was a kind of war preparing game in old days. It was so violent that it was often criticized in Chosun period. Prince Yangnyong's third son, Yi Hye was a famous chuksukhee maniac.


Photo and animation on this site.

www.koreangame.net/kcrc/show/indi.asp?id=56

[kathleen34]

that's wonderful florel! I GOOGLED Chuksukhee and there wasn't anything at all. Which proves that you're better than GOOGLE! Next time I'll FLOREL for information.

It's still a strange 'game' ... which we got to see more of this evening. How could this be an enjoyable thing to participate in. But there was the Crown Prince defending himself ... among flying dirt and flying competitors and flying rocks.

And when he's finished playing he simply wipes his very clean face - and the best part, his collar was bright white! Not a speck of dirt anywhere.

To quote you florel,
"Yangnyong's third son, Yi Hye was a famous chuksukhee maniac" Seems to me that ANYONE who plays this is a maniac. Thanks again for the information.

[ajk]

florel, thanks so much for the post. We can certainly see why the game was criticized. Frankly, it seems like an odd type of war preparation, except maybe it increases alertness about incoming arrows or something like that.

The drawing in your link is interesting because it shows the teams separated by a moat. The field in the series is a flat area with no moat. In Ep24 there was even some hand-to-hand fighting, although in Ep25 all I saw was throwing (and there was a lot more of the acrobatic dodging). So maybe the game has different variations. Anyway, it didn't seem like a made-up game and am glad to have that confirmed. MUCH appreciated.

[Candylover]

Next is what I found on the net and translated from Korean to English. If you are interested, you could start your research from the references I listed below.

There were no special rules for seokjeon or "stone war" and the wars took place in the first Lunar month of the year. At first the two teams start to fight at a distance on both sides of a river or stream (sometimes a ridge in a field), shouting out, brandishing sticks and throwing stones mostly with stone-slings, not with bare hands.

( See the stone slings and sticks in the video florel showed us.
www.koreangame.net/kcrc/show/show.asp?id=56&page=1 )

Korean records say "stones flew like a rain." When one team is pushed back, the other team crosses the water and gives chase to the retreating team. Then they approach each other to beat the other team members with sticks. The team that finally runs away loses the game. People used to bleed at the noses and have their arms broken and some died, but no one was supposed to be responsible for it.
This tradition of stone wars was already described in the 6th century Chinese historical records: "At the beginning of the year Koguryo people gather on both sides of the Daedong River. They throw stones and splash water. After changing the offense and defence two or three time, they stop the fight."
The tradition of stone war continued until the early 20th century. Some Westerners who visited Korea at the time were deeply impressed by this dangerous sport and their description and embarrassment are shown below.

W.R. Carles, ¡¶Life in Corea¡· London. 1887, p173
A. Henry Savage-Landor, 1895, Corea or Cho-sen, the land of morning calm,
H.B. Hulber, ¡¶The Passing of Korea¡·

[Soju]

This should have been a "Demonstration Event" in the Seoul Olympics.

[ajk]

Candylover, thanks so much for your generosity--that's great stuff. Very interesting. I didn't notice any stone slings in either of the matches we saw, but I'll be sure to keep an eye out if they show more matches. Maybe it was too tough for the actors to master the skill of using the slings. And they used shields in the show, but no sticks. Like you say, the rules must have been very flexible.

And I'm surprised that part of the goal was to cross through the moat. If the moat has any depth to it, you're going to have a heck of a time getting across it because you sure can't dodge the rocks as well when you're in water up to your waist. (Maybe the best strategy is to go underwater completely.) It's amazing that it continued to be popular for so long. Tradition or not, you'd think that somebody would have put a stop to it long ago.

I still can't imagine how anybody would have come up with a game like that in the first place. "Hey, dude, let's stand twenty feet apart and throw rocks at each other." "Dude--what a great idea!" Utterly beyond me.

[pabomandu]

If i am not mistaken the Scots have a dare game similar to this, but basically it is one against one to see who will flinch...an example was in Braveheart...Ach...

[Candylover]

Last weekend I went to a college library in Seoul to read a book. After reading over the book, I had some extratime and searched for the English books I had mentioned in the previous post. At first I didnt' expect to find any of them, but to my astonishment, the books written by British and American persons more than 100 years ago were there! I copied the pages on "stone-fight" and typed them out.
The observant writers very vividly described the stone-fights and will let you understand what stone-fight was like.

A. Henry Savage-Landor, 1895, Corea or Cho-sen, the land of morning calm, Heineman(London), pp.270-275

The most important contests of all are the stone and club-fight, which are a national institution, approved by the Government and patronised by everybody. They sometimes attain such large proportions as to be regular battles. Supposing that one town or village has, from motives of jealously or other causes, reason to complain of a neighbouring city or borough, a stone-fight during the first moon is invariably selected as the proper method of settling the difference. Private families, with their friends, fight in this wayagainst other private families and their allies; and entire guilds of tradesmen sometimes fight other guilds, several hundreds of men being brought into the field on either side.
Children are much encouraged in this sport, it being supposed that they are thus made strong, brave and fearless; and I have actually seen mothers bring children of only eight or nine years old up to the scratch, against an equal number of lads urged on by their mothers on the other side. One boy on each side, generally the pluckiest of the lot, is the leader, and he is provided with a small club, besides wearing on his heada large felt hat with a sort of wreath round the crown, probably as a protection against the blows that might reach his head. After him come ten, twenty or more other children in their little red jackets, some armed with a club like their leader, the others with armful of stones. A good mound of this ammunition is also, as a rule, collected in the rear, to provide for the wants of the battle. The two leaders then advance and formally challenge each other, the main body of their forces following in a triangle; and when, after a certain amount ofhesitation, the two have exchanged a few sonorous blows with their clubs on each other's skulls, the battle begins in earnest, volleys of stones are fired and blows freely distributed until the forces of one leader succeed in pushing back and disbanding the others.
A fight of this kind, even among children, lasts for several hours, and as can well be imagined, at the end of it there are a great many bleeding noses and broken teeth, besides bruises in profusion. The victor from these fights is made much of and receives presents from his parents and the friends of the family. The principal streets and open spaces in Seoul, during the fighting period, are alive with these youthful combatants, and large crowds assemble to witness their battles, taking as much interest in them as do the Spaniards in their bull-fights, and certainly causing as much excitement.
More serious than these, however, are the hostilities which occasionally take place between two guilds. When I was in Seoul, there was a great feud between the butchers and those practising the noble art of plastering the houses with mud. Both trades are considered by the Coreans to belong to the lowest grade of the society; and this being so, the contest would naturally prove of an envenomed and brutal character. A day was fixed, upon which a battle should take place, to decide whose claims were to prevail, and a battle field was selected on a plain just outside the South Gate of the city. The battlefield was intersected by the same small frozen rivulet which also crosses Seoul; and it was on the western side, near the city wall, where stood a low hill, that on the day appointed I took up my position to view the fight, sketch and note-book in hand.
The two armies duly arrived, and placed themselves in position, the butchers on one side of the stream, the platers on the other. There were altogether about eighteen hundred men in the field, that is to say, about nine hundred on each side. As I could not get a very good view from my high point of vantage, I foolishly descended to the valley to inspect the fighting trim of the combatants, with the result that when the signal for the battle to begin was given I found myself under a shower of missiles of all weights and sizes, which poured down upon me with incredible rapidity and solidity. Piles of stones had been previously massed together by the belligerent parties, and fresh supplies came pelting down incessantly. I must acknowledge I did not enjoy my position at all, for the stones went whistling past, above my head, fired as they were with tremendous force by means of slings.
The confusion was great. Some men were busy collecting the stones into heaps again, while others were running to and fro-going to fetch, or carrying, fresh ammunition to the front; and all the time the two armies were gradually approaching one another until at last they came together on the banks of the narrow stream. Here, considering the well-directed pelting of stones, it was difficult to say which army would succeed in dislodging the other. Those on the opposite side to where I was made a rush upon me, but were fired upon with with such increased vigour that they were repulsed; the, however, concentrating their forces on one point, they made a fresh attack and broke right into our ranks, fighting corps a corps, and pushing back the men on my side, until the whole of their contingent was brought over to our side of the stream. I was not, of course, taking any active part in the fighting, but, seeing the bad turn the struggle was assuming, I made up my mind that I was destined to have my skull broken before the fray was over. Though the duelling was fierce, however, each man being pitted against his opponent with clubs and drawn knives, and hammering or stabbing at him to his heart's content, I, somehow, was in no way molested, except of course, that I was naturally much knocked about and bruised, and several times actually came in contact, and face to face, with the irate enemy.
If you can imagine eighteen hundred people fighting by twos in a comparatively limited space and all crowded together; if you can form an idea of the screaming, howling, and yelling in their excitement; and if you can depict the whole scene with its envelopment of dust, then you will have a fair notion of what that stonefight was like. The fighting continued briskly for over three hours, and many a skull was smashed. Some fell and were trampled to death; others had very severe knife wounds; a few were killed right out. When the battle was over, few were found to have escaped without a bruise or a wound, and yet, after all, very few were actually killed, considering how viciously they fought. Indeed, there were in all only about half a dozen dead bodies left on the battle-field when the combatants departed to the sound of the "big bell" which announced the closing of the city gates.
After a long discussion on the part of the leaders, it was announced that the battle was to be considered a draw, and that it would, therefore, have to be renewed on the next afternoon. The argument, I was told, was that, though the other side had managed to penetrate the camp on my side, yet they had not been able to completely rout us, we having made a firm stand against them. For the following two or three days, however, it snowed heavily, and the fighting had to be postponed; and on the day it actually take place, to my great sorrow, I was unable to attend, owing to a command to go to the palace. To my satisfaction I was subsequently informed that the plasterers, that is to say, my side, had ultimately come off victorious.
The police generally attend these battles, but only to protect the spectators, and not to interfere in any way with the belligerents. Soldiers are prohibited from taking any active part in fights which have no concern for them; but they may fight as much as ever they please among themselves durign the free period allowed by the law. The fights of the latter class are usually very fierce, and are invariantly carried out with bare chest and arms, that their uniforms may not be spoiled.
When that dreadful fortnight of fighting is over, the country again assumes its wonted quiet; new debts are contracted, fresh hatred and jealousies are formented, and fresh causes are procured for further stone-battles during the first moon of the next year.
Such is life in Cho-sen, where, with the exception of those fifteen days, there is calm, too much of it, not only in the morning in accordance with the national designation, but all through both day and night; where, month after month, people vegetate, instead of live, leading the most monotonous of all monotonous lives. It is not surprising, then, that once a year, as a kind of redeeming point, they feel the want of a vigorous re-action; and I am sure, for such a purpose as this, they could not have devised anything wilder or more exciting than a stone-battle.
The King himself follows with the utmost interest the results of the important battles fought out between the different guilds, and reports of the victories obtained are always conveyed to him at once, either by the leader of the conquering parties, or through some high official at Court.

W. R. Carles, 1888, Life in Corea, Macmillan(London, New York), pp.172-173

As it turned out, he had known me at Chemulpo, and accordingly I was introduced to the crowd as a friend. There had, however, been no sign of the least feeling of unfriendliness, though Phyong-yang had been spoken of to me as a dangerous place, since the people were fond of fighting and stone-throwing.
At certain times of the year leave is given them to fight, and for about three days a war of stones is carried on between the townsmen and country-folk. If a man is killed, his death is regarded as an unavoidable accident, and the authorities take no notice of it. On one of these occasons Kim, my interpreter, had received a blow on the head, which had laid him up for two months, and left a big dent in his skull.
Of their stone-throwing I saw something the second day I was in Phyong-yang. I happened to be idly throwing stones into the river from a height, and three or four men who were near came up and matched themselves against me. The act struck me as exceedingly un-Oriental, and evidently betokened a friendly feeling on their part, rather than the reverse.


Homer B. Hulbert, 1906, The Passing of Korea, pp.277-278

Different sections of the same town may be pitted against each other, but more often contiguous villages defy each other and fly the banner of challenge. Out they pour into the empty, fenceless fields, some armed with thick clubs and protected by heavy padded helmets, while others merely throw stones. The champions of either side prance up and down before their respective factions, twirling their clubs and breathing out threatenings and slaughter. Stones begin to fly, most of them falling short of the mark, and the rest being deftly dodged. After the two warring factions have reinforced their courage by streams of most libellous invective, and have worked themselves up to the fighting pitch, they move toward each other warily, the stones fly more thickly, the champions prance more vaingloriously. Meanwhile the multitudes of white-clothed non-combatants, who cover the surrounding hills, shout encouragement to their respective favourites. The champions gradually close with each other and give and receive sounding thwacks on the head or shoulder, while over them the stones fly thick and fast. Suddenly a defending yell goes up from one side and a wild charge is made. The opposite side gives way, and it looks as if the day were won, but as soon as the first ardour of the pursuit is over the fugitives turn and make a counter-charge. Unlucky is the wight who is overtaken before he gains the thick of his own ranks again. And so it goes on by the hour, rush and counter-rush, wild shoutings of delighted spectators, clouds of dust, broken pates, profanity unlimited and gruesome gaps where erstwhiles were gleaming teeth. The excitement is much the same as that of the Spanish bull-fight, and the same fierce, elemental passions are let loose in participants and spectators alike. Rarely does a season pass but three or four men are killed in these encounters, but if the excitement runs too high the police or gendarmes are likely to interfere. In the heat of action houses are sometimes razed, but as a usual thing the fight results only in bruised arms, broken heads and unlimited invective. The heaviest traffic on the electric tramway is when the crowds go out of the city gates to watch these stone-fights. One day last year thirty-four thousand people were carried, a number twice as large as the average. It would be safe to say that in the environs of Seoul twenty-five thousand persons witnessed the fights that day.

[ajk]

Candylover, that is an AWESOME post. I wish I could pin a medal on you for it. Like you, I'm very surprised that you were able to find all three of those old English-language books in your library. It was nice of you to even check for them. And to search them for this material and take the time to type it out for us...all I can say is I'm bowing towards Seoul today.

And the material is VERY interesting. Obviously these stone wars were a very important part of the culture for a long, long time. It's amazing that mothers even pushed their young sons into them. It must have been quite a sight to see one of these things going on. And it certainly is a surprise that more people didn't get killed or seriously injured (although the people didn't seem to consider a dented skull a serious injury!).

Anyway, thank you again for your kindness and great work. If you're ever in Chicago, dinner is on me.