‘Scenery on Dano Day‘ by Korean painter Sin Yun Bok
What’s the story behind the famous painting ‘Scenery on Dano Day‘ by the great Joseon painter Sin Yun Bok?
Sin Yun Bok (1758–1813) was famous for painting women and in this painting, a group of gisaeng entertainers are bathing and washing their hair in a mountain stream.
Apparently, Dano Day was once one of the four big events in the lunar calendar in Korea. It marked the beginning of summer and this painting depicts some of the rituals traditionally carried out on Dano Day! (I wrote more about Sin Yun Bok’s paintings here.)
DANO DAY by Hye-won Sin Yun Bok
Dano Day falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month – (so, some time in June in the Gregorian calendar) – and it was said to have lots of positive YANG energy, which chased away evil spirits and brought good luck.
And lots of rituals were carried out to make the most of this positive yang energy.
WASHING HAIR
One of the main rituals was bathing. Women washed their hair with extracts of Korean iris (changpo 창포) and decorated their hair with gunggungi flowers believing the fragrance would repel evil spirits.
RED
In the painting, the lady on the swing is wearing a red skirt. Since RED is a bright colour it was thought to have the power to chase away evil forces. So red was a popular colour to wear and hair pins were also painted with red pigment from safflower or cinnabar.
THE SWING
Dano marked the beginning of summer so swinging on a swing was one way to cool down.
The painting shows the gisaeng entertainers enjoying the most popular customs of Dano Day. But not with the local community. They were government servants so technically the lowest class in the social hierarchy.
But, as entertainers, they were also different to other servants so perhaps this is why we see them here in their own private world. A servant has arrived with refreshments carried on her head. But the ladies are not totally alone as there are two young novice monks gawping at them from behind a rock in the top left of the painting!
read more about the paintings of Sin Yun Bok
OTHER RITUALS ON DANO DAY
In the palaces and in ordinary homes good luck charms and paper amulets from temples were hung above doors and on walls.
Mugwort was thought to have magical powers (read about mugwort in the myth of Dangun) and after it was harvested in spring time it was used in charms to protect the home. An aeho tiger made of mugwort might be hung above the door.
Mugwort and another herb – su-ri-chwi – were also used in traditional medicine and to make rice cakes.
People gave each other fans as practical gifts in the hot weather.
DANO POETRY
In the Joseon period (1392-1910), Dano Day was an opportunity for the court officials to write poetry for the King. The dano-cheop – poetry collection was meant to ‘advise’ the king.
But according to the annals of King Yeongjo (1694-1776), he complained about the lack of constructive criticism in his Dano poems!
(Yeongjo was the king who locked his own son in a rice chest until he died, so maybe the officials were afraid to criticise him! The Throne is a film about the death of the prince in the rice chest.)
DANO DAY TODAY
Dano Day is no longer the big event that it used to be when Korea was an agrarian society. But there are still some traditional events held around the country – especially the Gangneung Danoje Festival (강릉단오제).
The National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul also holds events in their culture centre such as rice-cake making and hair-washing!
I read about Dano Day in the Encyclopaedia of Korean Seasonal Customs
