[KS] What is the history and use of charcoal in South Korea?

don kirk kirkdon at yahoo.com
Fri Dec 9 20:11:03 EST 2011


It's only been recently that those charcoal briquets seem to have disappeared. I remember seeing briquets outside doors in the alleys around where I stay in Seoul but, come to think of it, haven't seen too many lately. I'll bet they're still used in a lot of places.
Don Kirk

--- On Fri, 12/9/11, McCann, David <dmccann at fas.harvard.edu> wrote:

From: McCann, David <dmccann at fas.harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: [KS] What is the history and use of charcoal in South Korea?
To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Date: Friday, December 9, 2011, 6:34 PM

Let us not forget the charcoal briquets, yônt'an, used for home room heating in the 1960's.  Extremely dangerous, as I discovered one night when the prevailing winds in Andong shifted and the gas came near killing me.  Many fatalities did occur in those years.
David McCann


On Dec 9, 2011, at 1:50 PM, <Afostercarter at aol.com> <Afostercarter at aol.com> wrote:



In case your interest in charcoal also extends north 

of the DMZ, you may care to take a deep breath,
cover your mouth, hold your nose and contemplate
North Korea's surely unique (in 2011) contribution 
to
energy inefficiency, forest depletion, and air 
pollution
- three hits in one! - namely, charcoal-burning 
trucks:
 
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/03/03/2010030301014.html
 

They actually boast about this, as I noted some years 
ago:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/DH14Dg01.html
 
A more academic account, with pictures, is at
http://japanfocus.org/-Peter-Hayes/3233
 
Unbelievable but true, like much else about the 
DPRK.
 
Kind regards
Aidan FC
 
Aidan 
Foster-CarterHonorary Senior Research 
Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds University, UK E: afostercarter at aol.com     afostercarter at yahoo.com   W: www.aidanfc.net    W in Korea:  
http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http://aidanfc.net/index.html ______________ 
 
In a message dated 12/9/2011 09:13:54 GMT Standard Time, i at knigel.com 
writes:
Thank 
  you all for helping me with finding out if the myth behind the
Tancheon 
  (The Stream of Charcoal) was actual Korean folklore. I have,
unexpectedly, 
  become obsessed with charcoal. I hadn't realised how
much charcoal was, and 
  continues to be, used in Korean society. I've
been learning about the 
  charcoal kiln saunas, "white charcoal',
charcoal air fresheners, and lumps 
  of charcoal over gates to fend off
evil spirits from birthing women; 
  however, I'm having a bit of trouble
finding out some of the other historic 
  details in English about
charcoal. I'm wondering if any of the 
  anthropologists, or anyone else,
could direct me to some history or 
  folklore on charcoal in Korean
society. I'm interested in any tidbit or 
  fascinating fact. I
appreciate your help a 
  lot.

Kindness,
Knigel



 
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