Dongji

Introduction of Dongji

Dongji is one of the 24 solar terms and has the longest day and shortest night of the year. The 24 solar terms express the nature’s changes into 24 equal parts based on the solar calendar, and ‘Dongji’ is when the sun’s longitude reaches 270 degree.

Dongji Patjuk (Red-bean Porridge)

On Dongji, they have kept an old custom to make red-bean porridge called ‘Dongji Patjuk or Dongji Dusuk (bean porridge). The November’s issue of the ?Dongguksesigi? published in the latter Joseon period says, “They eat Patjuk on Dongji as they call it Ase. While making Patjuk as a seasonal food, they put pieces of glutinous rice cake shaped as a bird’s egg, which has honey inside. This food also goes on the table for the memorial service and is often thrown into the door as a gesture to drive away misfortunes.” On Dongji, each family make Patjuk to eat, and this is made by the process of mashing boiled red-beans or sieving them and making pieces of glutinous rice cake with the water the red-beans boiled in as the amount of bird’s eggs would be. This rice cake is called ‘Saealsim’. The finished Patjuk is put in the sanctuary first, and after putting it on some corners of the house, the members of the family gather at a place and get to eat it. According to ?Hyeongchosesigi?, there was a man named Gonggong who had a son without any talents, and the son died on Dongji to be an evil spirit. It says that the son was very afraid of red-beans while he was alive, so the man made Patjuk on Dongji to drive away the terrible ghost. This custom is considered to have been transmitted into ours, but the period of its transmission is unknown.

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