[KS] 5th 14th 23rd

[Sem]

Dear Werner,


One thing that has not come up yet in the replies to your query is that two of the three days coincide with the so-called posadha days, the six "fasting days" (??, ???) when the Buddhist laity had to observe thee additional precepts to the normal five.

These were the days when their behavior was scrutinized by four heavenly kings or other deities. They were originally the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, 29th and 30th of every month. Perhaps the "three ruining days" are a simplification/corruption of this? The term appears only twice in the database of Korean classics (http://db.itkc.or.kr/), and without specification of which days of the month they correspond to. I am not aware of any reference to such custom in Koryo, so my guess is that it's a later simplification or corruption, perhaps influenced by the numerical thinking you point to...


best,


Sem




Sem Vermeersch
Associate Prof., Dept. of Religious Studies
Director,  Int'l Center for Korean Studies
Seoul National University
1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742
Tel. +82-2-880-4039


________________________________
From: Koreanstudies <koreanstudies-bounces at koreanstudies.com> on behalf of Werner Sasse <werner_sasse at hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2016 6:20 AM
To: list korean studies
Subject: [KS] 5th 14th 23rd



Dear colleagues,

In a translation I am working at there is a paragraph which bothers me, but I cannot come up with solutions. Any help will be appreciated...


???? ???????? The 5th, 14th, and 23rd days are called the "Three Ruining Days".

????? ???? ???? Every Month people are afraid to do anything, any work or leaving the house.

?????????????????????????????  It is said that since Koryo customarily the king took these three days and therefore ministers and all people incorrectly made them into taboo days. Originally they were not "Ruining Days"


Questions I have:


1) 5-14-23 with the difference of 9 makes me think of the Nine Influencers ?? (skr. Nahagraha, often translated as "planets" or "luminaries"). Does it have to do with birthday or any other important event? With mercury (number 5 in numerology) and its influence? Or with jupiter mok-chiksong ???, the 5th of the ???

2) which Koryo king (or, since it is a hanmun text, Koguryo "king")?

3) And who is behind the "It is said..."?


Translations, secondary literature, and three days wasted in the internet did not help me. Of course, I could just not bother and translate the text as it is, but I would just like to find some background to these enigmatic statements. It would be nice for me and probably for any serious reader of the translation...


Looking forward

Werner

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://koreanstudies.com/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreanstudies.com/attachments/20161213/4f56c84d/attachment.html>