Korean Cetacean Words, Expressions, and Sayings (Part 2A)
“Gorae (고래)” is a vernacular word, which means a whale or cetacean in Korean. “Gyeong (鯨)” is a logographic syllable that indicates whales. In a vein of East Asian thought, whales are associated with the terrestrial divine. In Buddhism, a whale, specifically a narwhal, is euphemized as a mystical animal, Jicheongsu (地聽獸 the terrestrial animal who hears or an acoustic animal of the Earth), in association with Bodhisattva Jijang (地藏 Ksitigarbha). Jijang (Jizo in Japanese and Dizang in Chinese), Gim Gyogak of a Sillan royalty, is told to have crossed the West Sea of the Korean Peninsula to Tang China (618-907) by riding Jicheongsu. White in color, Jicheongsu is told to have had one horn. In iconography, Jicheongsu is depicted as a one-horned dragon-like beast.
The list of cetacean words includes below:
Gyeongjong (鯨鐘 Whale Bell), Hwagyeong (華鐘 Splendid Whale), or Janggyeong (長鐘 Old Whale) refers to Korean temple bells, which is discussed at length elsewhere.
Gyeonggon (鯨鯤 Gon Whale, Jingkun in Chinese): Refers to a whale represented as a gigantic mythological fish. In the Zhuangzi, Gon (Kun in Chinese) is described as an imaginary fish in the northern sea whose size is immeasurably enormous. It swims freely and metamorphoses itself to a gigantic bird, Bung (鵬 Peng in Chinese), which takes a flight in the infinitely wide heaven southward. The utterance of Gon Whale in the Zhuangzi, one of the philosophical texts of Daoism together with the Laozi, holds key to unlock the link between Daoist philosophy and Magoist Cetaceanism, the trans-patriarchal thought of Magoist Cetaceanism.
Gyeonggol (鯨骨 Cetacean bone)
Gyeongnoeyou (鯨腦油 Oil from the cetacean head): Cooled compressed oil drawn from whale’s brain bones.
Gyeongdo (鯨濤 Cetacean wave), Gyeongrang (鯨浪) or Gyeongpa (鯨波): A big wave of the sea.
Gyeongrap (鯨臘 Cetacean wax)
Gyeongryeop (鯨獵 Whaling)
Gyeongseon (鯨船 Whaling ship)
Gyeongseom (鯨銛 Whaling harpoon)
Gyeongak (鯨鰐 Whales and crocodiles)
Gyeongeo (鯨魚 Whale fish): Whale or the mallet of the Korean temple bell.
Gyeongye (鯨鯢 Male whale and female whale). Ye (鯢) also refers to a whale. See Yechi (Whale Teeth) below.
Gyeongyu (鯨油 Whale oil)
Gyeongeum (鯨飮 Whale drinking): A heavy drinking of alcohol like a whale’s drinking water.
Gyeongeum (鯨音 Whale sound): The sound of the Korean temple bell.
Gyeongtan(鯨呑 Whale swallowing): Control of the powerful over the meek like a whale swallows a school of small fish.
Gyeongpa (鯨波 Whale wave): A big wave, a loud roar.
Gyeonghu (鯨吼 Whale lore): A loud roar of a whale.
Yechi (鯢齒 Whale Teeth)
The following cetacean expressions are the linguistic code for us to assess the multi-faceted aspects of Magoist Cetaceanism. Among them is the most popular expression, “the back of a whale 고래등.” The back of a whale as big as 40 meter-long for the largest whale is euphemized as “a moving rock in the sea,” “a mountain in the sea,” or “an island” in myth, iconography, and lore. The myth of Yeono-rang and Seo-nyeo (Yeono Man and Seo Woman) or the myth of the Precious Queen Seo, as such I renamed, is a prime example, to be discussed in a later section. The motif that a whale is mistaken for an island appears across cultures in such stories as Brendan the navigator and Sinbad the sailor. Also the expression, “the back of a whale,” is used to refer to the roof architecture of a traditional Korean house that addresses its large and magnificent appearance to moderns.
“A roof-tiled house like the back of a whale 고래등 같은 기와집” refers to a big and majestic traditional house whose roof resembles the back of a whale. The roof can be a single roof or roofs. Used as a plural, this expression juxtaposes the roofs of a house or a village with the backs of whales, a pod of whales, in the sea (see the image). “A roof-tiled house like the back of a whale” has two cetacean implications. First, its roof is constructed after a whale’s back. Secondly, the very building with the whale-back-like roof represents a whale’s body. This is a complex topic to be discussed in detail at a later section.
“Bang gorae (방고래 Room whale)” of the ondol system, an underfloor heating system of traditional Korean architecture in the form of a whale’s body, a topic to be discussed in conjunction with “A roof-tiled house like the back of a whale.”
“Gorae gumeong (고래구멍 Whale entrance or hole)” is a dialect of the wood-burning furnace connected to Bang Gorae (Room whale).
“Gorae rangbi (고래랑비 Whale Rain)” refers to a pouring rain in a short time.
“Gorae gorae (고래고래)” is an onomatopoeia referring to a loud voice like that of a whale.
“Goraesimjul-gata (고래심줄 같다 Like whale’s tendon)” refers to the property that is as strong as whale’s tendon.
“Sul gorae (술고래 Whale-like drinker)” refers to one who heavily drinks alcohol.
“Chingchaneun goraedo chumchuge handa (칭찬은 고래도 춤추게 한다Complementing makes even whales dance)” conveys a moral that positive comments make one happy.”
“Gorae ssaume saeudeung teojinda (고래 싸움에 새우등 터진다The back of shrimp breaks when caught between whales in fight against each other)” refers to a small and meek party who gets sacrificed by the fights of big powers.
(To be continued)
(Meet Mago Contributor) Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.