The Story of the Twelve Animals of the Korean Zodiac
Rabbit
영상
Scenario
#1 Main title: Rabbit
#2 Opening: The Rabbit is the fourth of the twelve zodiac animals. It is the guardian of the "east" and its hours are between 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock in the morning. It is also the guardian animal of the second month of the lunar calendar. The Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, and its association with the moon has made it the spirit of the moon. It also represents family harmony and prosperity.
#3 Mashimaro the Rabbit: Today rabbits are portrayed as characters in the mass media. The character of a modern-day rabbit has the traditional characteristics of being weak yet agile and clever, and this explains why such a character is so appealing: The Rabbit is capable of turning the game around – what a thrill to watch the obviously weak beating the strong. Instead of the archetype of the rabbit pounding with a mortar and pestle in the moon, an entirely new "rabbit" character has become popular in Korea and beyond. Off-beat and bold, Mashimaro the Rabbit is a radical problem-solver, instantly providing contemporaries with a deep sense of vicarious satisfaction.
#4 The classic story "Tokkijeon (The Tale of Rabbit)": Interview: A villager from Woncheong-ri tells an old tale. In Woncheong-ri in Taean-gun, there are several old geographical names that are associated with the classic story. The old tale is reproduced in the real space. "Myosaem," literally meaning "rabbit's spring," was where the Rabbit's liver was washed. "Angung" means "inner palace." "Deokbawi" was where the Rabbit's liver was dried. The entire village was turned into the stage of "The Tale of the Rabbit." For villagers who grew up hearing about the tale, Woncheong-ri is a real village where the Moon Rabbit lived.
#5 The meaning of the Rabbit: The Rabbit of the lunar February signifies the start of the farming season. According to "The Lexicon of Chinese Characters" (說文), the character (卯) means "rabbit" and also "to penetrate the earth in spring" as it takes the form of a gate. The gate is wide open on both sides, representing the Heavenly Gate emerging from the earth. In other words, February is the month when all living things penetrate the earth in spring, thus it is full of yang energy. The Rabbit hours are between 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock, when the day starts. So, in terms of the moon or time, the Rabbit symbolizes the growth of all things, prosperity and abundance, and the onset of full-scale farming. However, in folktales the rabbit is depicted as a clever creature that can beat the strong, such as when it tricks the tiger that wants to eat it. The rabbit tells the tiger to dip its long tail into an icy pit to catch a lot of fish, but the tiger freezes to death. The Rabbit is characterized by its ability to play tricks on the strong to protect itself.
#6 Gyotaejeon Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace: A floral fragrance exudes from the backyard of Gyotaejeon Hall where the queens of Joseon used to live. Here you can meet with a rabbit figure as well as the image of a toad. In the real world, the Moon Rabbit symbolizes women's wish to live in the fantasy world of the gods.
#7 The Moon Rabbit: The rabbit is often depicted pounding away with a mortar and pestle in the moon. What is the rabbit pounding? It is not rice but the elixir of immortality. The laurel tree providing shade for the rabbit is the tree of the elixir of youth, whose young bark and thorns are a precious medicine that promotes circulation of the blood and alleviates fever. In other words, the Moon Rabbit, or Jade Rabbit, is depicted as a sacred being that lives forever by creating the elixir of immortality. The Kasaya (袈裟) robes of fully ordained Buddhist monks and nuns are adorned with emblems of the sun and the moon. The sun and the moon represent yang and yin or the harmony and order of all things in the world.
#8 The Rabbit and femininity: Ancient people, lacking physiological knowledge, believed that female rabbits became pregnant by watching the moon and gave birth to their young via the mouth. The lunar cycle and women's menstrual cycle, as well as the Moon Rabbit, were all bound to one, and the rabbit provided the women's principle, or the animal of the moon.
#9 The symbol of marital chemistry and fondness: The Celadon Incense Burner with Openwork Auspicious-character Design Lid, designated as National Treasure No. 95, comprises a chrysanthemum burner and a round lid placed on a pedestal supported by three rabbits. The round lid symbolizes the moon, while the rabbits below express conjugal affection and wishes for children's prosperity. Rabbits are usually expressed in pairs, suggesting good marital chemistry. The pair of rabbits that often appear in "Minhwa" (Folk Art Painting) represents people's wishes to have a happy family and live a peaceful, comfortable life.
# 10 Paintings of the rabbit: In folk paintings rabbits customarily appear alongside a falcon. The bird tends to glare at the rabbit as if preparing to catch it, while the frightened rabbit struggles to escape from or flees the bird.
# 11 Children's friend: As children are very familiar with and love rabbits, rabbit characters frequently appear in children's toys or stationery as they symbolize hope for children, who are cute and smart and need to grow and develop in the bosom of a happy family. In traditional Korean costume there were hand-warmers called "tosi" that were worn to protect the hands from cold. They were made of rabbit fur.
# 12 The Rabbit as an emblem: Though far from physically strong, the Rabbit, with its relatively higher intelligence, can overcome its weaknesses in fights against stronger creatures. By pulling clever tricks, the Rabbit shows its adeptness and helps commoners oppressed by their rulers to vent their frustration and resentment. This explains why the Rabbit is often portrayed as a spokesperson of the weak and the oppressed.
# 13 End: Tricked by the Turtle, the Rabbit almost loses his liver but saves it and succeeds in deceiving the Dragon King. The Rabbit, as a symbol of longevity, creates an elixir of youth in the ideal world of the moon. The Rabbit speaks and stands up for the resentments and dreams of the powerless have-nots and grass-root commoners.
In old tales and folk legends, children's rhymes and poems, the rabbit is portrayed as a cute, weak little saucer-eyed animal with a good heart or as a clever animal gifted with speed and agility. People in the olden days used to look up at the moon and imagine the Rabbit pounding the Elixir of Youth under a laurel tree and dreamed of living forever in an ideal world of peace and abundance free of worry and fear. The Rabbit was an emblem of longevity and the vital essence of the moon. Until a new year arrives, the rabbit always uses the same well-trodden path, but once spring comes after winter it pioneers a new path by cleverly calculating the fastest and safest path to its home in order to protect itself from other animals. Therefore, people born in the Year of the Rabbit walk the lone path of scholars or teachers who use their bright and meticulous brains.
If they chose an occupation suited to their inclinations, they work hard at it with passion and pride; however, out of greed, if they overly expanded a situation during the recess (in the winter, or before the New Year) or pursue higher ends beyond their means, things can go badly all at once. In short, the Rabbit inevitably ends up in a trap. What the Rabbit does when it faces death, unfortunately, is to continue going forward; the Rabbit does not know how to step back and investigate the situation. The deeper the trouble, the more it wants to move forward, so it's only a matter of time before the Rabbit's life crumbles to dust. In the end, the business goes bust, and he becomes sick and turns into human refuse. That perhaps explains why the path made by the Rabbit is very thorough and orderly. Like rabbits, people born in Year of the Rabbit are very clear in their personal relations, always drawing the line and showing who's top and who's below. They tend to carry out orderly conversations which must make sense to them theoretically.
People whose zodiac sign is the Rabbit would be rash to roll out their own theories to others or blur far-fetched stories with reality. Clever but often startled, the Rabbit represents a woman's heart because it signifies yin (陰) energy and thus is the Goddess of Yin (陰). The Rabbit enjoys spending time in the mountains, deep or low, at night. There's also a story about the Rabbit's red eyes. One day, the Rabbit dozed off fearlessly in the Tiger's east-facing den until sunrise. Seeing the Tiger enter the cave at dawn, the Rabbit fled for its life. Back in his burrow, the Rabbit tried to sleep facing east, directly under the sun. So that's how the rabbit's eyes became red. The story is associated with the mountain god, who is a woman with red eyes, or with the guardian spirit that supports the mountain god. But there's another tale in which the Rabbit detests the Monkey's bottom because it is the same color as the Rabbit's eye. This is known to be the origin of the saying, "The rabbit and the monkey dislike each other" (卯申怨嗔). It is said that there is no place in the world where monkeys and rabbits live in close proximity. How odd is the order of nature? The Rabbit envies the scent of the Pig's secretion and its strength, while it calmly accepts the Sheep's pitiful attitude, thus the expression: "Pigs, rabbits and sheep live in harmony" (亥卯未三合). The Rabbit's nose is half pig, half sheep. In terms of its disposition, the Rabbit has the simplicity of the Pig and arrogant pride of the Sheep.
