Monday, April 4, marks Cheongmyeong (청명, 淸明), the Day of Pure Brightness. Traditionally, this marks the "clearing" of the sky, what with the rapid approach of spring. The Day of Pure Brightness was generally a day to prepare the fields, but was also significant for certain royal ceremonies.

In terms of the royal household, on this day the Joseon monarch would distribute fire. According to the "Record of Seasonal Customs in the Eastern Kingdom" (Dongguk Sesigi, 동국 세시기, 東國 歲時記) (1849), meaning "Korea," the king's servants would start a fire on this day by rubbing a willow branch against an elm trunk and offer the flame to the king. The king would then hand out torches lit from this flame to members of his court and to governors from 360 towns across the country. This rite of distributing fire was literally called "gifting fire" (sahwa, 사화, 賜火). Town governors made more torches out of the torch received from the king and then handed those out to people in their local jurisdictions. This was the “new fire” that replaced the “old fire.” Until the arrival of the torch from the capital, people were not allowed to cook or heat their food, leading to the origins of Cold Food Day (Hansik, 한식, 寒食), as the Day of Pure Brightness normally falls on the day just before Cold Food Day, which falls on Tuesday, April 5, this year.



In terms of agriculture, the Day of Pure Brightness marks the day when the rice paddies and dry fields were tilled in preparation for planting. Clear weather on this day was a positive sign for the upcoming farming year. For fishing communities, clear weather signaled that there would be a wider range of fish varieties this year and a larger catch. If it was windy on the Day of Pure Brightness, both farming and fishing communities considered it a bad omen for the coming year.

Source: National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture



By Gregory C. Eaves
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture
gceaves@korea.kr