Today is Malbok (말복, 末伏), Aug. 16, 2016, marking the beginning of the final ten "hot days" of summer. On Malbok, traditionally one of the last hot days of the year, people generally eat ginseng chicken soup or other similar dishes to find "balance" between the "elements" in their body. Also, ginseng chicken soup, or samgyetang, is simply a delicious way to escape the heat.

Traditional East Asian philosophy organized itself around the concept of five "elements," or "phases" or "agents." They were wood (목, 木), fire (화, 火), earth (토, 土), metal (금, 金) and water (수, 水), each associated, in turn, with the colors green, red, yellow, white and black. The interplay between these "elements" was closely associated with many beliefs concerning everything from musical composition, writing and painting, through to military strategy and architecture or feng shui (풍수, 風水). Of course, this philosophy also permeated medicine, health, cuisine and, of course, the art of cooking. Ginseng chicken soup lies at the heart of traditional cuisine and at the heart of the concept of "balance" between the five "elements."







Now, according to the lunar calendar, the 28th day of the fifth lunar month is Chobok (초복, 初伏) (July 17, 2016). It generally falls in June, July or August. This is the beginning of the "hot days" of summer. Ten days later is Jungbok (중복, 中伏) (July 27, 2016), the beginning of the middle section of the "hottest days of summer." That lasts for 20 days. Then we have Malbok (말복, 末伏), today, Aug. 16, 2016, which marks the beginning of the final ten "hot days" of summer. In total, this 40-day period, marked by the three -bok days, generally straddles June, July and August, some of the hottest months in the northern hemisphere. Together, they are referred to as the Sambok (삼복, 三伏), literally the "Three Submissions" or "Three Prostrations."

Combine the traditional belief in five "elements" with the lunar calendar's hottest summer days and we end up with an expression that can be roughly translated as, "Fight fire with fire" (이열 치열, 以熱 治熱). It is this reason why people eat ginseng chicken soup, or samgyetang: to keep up their "energy" and to "balance" their body heat with the soaring summer season outside. Cafeterias serve chicken ginseng soup on Chobok itself, the traditional beginning of summer. Search engines design cute animated cartoons for their homepages on the three -bok days featuring ginseng chicken soup. Media outlets flock to famous ginseng chicken soup restaurants to interview families waiting in line for their boiling summer dish. Lines can stretch for an hour or more. Ginseng chicken soup is a summer dish, through and through. It's not a meal if you're not sweating.







Finally, throughout the Sambok (삼복, 三伏) hot days of summer, people would often head to the mountains or to the beach for a day trip, escaping the heat and cooling down in either a mountain stream or the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula. This traditional trip to cool down was called a Bokdarim (복달임). Nowadays, it's just called getting together with friends or else heading to the beach for a family summer vacation.

So today on Malbok (말복, 末伏), Aug. 16, 2016, get together with your friends for some delicious ginseng chicken soup, or samgyetang, and mark the final end-days of summer. Autumn will soon be here.

By Gregory C. Eaves
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: National Folk Museum of Korea
gceaves@korea.kr