Year of the Pig 2019: 10 pig facts in Korea
The year of the pig has officially started now it’s Lunar New Year. So here are 10 facts about pigs in Korea!
1. This is the year of the Golden Pig
The year of the golden pig only comes around every 60 years so it should be a good year. Read more about the year of the pig in this Korea Times article.
2. Pigs are good luck symbols
The pig is seen as a symbol of good luck. The Chinese characters for pig 豚 and money 錢 are both pronounced don in Korean, so the pig also represents wealth. If you dream about pigs you should buy a lottery ticket!
3. Pig heads are used in Korean Shamanism
Shamanism still exists in Korea. And I know several people who have consulted mudangs – female shaman. Gosa is a shamanist sacrifice where a pig’s head is offered along with adzuki bean rice cakes to expel evil spirits. The mouth of the pig is stuffed with money. The ceremony is carried out for good luck when opening a new business or moving in to a new house.
4. Pigs were used to tell the time
In the past, animals were used to represent times of day. I noticed this after watching Korean historical dramas and wrote about telling the time in the Joseon period here. Each zodiac animal represented 2 hours in the 24-hour day. And ‘pig o’clock’ was between 10pm and midnight!
5. New technology has been used on wild boars
Wild pigs can be aggressive and a menace in the countryside. They come down from the mountains looking for food. In 2019 5G, the fifth-generation wireless network, made its worldwide debut at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The technology was used to scare away wild boars and stop them causing trouble in the Olympic village!
6. Okja the Super Pig
Okja is a 2017 Korean film about a genetically-engineered super pig. In a mix of Korean and English, the film was written and directed by Bong Joon-ho (The Host (2006) and Snowpiercer (2013)) and tackles issues including environmentalism and capitalism.
7. There’s a pig museum near Seoul
If you fancy having a go at making sausages the unusual Pig Museum in Icheon (a day trip from Seoul) might be of interest. It’s one of 5 unique museums recommended by the KTO. But since it’s the year of the pig, the museum is more popular than usual this year!
8. Pork is now the most popular meat in Korea
And meat eaters are spoilt for choice when it comes to pork dishes! Pork used to be too expensive for most people to eat. (Mr Kim only had meat about once a month when he was a child.) But meat consumption has increased over 10 fold since 1970!
The most well-known dish may be samgyeopsal, grilled pork belly. Then there’s jokbal pigs trotters, gamjatang pork bones soup, bo-ssam pork wraps, Sundaeguk Korean blood sausage, donkkaseu pork cutlet and pork skin. Jeju is famous for its black pig. Pork also appears in lots of other Korea dishes too including mandu dumplings, various soups and stews. See Maangchi’s list of pork recipes.
9. There were pig toilets in Jeju
WARNING: I don’t recommend reading the following sentence if you are eating.
In Jeju island, dottongsi were a kind of human toilet and pigsty combo – squat toilets were holes above a pigsty so that the the human waste could drop into the pigsty below for the pigs to eat. The pig excrement was then used to make fertiliser. (Pig toilets were also used in China and Japan).
The National Museum has its yearly exhibition introducing the zodiac animal of the year. I believe this year the exhibition has an example of said pig toilet from Jeju. Read more about the meaning of the zodiac pig in Korea on the National Museum website.
10. Cute pig accessories and goodies are on sale
After that we need something cute. How about some nail accessories? If I had long nails I would be tempted by these Innisfree nail accessories! For other pigs gifts how about some fun pig goodies from Daiso Korea or Starbucks Korea mugs?