Step into the dawn of the first day of the lunar second month, when Yeongdeung, the wind deity, descends upon the earth, rustling the traditional paper doors.
Settle in and listen to the story at a gentle pace before you begin reading.
The Chilly Dawn Wind Before the Roosters Crow
Whoosh, swish.
At 2:00 AM on the first day of the lunar second month, long before the neighborhood roosters began to flap their wings and crow, a fierce gale whipped against the paper window screens. Curled up inside her warm room, young Suni snapped awake at the rustling vibrations.
‘They say the Yeongdeung spirit descends at dawn on the first of the second month,’ she thought. ‘If you can draw the first well water before anyone else, you’ll receive good fortune!’
Suni kicked off her blanket and bolted upright. Yeongdeung was the deity who governed the winds, descending from the heavenly realm to earth just once a year. The village elders always agreed that offering a bowl of fresh, pristine well water drawn at the crack of dawn on this day would ensure peace for the entire year. Determined to be the first to drop the bucket into the well, Suni hurried out to the courtyard.
Pulling her coat collar tight, she carefully slid open the door. A biting wind sharply stung the tip of her nose. In the sky, only starlight glittered coldly, and the courtyard was as silent as the grave.
The Frozen Pulley and the Wellside Mishap
Suni shuffled in her fur shoes, rushing straight to the well. Located near the center of the village, no one else was out yet.
“I’m first!”
Suni beamed with pride as she grabbed the well rope. But strangely enough, the wooden pulley above the well wouldn’t budge an inch. Due to the lingering cold wave that had persisted since December, the well frame and the straw rope had frozen solid into a single block.
“Huh? What’s wrong with this?”
Gritting her teeth, Suni yanked hard on the rope. With a sharp crack, the ice split and the pulley jerked, sending an empty gourd bound to the rope flying across the well cover, where it clattered away.
Clatter, rattle!
“Oh, goodness me!”
Startled, Suni nearly stepped on her own foot and tumbled backward, landing flat on her bottom. As she sat flustered on the cold ground, low footsteps and a dry cough echoed from behind her.
Grandmother’s Lantern and a Change of Heart
“What puppy is rolling around the well in this biting dawn wind?”
It was her grandmother, holding a lantern. She had a towel tied around her head and cradled a small gourd tightly against her chest. Suni jumped in surprise and scrambled up, dusting off her clothes.
“Grandma! I was trying to draw the very first Yeongdeung water to bring good luck to our family… but the pulley is frozen and the rope won’t unwind.”
Grandmother chuckled softly and set her lantern down on the wellside wooden platform.
“If you rush in with greed, even the spring water will hide in surprise. The Yeongdeung grandmother descends from the heavens driven by the wind; she doesn’t come to check who draws water first, but to look upon our sincerity.”
Grandmother pulled a small gourd filled with warm water from inside her jacket and carefully poured it over the frozen pulley axle. The ice melted smoothly, and the straw rope began to unwind with ease. Suni suddenly felt a pang of embarrassment for wanting to show off all by herself. She looked down at her grandmother’s rough hands.
“Grandma, I won’t try to draw the water all by myself anymore. Let’s draw it together and place it on the jangdokdae platform. I’ll hold the rope!”
Suni brushed away her impatient desire to be first and stepped close to her grandmother’s side.
A Neat and Devout Welcome at the Jangdokdae
The two of them worked in harmony. As Suni carefully eased the pulley to lower the bucket deep into the water, clear liquid rippled to the top. Together, grandmother and granddaughter pulled up the first pristine draught of well water, brilliantly clear and chillingly cold.
“There, that’s right. It’s wonderfully clear.”
Grandmother carefully filled a water jar, took Suni by the hand, and headed toward the backyard jangdokdae (sauce jar terrace). A sacred straw rope strung around the terrace fluttered in the dawn breeze, and clean red clay was neatly sprinkled across the ground.
Grandmother filled a brass bowl to the brim with the clear water without spilling a drop, placing it right in the center of the terrace. Suni pressed her palms together earnestly beside her. The biting wind whipped around the platform, but strangely, the hearts of the two gazing at the water felt calm and warm.
The Rising Wind and Tomorrow’s Promise
Before long, the dim twilight lifted, and the eastern sky brightened into a pale glow. The moment the first sun of the lunar second month rose, a gust of wind strong enough to tilt the straw broom in the corner of the courtyard swept through.
With wide eyes, Suni stared at the jangdokdae and called out:
“Grandma, the wind is blowing so hard! The Yeongdeung grandmother must really have arrived!”
Grandmother pulled her coat tighter and smiled gently.
“To think the wind is blowing this fiercely on the first day—it seems the Yeongdeung grandmother has brought her daughter down with her this year. They say if it rains, she brings her daughter-in-law to soak her clothes, but if the wind blows, she brings her daughter to flutter her skirt and show off. Since the wind is strong this year, we must keep a close eye on the field crops and work diligently on our farming.”
At her grandmother’s calm words, Suni nodded. Even amidst the morning commotion and the rough wind, the water in the brass bowl rippled clear and transparent.
From the very next morning, Suni was changed. Without anyone asking, she would wake up, head straight to the backyard jangdokdae to check the water bowl, and quietly gauge the breeze in the courtyard—a sweet and thoughtful habit she would keep for years to come.
Yeongdeung and the Wind Deity
Yeongdeung is the deity who governs the wind. Residing in the heavenly realm, she descends to earth once a year on the first day of the lunar second month. It is said that the Yeongdeung spirit stays on earth for 15 or 20 days before returning to heaven. If the wind blows on the first day of the lunar second month, people believe she brought her daughter; if it rains, she brought her daughter-in-law. Depending on the weather of this day, people divine the abundance or failure of that year’s livelihood. In areas like Sinan, South Jeolla Province, and Jeju Island, people believe that if the weather is fair and the wind blows enough to flutter a rooster’s tail feathers, that year’s livelihood will be prosperous.
Yeongdeung Rites in Historical Literature
Volume 38 of the Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam (Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea) contains a record that in regions like Gwideok and Geunneung on Jeju Island, people set up 12 long poles on the first day of the second month to welcome and sacrifice to the deity, hold lantern festivals, and prohibit boarding ships. Additionally, the Dongguk Sesigi (Seasonal Customs of Korea) records a custom from the Yeongnam region where households held ancestral rites for the Yeongdeung spirit, and shamans roamed the villages, avoiding people for 15 to 20 days.
Regional Traditions and Customs
The customs and transmission patterns for welcoming the Yeongdeung spirit vary by region. In areas such as Geoje, Tongyeong, and Goseong in South Gyeongsang Province, it is said there are three Yeongdeung grandmothers: the upper grandmother on the 10th, the middle grandmother on the 15th, and finally the lower grandmother on the 20th who ascends back to heaven. In the North Gyeongsang region, the custom of "drawing Yeongdeung water"—getting up between 2:00 and 3:00 AM on Yeongdeung day to draw well water before anyone else—flourished. Meanwhile, in the Cheongdo and Gyeongsan regions of North Gyeongsan Province, origin legends related to the deaths of figures named Jeongyeongdung or Yeongdong are handed down.
For coastal regional Yeongdeung rites, individual households sprinkle red clay and string sacred straw ropes around the jangdokdae or beneath the kitchen shelf to create a temporary ritual space, offering pure well water and sacrificial food. Particularly in the southern coastal region of South Gyeongsang Province, a special device called a muldae (made by shaping bamboo or pine into a funnel) is set up to present the pure water. In coastal-style rites, food like rice or stew is not served in bowls; instead, spoons equal to the number of family members are stuck directly into the cooking pot or pan. In Tongyeong, a joint memorial and paper-burning ritual (bunsinje) is held in the front yard of the Chungryolsa Shrine in Myeongjeong-dong.
On Jeju Island, the Yeongdeung spirit is conceptualized as a being originating from Gangnam Cheonjakuk or the one-eyed island, and alongside the female deity, a male deity known as the "Yeongdeung Halbang" is also worshipped. Jeju’s Yeongdeung belief centers around community-led rituals, including the Yeongdeung welcoming kut on the 1st of the lunar second month and the farewell kut (baesonggut) between the 12th and 15th of the month, during which they divine the harvest through a rite called seedrim and seed divination. Furthermore, in Aewol-ri, Jeju, a small boat was crafted with a horse-head shape, decorated with silk, and used in an entertainment ritual called yakmahui to please the deity.
While traditional folkloric aspects and literary records related to the Yeongdeung faith have been handed down, specific contemporary practices in modern times are not separately specified in the historical sources.
The pulley commotion Suni experiences at dawn, her specific dialogue and psychological changes with her grandmother, and her subsequent habit of checking the weather daily are fictional elements created to aid the reader’s understanding. However, the religious belief that the Yeongdeung spirit descends and stays on the first day of the lunar second month, the custom of "drawing Yeongdeung water" before the roosters crow at dawn, the tradition of divining harvest prospects through the wind and rain of the first day, and the coastal and household ritual patterns of sprinkling red clay, stringing sacred straw ropes, and offering pure water around the jangdokdae are all grounded in actual folkloric materials.
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