[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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