Korea
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The Big Dipper and the Milk Dipper
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Gang Gam-chan, Incarnation of the Scholar's Star
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The Story of the Monk's Star
01
The Big Dipper and the Milk Dipper
Compiled by: Yong Bok Lee
Long before recorded history, our ancestors looked up at the night sky to observe the constellations. Two of these constellations were particularly well-known. The first was the “Big Dipper,” which appears in the northern sky, and the second was the “Milk Dipper,” which appears in the southern sky. Both constellations are shaped like ladles. Their images were frequently painted on the murals of Goguryeo-era* tombs. In Western astronomy, the constellation in which the Big Dipper is located is called the Great Bear, or "Ursa Major." When it is viewed from Korea, it is always positioned above the horizon, and so it can be seen almost year-round. The Milk Dipper is part of the Western constellation of Sagittarius. Because this constellation appears close to the southern horizon, it can be seen clearly during the summer months of July and August. The Big Dipper resembles a clock in the way it revolves around the North Star (Polaris) each day. In the clocks we use, it takes 12 hours for the small hand to make a full revolution, and the Big Dipper only differs in that it takes 24 hours to do the same. Also, depending on the season, the Big Dipper appears in a different position immediately after sunset. Take a look at the Big Dipper after the sun sets. If the dipper's handle points down below the northern horizon, the time is close to the winter solstice. If it points to the eastern horizon, it is close to the vernal equinox. If it points over your head, it is around the summer solstice, and if it is pointing west, it is the autumnal equinox. Thus, the Big Dipper acts as both a watch and a calendar.
Since our ancestors placed so much importance on the Big Dipper, many tales related to it have been passed down through history. A book called Pirwon Japgi, which was written in Chinese during the Joseon era of Korea, includes one story about the Big Dipper and the Milk Dipper that has been passed down through the ages.
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Way back in the Joseon era (1392-1910AD), there was a man named Jeong-ryeom whose close friend fell ill with a serious disease. The friend took every kind of medicine, but to no avail. His elderly father heard that Jeong-ryeom had an amazing talent and came to him to ask for help. However, Jeong-ryeom realized that this friend had already spent all the life that Heaven had given to him, and that almost nothing could be done to save him. Worried about his son, the old father tearfully pleaded with Jeong-ryeom. Jeong-ryeom took pity on him and informed him that there was one way. "The only way is to take ten years off of my life and add them to your son's life," he said. "Tomorrow, after midnight, walk alone to the top of Mt. Namsan. You will see two monks, one dressed in red, and one dressed in black, sitting there face to face. Prostrate yourself and plead for the life of your son. They may get angry and try to chase you away, but under no circumstances are you to retreat. They may swing their canes at you, but you must not leave. If you do this and show them your sincerity, a way will appear."
That night, guided by the moonlight, the elderly father climbed alone to the top of Mt. Namsan just as Jeong-ryeom had told him to do. Two monks were indeed sitting there at the place Jeong-ryeom had foretold. The old father went before them and wept as he pleaded with them to extend his son's life. The astonished monks said, "Why would passing monks know about the life of your son? Get away from here at once." Although the father heard them, he kept pleading with them as though he hadn't. "This is a crazy person," the angry monks said. They raised their canes and struck him, and though he was in unbearable pain, the old man continued to constantly plead with them. Finally, the monk in red smiled and said, "Jeong-ryeom must have taught him this. For such a rotten deed, it serves him right to have ten years taken off his life and added to this fellow's son."
The monk in black nodded and said, "Yes, let us do so."
Clutching their canes, the two monks stood up and said, "All right, then. Shall we?" The monk in black reached into the folds of his sleeves and took out a book, which he handed to the monk in red. The monk in red raised his brush under the moonlight and wrote a word. Then he said, "Your son's life will now be extended by ten years. When you return, tell Jeong-ryeom that he is not to reveal divine secrets."
Then, the two monks suddenly disappeared.
It is said that when the old man returned home, his son's disease was cured. The son lived another ten years before dying, but Jeong-ryeom died around the age of 30, just as the monks had predicted.
The monk in red was the Lord of the Southern Star (Milk Dipper), and the monk in black was the Lord of the Northern Star (Big Dipper). Since long ago, our ancestors believed that the Big Dipper determines a person's death, and the Milk Dipper determines a person's life. When a person first appears in his mother's womb, the Milk Dipper records the date of his birth, and the Big Dipper records the date of his death. For this reason, the Big Dipper and Milk Dipper eventually became objects of faith, and a person who wanted to make a wish would appeal to the Big Dipper.
*Goguryeo (高句麗)is a dynasty that controlled a large part of the Korean Peninsula from 37 BC to 668 AD.
02
Gang Gam-chan, Incarnation of the Scholar's Star
Compiled by: Yong Bok Lee
The “Scholar's Star” is the fourth brightest of the seven stars in the Big Dipper. It is said that Gang Gam-chan**, a famous scholar and general of Koryeo*, was the incarnation of this star. The tale goes as follows.
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When the Scholar's Star knelt in front of him, the Lord of Heaven looked at the star curiously, wondering what was going on. He knew that the Scholar's Star had recently become very interested in the affairs of the world below, but it was the first time that the Scholar’s Star had come to him with such a serious expression.
The Scholar's Star said, "In the world below, Koryeo has struggled to organize three chaotic kingdoms into one new kingdom, and now the new realm is searching for stability. The people there seek to know and follow what is right, but they have been suffering from frequent barbarian invasions and various problems. Please give me leave to go down there and help them." The Lord of Heaven looked at the Scholar's Star's glowing face and then gently nodded his head in approval.
One evening a large star fell from the sky, and a boy was born where it landed. He was small in stature but had a handsome face that seemed to glow, and even when he was a small child, he possessed amazing abilities. Over time he grew up and passed the civil service examination, and he began managing the affairs of the kingdom. He did many extraordinary things, and he brought stability and peace of mind to the people of Koryeo.
When he was serving as a judge in Hanyang, tigers appeared day and night and snatched people away. The officials were worried, so the Scholar's Star wrote a letter and gave it to an official clerk saying, "Go to the northeast tomorrow morning. You will see an old monk sitting on a rock. You are to bring him here. If he does not want to come, show him this letter and he will come." The clerk did so. When the monk entered the compound, the Scholar's Star shouted at him, "You may be nothing more than a beast, but you do have a soul. How can you harm people in this way? Take the others and go somewhere else, or I will kill you with my bow and arrows." At these words, the monk hung his head apologetically. The people gathered around, laughed at the sight, and whispered to each other. What could the poor monk have to do with the invasion of tigers? The Scholar's Star issued a command to the monk, "Change back into your original form!" The monk leaped up into the air. A mighty roar rang forth from his mouth, and he suddenly transformed into a tiger. The people were stunned. The roars could be heard from far and near. The Scholar's Star nodded his head, and the tiger changed back into the old monk, made a polite bow, and departed. The next day, on the eastern edge of town, an old tiger led dozens of smaller tigers across the river, away from the fortress.
At another time, a dragon appeared in Bagyeon Pond and began snatching away young women. Whenever someone approached the pond, a wild storm would rage, terrifying the people. Hearing of this, the Scholar's Star went alone to Bagyeon Pond. "You in there, come out at once," he shouted. With a mighty splash, a dragon rose from the waters, its green scales glistening. Seeing Gang Gam-chan, the dragon attempted to attack him and gobble him up, but Gang did not bat an eyelash, he only sharply glared at the dragon. "How can you forget your station and torment people like this?" he asked. He then took out a whip and brandished it at the dragon. Struck by the whip, the dragon lost all its energy and came crashing down in an instant. Gang recited a spell, sending the dragon up into the Heaven.
The most troubling problem that remained for him was invasion by the Khitan***, a powerful northern tribe. The Khitan took every opportunity to invade the kingdom over and over. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost, but every time they invaded, the people endured tremendous suffering. One year a strange atmosphere gradually settled over Koryeo. There were eclipses, and the planets of Saturn and Jupiter were covered by the Sun. As Mars and Venus crossed between constellations, they displayed strange omens. Great storms raged, uprooting trees. Mountains crumbled. Gang Gam-chan looked at the skies and read the movement of the stars. He worried about the future of the country. "I see," he thought. "It seems that the Khitan will be coming back and invading again. They will use the change of kings as an excuse to attack. It will be difficult to defeat them this time. The best thing to do would be to flee first and plan something big for the future."
When King Hyeonjong took the throne, the Khitan king led an invasion of Koryeo's western capital. When they got word that the Goryeo army had been defeated, many retainers discussed surrendering. Gang Gam-chan had the King flee to the south. If he had not done so, the whole kingdom might have been thrown into the chaos of war. Finally, the Khitan returned to the north after their invasion. However, Gang Gam-chan looked at the constellations in the sky and knew that the problem would not end. He spent a long time developing an army and studying various strategies in preparation for another invasion. As predicted, the Khitan invaded once again seven years later.
Gang Gam-chan was appointed general. Before the battle, he bathed and went to the building where sacrifices were made to the heavens. He made a sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven. "Oh, bright Purple Emperor Star," he said. "I have reached the age when my poor body suffers from many problems, but I still do not know how to control my dizziness and steady my nerves. I now seek the help of Heaven so that the kingdom may be in peace again."
Leading the way to the North with his forces, Gang Gam-chan finally met up with the Khitan army. He hid his forces in a gorge at a river called Heunghwajin. He then bound many pieces of leather together with a long cord to hold back the river’s water. The Kithan army came to the river. Seeing that the river’s waters only came up to the horses' knees, the King of Kithan thought that it would be safe to cross. When they were about halfway across, Gang Gam-chan raised up his hand, and the Koryeo forces cut the cord that held the leather together. As the leather came apart, the river’s water burst forth. Most of the Khitan soldiers were swept away in the sudden rush of water.
Another strange event took place during the huge battle at Gwiju. The two sides were tightly locked in a struggle. Then a strong wind suddenly blew from the south. The Khitan people, who were coming down from the north, could not fire their arrows towards the wind, nor could they move forward. The Koryeo army launched a fierce attack, and the Khitan turned on their heels. Soon the field at Gwiju was littered with the bodies of the Khitan soldiers, their horses and camels, and their armor, helmets and weapons.
Gang Gam-chan became Prime Minister of Koryeo. At that time, the emperor of the Song Dynasty of China sent an envoy. Gang Gam-chan found a scholar who was poor but had a large build and dressed him in the finest clothes and had him stand in front. Gang himself was dressed in shabby clothes and stood behind him. When the envoy came, he merely glanced at the stately-looking scholar, and he was astonished to see Gang Gam-chan with his small build and worn clothes. He bowed to Gang and said, "Scholar's Star, it has been so long since I last saw you in Heaven, and now here you are". Gang Gam-chan lived a long life of 84 years before becoming immortal and rising once again to the heavens.
As these stories show, Gang Gam-chan was an intriguing and important figure. In Taoism, he was enshrined as a major deity. The place where the star fell and he was born is called Nakseongdae****, "the place where a star fell.”
* Koryeo (高麗) was a dynasty that controlled the most of Korean Peninsula from 919 to1392 A.D.
** Gang Gam-chan (姜邯賛, 943-1037 A.D.) was a famous scholor and general of the Goryeo dynasty.
*** Khitan (契丹) was a powerful nomadic tribe in the northern peripheral region of China. It frequently invaded China and Korea during 10-12 B.C.
**** Nakseongdae（落星垈）：A place with this name actually exists in Seoul.
03
The Story of the Monk's Star
Compiled by: Yong Bok Lee
Once upon a time, there was a monk named Seo-chun who lived in a village on the beach. Most of the villagers lived by catching fish. It often happened that people went to the sea to catch fish and met up with a terrible storm, never to return. However, even though it was dangerous to go fishing in a small boat, they could not stop doing it.
Many fathers, sons and husbands had gone out to catch fish and never returned, leaving a dark and sad village with only old men, children, and women. The frustrated villagers thought, "If only we could know beforehand when a storm is coming, we could avoid the danger."
Seo-chun thought that if he prayed earnestly to Heaven, he could predict when a storm was coming. He dug a tunnel in the ground where no sunlight penetrated at all, and he prayed there for 29 days, without food or sleep.
One day, he heard a voice from far-off Heaven say, "If you want to know beforehand when a storm is coming, you must give up your life."
Seo-chun felt that if he could save the lives of the villagers, he would gladly give up his own life.
He answered that he would do as the voice commanded, and the voice replied, "Tomorrow, on the thirtieth day of your prayers, you will die and turn into a star in the sky. The star will be very bright and easily seen, and before a storm comes blowing in, the star will rise in the sky and will help prevent a disaster."
On the thirtieth day, the villagers came to the tunnel, worried that Seo-chun's life would be in danger if they left him underground any longer. "Reverend Seo-chun, it is time to come out now," they said. "If you stay there longer something terrible might happen."
Seo-chun told the villagers the will of the Heaven and continued with his prayers. Finally, the sun of the thirtieth day set. Seo-chun died and a big star rose in the sky close to the horizon. The villagers called it the Monk's Star.
After that, the villagers could tell that a storm was coming whenever the Monk's Star rose, and thanks to this star, the people were able to live without suffering great misfortune.
The Monk's Star is “Conopus”, which is in the Western constellation of Carina and is also called the "Old Man's Star". Even today, it is said that those who can view the Monk’s Star can live to a ripe old age.