hi there~

i would like text and/or links to information about the background and
history of korean 'haitai'.  i have had trouble trying to do research
on my own as most of the links from english/american sites lead me to
info on the korean baseball team (haitai tigers) and the beverage/food
company with the same name.  not exactly what i wanted.  i found a
post in usenet which said that they guard cities.

how long have they been around?  are they something recognised
throughout all of korea?  information about their relationship (or
non-relationship) to chinese lions are a plus.  (were the lions
something that the chinese copied from koreans?  ;)

links in korean are accepted.  the more 'academic' the information,
the better...  but 'casual' information gladly accepted as well, since
i think that the information is scarce.

thanks ever so much in advance!

banchan

Hello banchan,

I found that “haetae” is a more-common transliteration.

An article by Stephen Roney in the Korea Herald says that these
creatures of stone eat fire, and act as protectors not only against
fire, but against all forms of disruptive change.  “All follows from
the haetae's vocation to root out violent change. The large nose
Sniffs for hidden iniquity or distant smoke. The big, luminous eyes
stare alert into the middle distance, concerned not with what is but
with what will be. The cavernous mouth with overshot lower jaw fastens
like a bulldog on the past, not letting it go.  The well-bred haetae
is a thoughtful, even intuitive creature. Enemy of change, it is no
fan of newborn things; it will eat a child who gets too close. It can
challenge time itself, bite the sun or moon, and create an eclipse.”

They are placed outside palaces to act as guardians, and those outside
Kwanghwamun are also seen as protectors of the nation.  “As Kyongbok
palace was built, geomancers saw that Kwanak Mountain, across the
river, was too big. It threw off the balance of "yang" and "um" for
the city, the dynasty, and the nation, promising invasion, earthquake,
fire. This was soon borne out: Kwanghwamun collapsed during
construction.  Two large haetae were accordingly placed at the gate to
stare down the distant peak.”

Roney considers haetae to be uniquely Korean, with no Chinese or
Japanese influence, and also argues against the notion that they
derive from the Buddhist concept that the lion was the guardian of the
dharma, and some subsequent confusion by Koreans between a lion and a
watchdog.

Stephen Roney: “Kwanghwamun haetae: Guardians shield historic palace
from elemental forces”, 2000.08.25,
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2000/08/25/200008250061.asp

The Onyang Folklore Museum has a picture of haetae, which can be seen
at: http://www.heritage.go.kr/eng/museum/pri/02/01.html
The caption to the picture reads: “Haetae is a mythical unicorn-lion
like animal that is known to have an ability of telling good and evil.
Its body is like a lion, but has horn in the head, and it was believed
to possess a power to repel fire. The Joseon Dynasty promoted Haetae
in architecture to protect the capital Hanyang(present Seoul) from the
forces of fire of Mt. Kwanaksan.”

There are pictures of haetae guarding the stairs of  Deoksugung Palace
at http://www.oatc.net/ustu/deoksugung.html

Some more pictures at
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/patterns/patterns.cfm?Subject=Animals

In “Chronology of Fire Accidents, Dispute Over its Symbolism”  By Yang
Sung-jin at http://english.gija.com/click32.htm the suggestion is made
that their fire-eating qualities make haetae symbols of water.  The
article also says that haetae are symbols of justice.  It dates the
Kwanghwamun haetae to the Choson period and says they were placed by
Taewongun, the father of King Kojong.

There is a picture of a haetae in what looks like gold on a web site
about  Dankook Museum at
http://museum.dankook.ac.kr/kor/dis/dis_3.html Note that haechi is
given as an alternative transliteration.  The rest of the information
about the piece is in Korean, so it should give you the Korean
characters for further searches (sorry, I don't speak Korean).  I also
found the same image at
http://www.heritage.go.kr/eng/museum/uni/05/01.html on a page giving
information in English about the museum.   The caption to the
illustration says: “This Haechi figure (a mythical unicorn-lion
figure) is discovered near Jinjeonsa Temple site. It means the Sun's
official, an abbreviated word, and has been known as a messenger of
the heaven, which stands for a sense of justice. Also, it refers to a
judge that corrects any wrongful affairs. It was believed to run the
Haechi-figured flag up the flagpole when a king passed by.”


Jinjeonsa temple was erected during the reign of King Gyeong-ae of the
Unified Silla Kingdom
(http://www.knto.or.kr/english/SUN/sight_detail.jsp?i_seqno=287)

Search strategy on Google: 1. haitai  2. haetae  3. haechi

I hope this gives you a start. Please request clarification if you
think I can help further.

excellent answer~  thank you very much for all your work!

Dear banchan,

All I could find out so far is that Haitai are lion-like mythical
animals who are believed to eat fire. So they are placed at the
entrances of buildings, villages or towns to protect them from burning
down. But that is, of course, not enough to make an answer. I'll keep
on searching.

Greetings,
Scriptor

Hi Banchan,

I located a picture of Haitai at Kyongbok Palace at this link.
http://www.rit.edu/~tel9484/Pages/seoul_pics.htm

“Guarding the entrance gate to Kyongbok Palace are two large stone
haitai statues. Haitai are fire dogs and are the spiritual guardians
of many places around Korea.”

--Bobbie7-ga