Dano (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...

: ), also called Surit-nal (Hangul: ), is a Korean traditional holiday that falls on the 5th day of the fifth month of the lunar Korean calendar. It is an official holiday in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and one of the major traditional holidays in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. South Korea has retained several festivals related to the holiday, one of which is '' Gangneung Dano Festival'' (

: 강릉단오제) designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

as a "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity". In the

Mahan confederacy Mahan () was a loose confederacy of statelets that existed from around the 1st century BC to 5th century AD in the southern Korean peninsula in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Gina Lee Barnes, 《State Formation in Korea: Historical and ...

of ancient Korea, this was a day of spiritual rites, and enjoyment with song, dance, and wine. Traditionally, women washed their hair in water boiled with

Sweet Flag ''Acorus calamus'' (also called sweet flag, sway or muskrat root, among many common names) is a species of flowering plant with psychoactive chemicals. It is a tall wetland monocot of the family Acoraceae, in the genus ''Acorus.'' Although ...

(''changpo'' (Hangul: )), believed to make one's hair shiny. Women also put ''Angelica polymorpha'' ( ko, 궁궁이) flowers in their hair out of the belief that its aroma would repel evil. People wore blue and red clothes and dyed hairpins red with the iris roots. Men wore iris roots around their waist to ward off evil spirits. Herbs wet with dew on this morning were said to heal stomachaches and wounds. Traditional foods include ''surichitteok'', ''ssuktteok'', and other herb rice cakes. The persisting folk games of Dano are the swing, ssireum (Hangul: ), stone battle game seokjeon and

taekkyon Taekkyon, Taekgyeon, Taekkyeon, or Taekyun (Korean: 태껸/ 택견/ 托肩, ) is a traditional Korean martial art. It is characterized by fluid, dynamic foot movement called "''pum balki''" or Stepping-on-Triangles. Taekkyon includes hands an ...

(Hangul: ). The swing was a game played by women, while ssireum was a wrestling match among men. In addition, mask dance used to be popular among peasants due to its penchant for satirical lyrics flouting local aristocrats.

Etymology

Dano is also called Surit-nal, which means ''high day'' or ''the day of god''. The word ''surit'' harks back to ''suri'', meaning "wheel," which is why the rice cakes were marked with a wheel pattern.Festive occasions: the customs in Korea by Sŏ-sŏk Yun

Origin

Modern history tends to characterize Dano to be a shamanistic ritual worshipping the sky deity in celebration of the end of sowing season.Park, Jin-Tae. (2008). A Comparative Study of the Tano Festivals between Korea and China. ''비교민속학'', 37. According to the article ''A Comparative Study of the Tano Festivals between Korea and China'', the people of

celebrated day and night with dancing and singing after the sowing season in May. In the ancient state of Jinhan, a rite to heaven was held after the sowing of the seeds in May. It is said this custom was passed on to Silla and was venerated as Dano. In the northern regions living creatures wake from their winter sleep in May, so Dano was originally a holiday celebrated in the northern part of the country. Since the

Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...

era, the ancestral god also became an object of sacrifice. For example, in Gaya, Dano was one of five annual rituals for Suro, the legendary ancestor of Gaya. Since then, more emphasis was given to the ancestral rituals. Originally called Surit-nal, the new name ''Dano'', derived from the Duanwu Festival, was adopted during

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

along with the exact date of celebration.

References

* The Academy of Korean Studies, ed. (1991), "Dano of May", ''Encyclopedia of Korean People and Culture'', Woongjin (in Korean)

External links

Information about Dano
{{Festivals in South Korea Korean words and phrases Public holidays in Korea Festivals in Korea Religious festivals in South Korea May observances June observances Folk festivals in South Korea Observances set by the Korean calendar

Etymology

Origin

See also

References

External links