Today is Chilseok Day, July 7 by the lunar calendar, when Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo are allowed to meet. Long, long ago, in the kingdom of heaven, a female weaver named Jiknyeo and cattle herder Gyeonwu fell in love. When people are in love, everything else tends to become inconsequential and that was what happened to the two lovers. Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo were so infatuated with each other that they neglected their work, causing a great confusion in the mythical kingdom. The Great Jade Emperor got so furious that he punished the two by live separately with the Milky Way running between the two sides and allowing them to reunite only once a year, on Chilseok Day. But alas, they had no means to cross the Milky Way, and all they could was to look at each other longingly. Feeling sorry for the young couple, magpies and crows flew up to where the lovely weaver and the handsome cattle herder were waiting and made a bridge by flying close to one another. That bridge is called Ojaggyo오작교, the bridge of magpies and crows. Finally reunited, the two lovers cried in joy at first but soon shed tears of sorrow as they had to part again soon. Their tears rained down on the earth and people used to say that it always rains on Chilseok Day because of Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo. Also, magpies and crows get bald spots on their heads from the two lovers stepping on them to cross the Milky Way. Today we will listen to “Chilseok” a haegeum piece performed by Ccotbyeol.  

Chilseok/ Haegeum by Ccotbyeol

Maybe Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo are whispering words of love in the sky above us. This mythical tale of Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo was probably inspired by the stars Altair and Vega which seemingly get real close once a year around July 7. People in ancient times must have thought up this heartbreaking love story as they admired the constellations up in the summer night sky. Next up is a female gagok가곡 song titled “Wind Is.” It’s lyrics go as follows. 

Wind blows like the trembling earth and cold rain comes pouring.

My beloved promised to come tonight, but how could he through this rainstorm?

But if he does come, we are truly meant for each other.

If it were Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo, they would have gone to see each other come rain or snow. Do you think the lovers who wrote the song met each other that night? Well, let’s listen to a modern arrangement of “Wind Is,” titled “Yeonbun,” which is sung by Ha Yun-ju today.

Yeonbun/ Sung by Ha Yun-ju

MC: Koreans used to eat flour pancake or noodles on Chilseok Day, perfect food for a rainy day. There was another Chilseok custom called “geolgyo걸교.”  

In the early morning hours of Chilseok, women would offer melons, cucumbers or other summer fruits and prayed to Jiknyeo to make them as good at weaving as her. That evening, if a spider had woven a web around the fruit offering, women believed that Jiknyeo heard their prayers and made their wishes come true, because weaving and sewing were one of the most important jobs for women in the old days. Today’s last song is a folk song from the southern provinces titled “Spinning Wheel Song.” Spinning thread was a tedious and repetitive labor, so women would often sing a song to ease the boredom and give some rhythm to their work. Let’s listen to “Spinning Wheel Song” sung by Ahn Hyang-yeon, Oh Jeong-sook and Nam Hae-seong. 

Spinning Wheel Song/ Sung by Ahn Hyang-yeon, Oh Jeong-sook, Nam Hae-seong