Jungyangjeol, one of the luckiest days in the Korean calendar

Autumn scenery of Seoul from the city wall in November 2018 Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

Autumn is, arguably, the best time of the year to visit Korea. The oppressive heat of summer and the unbearable humidity of the rainy season are replaced with the crisp, cool temperatures of the mornings and the brilliance of the red and golden leaves on the forested mountains. Besides beautiful scenery, cool temperatures and delicious food and drink, autumn has Jungyangjeol ― one of the luckiest days in the Korean calendar.

Jungyangjeol, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is said to be one of the luckiest days of the year. In the past, people used to climb mountains and take in the scenery while drinking honey citron tea and eating gukhwajeon (chrysanthemum pancakes).

An American diplomat who had served in Korea in the mid-1890s claimed this was the day in which the chrysanthemums began to bloom and Koreans would place the flower's petals in their wine cups as they relaxed in the colorful splendor of fall and scanned the sky for swallows.

It was believed that on this day the swallows would leave the Korean Peninsula and fly south to China for the winter, returning in the following spring. Swallows were believed to be lucky. According to one divination, a family would greatly prosper if a swallow built its nest near the house or in the yard. Yet, despite the perception of them as symbols of luck, they are conspicuously missing from Korean zoological myths.

Visages of the past along the city wall in November 2018 Robert Neff Collection

Richard Rutt, an Anglican missionary, wrote a series of anonymous articles for The Korea Times in 1957 in which he described his life in a small village near Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. We are fortunate that very few things escaped his attention and his anecdotes provide some of the only observations in English of a time that is quickly fading from memory.

"I am watching for the swallows and the wild geese. They are supposed to change places on the ninth day of the ninth moon. This year we have had a leap moon before the ninth moon, and I wondered whether it would upset the birds' calculations. The swallows should have stayed until the end of October, but they seem to have lost patience, and I have seen none since last week."

Korean superstitions have always been popular subjects for foreigners to write about. Many of the early Western visitors to Korea wrote letters home to their families or articles for magazines describing these superstitions and beliefs. Edward S. Morse, an American educator, zoologist and archaeologist living in Japan in the 1880s, had the opportunity to speak with and interview a number of Koreans visiting or living in Japan during that period. In one of his articles, "Interviews with a Korean," he wrote:

"Among the Korean superstitions are a dislike to have a cat approach a dead person. If such an accident happens the corpse will stand upright and the body has to be knocked down with a broom."

Autumn's leafy blanket on Seoul's historical past in November 2018 Robert Neff Collection

Up until recently, cats were generally viewed in a negative light not only by the dead, but also the living.

Another source of bad luck was clumsiness at the dining table:

"In eating rice, which is always eaten with a spoon, if the first spoonful is dropped, it is considered a sign of bad luck."

Speaking about eating, according to Morse, some Koreans believed that if their chin itched it was a sign that you would soon enjoy rice cake, and if your ear itched, someone was talking about you. I am not sure about the first but the latter, at least amongst my friends, is still common.

It used to be fairly common to bring toilet paper, soap or cleaning supplies to a housewarming but according to Morse:

"In occupying a new house the first thing they do is to have a woman carry in a bunch of matches. This insures prosperity."

The beauty of the city wall in November 2018 Robert Neff Collection

There were other lucky charms:

"Unlike Europeans, [Koreans] believe the number thirteen to be lucky, but they agree with the [Europeans] in considering a horseshoe over the door as bringing good luck with it."

I am not sure how accurate his claims are but I do know James Scarth Gale, a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, found sadistic pleasure with Korean ponies being shod:

"I love to see the pony shod, see him pinioned teeth and nail, in one hard knot, lying on his back under the spreading chestnut tree, with the village smithy putting tacks into him that brings tears to his eyes."

Portents of good and bad luck could also be found in dreams or in the darkness of night:

"The hooting of an owl is thought to announce the death of the master of the house … [and] if a Korean dreams of a Buddhist priest he considers himself in danger of being poisoned."

Seoul seen from the city wall in November 2018 Robert Neff Collection

Sometimes, what we would normally consider to be lucky was actually unlucky.

"Money found is considered bad luck, as it is gained without labor, and every evenly-balanced Korean will spend it before he enters a house. This, he thinks, will avert any calamity."

Morse gave no explanation why found money was considered to be unlucky but I think it goes back to an ingenious way of passing one's own bad luck onto another person ― usually this other person had no other option but accept your bad luck in order to survive.

So, this weekend, go out and experience the joys of autumn by climbing a nearby mountain and, if you should be lucky (or unlucky) enough to find some money, treat yourself to some gukhwajeon and citron tea while gazing upon the beauty of the Land of the Morning Calm.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.