Tuesday, August 23, marks Cheoseo (처서, 處暑), the 14th of the year's 24 solar terms and the traditional end to the summer heat.
Cheoseo occurs between Ipchu (입추, 立秋), Aug. 7, the traditional beginning of fall, and Baengno (백로, 白露), Sept. 7, the day of white dew. It usually falls in the second half of the seventh lunar month. On the Gregorian calendar, Cheoseo falls around Aug. 23. It begins that day, when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 150 degrees, and ends when it reaches 165 degrees longitude in early September.
Cheoseo (처서, 處暑), the traditional end of the summer heat, falls on Tuesday, Aug. 23, this year. Joseon farmers believed that the weather on Cheoseo would have an effect on their harvest later in the year.
As its name suggests, this solar term represents the end of the summer heat and the beginning of cooler autumn days. Cheoseo generally occurs after the Homissisi celebration (호미씻이, 洗鋤宴, 洗鋤會), the hoe washing festival, on Baekjung (백중, 百中), the Buddhist All Soul's Day, the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month.
In fact, Homissisi represents the end of weeding, via the act of "washing the weeding hoe." This signifies the end of the crop-growing season.
During Cheoseo farmers have a brief respite before they become busy again with the harvest. The weather around Cheoseo should be pleasant and the sun strong enough for the rice to fully mature. Concern about the weather and the upcoming harvest would lead farmers in the past to exploit different kinds of divination methods that could, they believed, predict the outcome of their crop that year.
The hoe-washing festival of Homissisi represents the end of the harvesting season, as the hoes are cleaned for the winter.
Accordingly, there are a lot of proverbs concerned with the relationship between the weather on Cheoseo and the future harvest. A popular proverb in Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, for instance, states that, "Rain on Cheoseo cuts down 1,000 bags from the harvest. Rain on Baengno, 100 bags."
Farmers in Buan and Cheongsan, in Jeollabuk-do Province, used to say that, "Rain on Cheoseo makes maidens cry."
So this Tuesday, on Cheoseo, spare some thought for farmers of the past and prepare yourself for the cooler autumn days.
This article was made possible through cooperation with the National Folk Museum of Korea and its Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture.
By Gregory C. Eaves
Korea.net Staf Writer
Photos: Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture
gceaves@korea.kr