Dano (festival)

{{Short description|Traditional Korean Holiday}} {{Infobox holiday | holiday_name = Dano | type = national | image = Hyewon-Dano.pungjeong.jpg | imagesize = 250px | caption = Painting depicting Dano by Shin Yun-bok | official_name = Dano ({{Korean|hangul=단오|labels=no}}) | nickname = Surit-nal ({{Korean|hangul=수릿날|labels=no}}) | observedby = Koreans | litcolor = | longtype = Cultural, government | significance = | date = 5th day of 5th lunar month | date2011 = June 7 | date2012 = June 24 | date2013 = June 13 | date2014 = June 3 | date2015 = June 21 | date2016 = June 10 | date2017 = May 31<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anydayguide.com/calendar/2215|title=Dano Festival (Surit-nal) in Korea / June 26, 2020|website=AnydayGuide}}</ref> | celebrations = | observances = | relatedto = Duanwu Festival<br />Tango no sekku<br/>Tết Đoan Ngọ }} {{Infobox Korean name/auto |hangul = ^단오 |hanja = 端午 |hangul1 = ^수릿날 }} '''Dano''' ({{Korean|hangul=단오}}), also called '''Surit-nal''' ({{Korean|hangul=수릿날|labels=no}}), 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 and one of the major traditional holidays in South Korea. South Korea has retained several festivals related to the holiday, one of which is ''Gangneung Dano Festival'' ({{Korean|hangul=강릉단오제|labels=no}}), designated by UNESCO as a "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eng.gangneung.go.kr/eng/main/view.php?go=festivals |title=Festivals of Gangneung |publisher=Gangneung City official site |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104232711/http://eng.gangneung.go.kr/eng/main/view.php?go=festivals |archivedate=2014-01-04 }}</ref>

In the Mahan confederacy 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 ({{korean|창포||changpo|labels=no}}),<ref>[http://english.tour2korea.com/02Culture/events/Depth04.asp?sight=Event&sightseeing_id=164&ADDRESS_1=6142&ADDRESS_2=3581&konum=1&kosm=m2_1 Tour2Korea Dano Festival description] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011115833/http://english.tour2korea.com/02Culture/events/Depth04.asp?sight=Event&sightseeing_id=164&ADDRESS_1=6142&ADDRESS_2=3581&konum=1&kosm=m2_1 |date=2007-10-11 }}</ref> believed to make one's hair shiny. Women also put ''Angelica polymorpha'' ({{korean|궁궁이||gung-gung-i|labels=no}}) flowers in their hair out of the belief that its aroma would repel evil.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=June 7, 2016|title=Dano|url=http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Society/view?articleId=137305|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507122029/https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Society/view?articleId=137305 |archive-date=2021-05-07 |access-date=June 10, 2020|website=Korea.net}}</ref> 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 damp with morning dew were once believed to cure stomachaches and heal wounds. Traditional foods include ''surichwitteok'' (수리취떡), ''ssuktteok'' (쑥떡), and other herb rice cakes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyber.com/search_w/ctdetail.php?masterno=42728&contentno=42728|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613133733/http://www.encyber.com/search_w/ctdetail.php?masterno=42728&contentno=42728|url-status=dead|title=Encyber Encyclopedia article|archivedate=June 13, 2008}}</ref>

Folk games associated with Dano include swinging, ''ssireum'' (wrestling), ''seokjeon'' (a stone battle game) and ''taekkyon'' (martial art). The swing was a game played by women, while ssireum was a wrestling match among men. In addition, mask dance was extremely popular among peasants due to its penchant for satirical lyrics flouting local aristocrats.

== Etymology == thumb|Korea Andong Dano Festival Seesawing|300x300px thumb|420x420px|Korea Andong Dano Festival Swinging Dano is also called Surit-nal, which means ''high day'' or ''the day of god''. The word ''surit'' harks back to ''suri'' ({{Korean|수레||sure|labels=no}}),<ref name=aks/> meaning "wheel", which is why the rice cakes were marked with a wheel pattern.<ref name=yun>{{cite book |last1=Yun |first1=Sŏ-sŏk |title=Festive occasions: the customs in Korea |date=2008 |publisher=Ewha Womans Univ. Press |location=Seoul |isbn=978-8973007813}}</ref> The term "suri" has alternatively been associated with the word for eagle ({{Korean|수리||suri|labels=no}}), a common shamanic motif.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grayson |first1=James Huntley |title=Religious Syncretism in the Shilla Period: The Relationship between Esoteric Buddhism and Korean Primeval Religion |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |date=1984 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=185 |doi=10.2307/1178008}}<br>This interpretation is also cited in Supplementary Information 5d of {{cite journal |display-authors=5|last1=Robbeets |first1=Martine |last2=Bouckaert |first2=Remco |last3=Conte |first3=Matthew |last4=Savelyev |first4=Alexander |last5=Li |first5=Tao |last6=An |first6=Deog-Im |last7=Shinoda |first7=Ken-ichi |last8=Cui |first8=Yinqiu |last9=Kawashima |first9=Takamune |last10=Kim |first10=Geonyoung |last11=Uchiyama |first11=Junzo |last12=Dolińska |first12=Joanna |last13=Oskolskaya |first13=Sofia |last14=Yamano |first14=Ken-Yōjiro |last15=Seguchi |first15=Noriko |last16=Tomita |first16=Hirotaka |last17=Takamiya |first17=Hiroto |last18=Kanzawa-Kiriyama |first18=Hideaki |last19=Oota |first19=Hiroki |last20=Ishida |first20=Hajime |last21=Kimura |first21=Ryosuke |last22=Sato |first22=Takehiro |last23=Kim |first23=Jae-Hyun |last24=Deng |first24=Bingcong |last25=Bjørn |first25=Rasmus |last26=Rhee |first26=Seongha |last27=Ahn |first27=Kyou-Dong |last28=Gruntov |first28=Ilya |last29=Mazo |first29=Olga |last30=Bentley |first30=John R. |last31=Fernandes |first31=Ricardo |last32=Roberts |first32=Patrick |last33=Bausch |first33=Ilona R. |last34=Gilaizeau |first34=Linda |last35=Yoneda |first35=Minoru |last36=Kugai |first36=Mitsugu |last37=Bianco |first37=Raffaela A. |last38=Zhang |first38=Fan |last39=Himmel |first39=Marie |last40=Hudson |first40=Mark J. |last41=Ning |first41=Chao |title=Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages |journal=Nature |date=25 November 2021 |volume=599 |issue=7886 |pages=616–621 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04108-8|doi-access=free |pmc=8612925 }}</ref> Suritnal is also written in two hanja forms {{lang|ko-Hani|戌衣日 · 水瀨日}}, but these are not etymological, merely homophonic.<ref name=aks/>

''Dano'' is a Sino-Korean name, derived from the Duanwu Festival.<ref name="ParkJintae" /> Other Sino-Korean readings for the date include {{Korean|천중(가)절, 중오절, 단양, 오월절|天中(佳)節, 重午節, 端陽, 五月節|Cheonjung(ga)jeol, Jung-ojeol, Danyang, Owoljeol|labels=no}}.<ref name=aks>{{cite web |script-title=ko:단오(端午) |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0013638 |website=Encyclopedia of Korean Culture |language=ko |quote=일명 수릿날[戌衣日 · 水瀨日] · 중오절(重午節) · 천중절(天中節) · 단양(端陽)이라고도 한다. [...] 수리란 우리말의 수레[車]인데 높다[高], 위[上], 또는 신(神)이라는 뜻도 있어서 '높은 날', '신을 모시는 날' 등의 뜻을 지니고 있다.}}</ref>

== Origin == Modern history tends to characterize Dano to be a shamanistic ritual worshipping the sky deity in celebration of the end of the sowing season.<ref name="ParkJintae">{{cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Jin-Tae |script-title=ko:한ㆍ중 단오제의 비교 연구 |journal=비교민속학 |date=December 2008 |volume=37 |pages=77–106 |url=https://www.dbpia.co.kr/Journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE01104874 |language=ko |issn=1598-1010|trans-title=A Comparative Study of the Tano Festivals between Korea and China}}</ref> According to the article ''A Comparative Study of the Tano Festivals between Korea and China'', the people of the Mahan confederacy 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.<ref name="yun"/> Since the Three Kingdoms of Korea era, the ancestral god has also become 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 has been given to the ancestral rituals.<ref name="ParkJintae" />

The festival was syncretized with the sinitic Duanwu Festival during the Joseon period, adopting the new name ''Dano'' along with the exact date of celebration.<ref name="ParkJintae" />

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

==External links== {{Commons category|Dano}} *[http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/festivals/festivals.cfm?Subject=Dano Information about Dano] *[http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050603/510100000020050603110749E0.html Information about Dano]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *[http://www.ukstudentlife.com/Ideas/Album/Dano.htm Gallery of Dano]

Category:Korean words and phrases Category:Public holidays in Korea Category:Festivals in Korea Category:Religious festivals in South Korea Category:May observances Category:June observances Category:Folk festivals in South Korea Category:Observances set by the Korean calendar