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<DIV>I hope this will reach the list members.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am of the generation who was born before the Korean War and have a memory
of not only the use of oak-chacoal in small cooking stoves called Poong-Ro and
even smaller pieces put in the center heating element of the Shin-Seol-Lo on
guests' tables. The yeontan with 19holes which used to be called
sip-gu-gong-tan as opposed to the Gu-Gong-Tan (9 hole coal briquettes) appeared
only after the Korean War. I don't exactly remember the year but probably
close to the end of 50s if not early 60s. The burned ash briquettes used
to line the alley ways in residential areas in Seoul. Some of the ashes
used to be scattered in the middle of the streets to make the icy
(frozen) surfaces less slippery for the automobiles.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In my very deep memory, we, the Korean elementary students were taught
that in Silla Dynasty, people had such a wonderful life that they cooked with
charcoal and there was no smoke in Sorabol, which is now Kyong-Joo.
Whether what we were taught in the sixth grade Korean history class was true or
not, charcoal in Korea must have had more history than what we
remember from the latter half of the 20th Centry.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just adding my two-cents worth to all your wonderful comings and
goings.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Kay RichardsKyung-Nyun Kim Richards<BR>Poet/Translator (Korean
Lit.)<BR>3126 Eton Avenue<BR>Berkeley, CA
94705<BR>U.S.A. </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at
href="mailto:ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at">Ruediger Frank</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws
href="mailto:koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws">Korean Studies Discussion List</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, December 11, 2011 1:11
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [KS] charcoal in
yeontans?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Dear
all,<BR>the yeontan thread has become quite long; apologies if the below has
already been mentioned. <BR>Based on my own observations and talks with
locals, I can say that yeontan are still very much in use in NK. I saw
numerous small piles of coal dust (a centner or two) on the roadside in cities
in Hamgyeongnamdo last October. They were pressed into briquets right on the
spot - same shape as the ones I had seen in SK and in China. Lack of proper
heating during wintertime is a major problem in NK, and as far as I was told,
not everyone can afford yeontan. So much for nostalgia... And for our often
too exclusively food-centered discussion of shortage in NK. Being cold can be
as painful as eing hungry. Needless to say that this is a shame for a country
so rich in high-quality anthracite; although we also must concede that the NK
coal exports to China have allegedly been reduced a few weeks ago to cover
(more of) domestic demand.<BR>A side note on the smoking trucks: I saw many of
them in the past years, mostly outside of Pyongyang. Poor folks on the open
platforms were covered in smoke but endured it stoically. At least they had a
ride... I think the engines are woodgas powered, and it seems possible to use
either fresh wood or charcoal. Here's the wiki link for some technical
details. </SPAN><A style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas</A><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> My parents told me that
these were widespread in Germany after WWII.<BR>Best,<BR>Rudiger
Frank<BR><BR><BR>on Samstag, 10. Dezember 2011 at 21:25 you
wrote:<BR><BR></SPAN>
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<TD width=708><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'arial'; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">I am
now recalling how we used to have a jump-start<BR>on making snowmen by
rolling those used cylinders<BR>of yeontan ash in the snow. It made for
an odd, lumpy<BR>rhythm to the construction of the big
snowball. <BR>I also recall how, when the freshly-expended
yeontan<BR>were left outside, we would often annoy the adults<BR>(and
each other) by pissing on them and creating<BR>the foulest-smelling
cloud of urine-steam.<BR>And, of course, the carbon monoxide
poisoning,<BR>which I imagine nearly every Korean over 40
has<BR>experienced!<BR>Cheers,<BR>HIF<BR><BR><BR><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Brother
Anthony <ansonjae@sogang.ac.kr><BR>To: Korean Studies Discussion
List <koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws><BR>Sent: Sat, Dec 10, 2011 5:27
am<BR>Subject: [KS] charcoal in yeontans?<BR><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'courier new'; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">I think that the
confusion comes from the etymology of 'tan' whether in
yeontan <BR>(briquette) or seoktan (coal). The Chinese character
'tan' is (if anyone can <BR>read it online) '炭' which in Korea is
identified as "숯 탄" (sut tan) where sut / <BR>숯 is the Korean word
meaning 'charcoal'. I think there is no doubt at all that <BR>the
modern domestic briquette is and always has been made of anthracite and
part <BR>of the confusion comes from a lot of Koreans (and perhaps
others) not knowing <BR>what 'charcoal' is, how it is made, or how
it differs from other forms of <BR>'coal'. The internet is full of
mentions of "charcoal yeontans" but that does <BR>not make for
proof, being only a sign of fairly natural confusion. All
technical <BR>descriptions specify that the briquette is made using
anthracite.<BR><BR>In recent years the yeontan has become something of
an endangered species, as <BR>described by the Korea Times in
2007 </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><A
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'courier new'; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"
href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2011/04/123_11874.html">http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2011/04/123_11874.html</A><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'courier new'; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"> <BR>(an article
where the word 'charcoal' manages to creep in once despite
its <BR>stress on the shortage of anthracite). One result is
probably a large increase <BR>in the number of broken limbs on icy
slopes in winter, since in the Good Old <BR>Days we used to
thankfully crush used yeontans all the way down the hills
when <BR>it snowed. The clouds of filthy dust that rose above Seoul
in the wind after the <BR>ice and snow were gone were an unhappy
by-product, as were the cases of black <BR>lung disease among
people living close to the huge mounds of powdered coal in <BR>the
yards of yeontan factories.<BR><BR>The nicest way of looking at yeontans
is in a poem by An Do-Hyeon:<BR><BR>One coal
briquette <BR><BR>There are lots of other ways of putting
it <BR>but it's as if what we call life <BR>means
becoming a coal briquette <BR>for someone other than
myself. <BR><BR>From the day the floors first feel chilly till the
following spring, <BR>the loveliest thing on all the roads of
Korea <BR>is the briquette truck chugging <BR>its way up steep
inclines with all its might. <BR>I eat piping hot rice and soup
every day, <BR>but it's as if I had not realized that once the
flame has caught hold, <BR>each briquette grows scorching
hot, <BR>seeming to know just what's required of it. <BR>It's
as if I have been unable to become a briquette for anyone so
far <BR>because I was afraid of the way, once love has caught
fully hold <BR>all that remains is a sorry handful of
ash.<BR><BR>On careful thought, <BR>it's as if what we call
life <BR>is pulverising me <BR>in order to make a safe path
where someone other than myself <BR>can walk at ease on slippery
mornings after snow has fallen <BR>and I had failed to realize
that. <BR><BR>A final bit of nostalgia: it used to be such fun to
get home late on a freezing <BR>evening and find that the yeontans
in the stove had gone out because no one had <BR>been there to
change them, so one had to start all over again and it took
ages <BR>before they were properly lit and glowing. The young
generations don't know what <BR>they have missed.<BR><BR>Brother
Anthony<BR>Sogang University
etc<BR><BR><BR></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>