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푹푹 찌거나 비가 폭포수처럼 쏟아붓는 요상한(?) 날씨에 벌써 지친 여름입니다. 여름 초입부터 이렇게 격한 하루하루라니… 격한 도입부에 ‘몸보신’이라도 제대로 하자는 생각이 드는데요. 11일 초복을 맞아 ‘보양식’에 대한 관심이 뜨겁습니다.
그런데 올해 초복을 앞두고, 논쟁이 벌어졌다는데요. 매년 반복되는 복날 논쟁, ‘개고기 논란’이죠. 예로부터 즐겨온 ‘보양식’이 무슨 문제냐는 육견협회와, 동물 학대라고 목소리를 높이는 동물보호단체간의 계속된 싸움입니다. 이 좁혀지지 않은 두 의견은 한국뿐 아니라 외국에서도 언급되고 있는데요.
복날의 개고기, 언제까지 이렇게 뜨거울까요?
복날은 매년 7월에서 8월 사이에 있는 초복· 중복· 말복의 삼복(三伏)을 말합니다. 삼복은 1년 중 가장 더운 시기로 절기상으로 보면 복날은 앞으로 일어나고자 하는 음기가 양기에 눌려 엎드려 있는 날을 뜻하는데요.
삼복의 날짜는 매년 달라집니다. 초복은 하지로부터 세 번째 경일(천간이 경(庚)으로 된 날), 중복은 하지로부터 네 번째 경일, 말복은 입추로부터 첫 번째 경일 인데요. 이를 기준으로 올해의 삼복 날짜를 보면 초복은 11일, 중복은 21일, 말복은 다음 달 10일입니다.
그렇기에 삼복 날에는 더위를 잊기 위한 다양한 시도에 나섰는데요. 조선시대 궁중에서는 임금이 삼복 날 신하들에게 얼음을 하사하기도 하고, 서민들은 계곡물에 머리를 감거나 목욕을 했다고 합니다.
특히 이런 복날에 그해의 더위를 물리치는 뜻으로 고기로 탕을 끓여 먹으며 원기를 회복하는 ‘복달임’, ‘복땜’문화는 아직까지 이어져 오고 있죠. 궁중에서는 주로 쇠고기를 넣고 끓이는 얼큰한 육개장을 먹고, 민간에서는 삼계탕이나 보신탕을 끓여 먹었다고 전해지고 있습니다.
삼복에 보신탕을 먹었다는 이야기는 중국 진나라 때부터 거슬러 올라가는데요. 중국에서 가장 더운 기간인 삼복에 제사를 지내고 개를 잡아 해충으로 농작물이 피해를 보는 것을 막았다고 전해지고 있죠. 중국에선 벌레들을 퇴치하기 위해 하나의 주술 행위로써 개를 잡아 삼복을 지냈던 겁니다.
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At the center of the controversy over bosintang, some believe that the character for "prostrate" in the Lunar New Year is "dog" and that it's the day to eat bosintang. Experts explain that the character represents a dog, which played a major role in hunter-gatherer societies. It represents a person crouched low like a dog, waiting for an opportunity to attack their prey.
Some theorize that it was derived from the way dogs would lie down to show submission to humans, or that humans would stretch out and lie down like dogs when it was hot, while others say it simply represents a friendly dog lying down next to a human.
In short, the story that the lettering of Boknal itself contains 'bosintang' is not credible.
But while dog meat is a food that has been around for a long time, even appearing in the Dongbogam, not everyone has been able to eat it - some regions have banned it, saying it's bad luck to eat dog meat, and others have religious reasons for not eating it.
The reason why 'bossintang' was the most common bossin food was because cows were valued more as a source of sustenance than as food. Today, we've evolved to eat dog soup with beef instead of dog meat, such as 'yukgaejang'.
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As the number of people who consider dogs to be members of the family has increased and people's perceptions have changed, the negative voices against this 'boshintang' have increased. Nevertheless, there are still fierce rallies on both sides of the dog-eat-dog debate every other day.
Recently, the Seoul City Council proposed an ordinance to ban dog and cat edibles, and dog organizations reacted fiercely, calling it a "threat to their right to survive."
The idea is to have the Seoul Metropolitan Government crack down on the unsanitary conditions of dog meat with unclear origins and distribution, and to encourage dog meat dealers and food service establishments to change their businesses.
The Livestock Hygiene Management Act defines cattle, pigs, and chickens as livestock intended for human consumption, which must meet detailed regulations from manufacturing to preservation methods under the Food and Drug Administration's Food Hygiene Act.
Dogs are designated as livestock under the Livestock Act and can be raised in large numbers, but the Hygiene Management Act prohibits all acts to slaughter or sell dog meat, which means that dogs are not food livestock.
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Ahead of the Lunar New Year, animal protection organizations and dog breeders rallied for and against dog food.
On the 8th, 31 organizations, including Animal Rights Action Kara and the Animal Welfare Issues Research Institute, held a rally in front of Boshin Gak in Jongno-gu, Seoul. They called for "the government to strictly crack down on and punish illegal activities in the dog food business" and "to establish procedures for a complete end to dog food."
At a counter-rally held across the street, the Korean Kennel Club countered that "banning a healthy food that some people who are still vulnerable regularly turn to to take care of themselves is an outrageous departure from capitalism."
The tension between the two organizations is tilting the social tide in the opposite direction, with 85% of Koreans saying they would "not eat dog food in the future" according to a survey of 1,500 people conducted by market research firm Nielsen Korea last year for the Humane Society International (HSI).
The dog meat industry is naturally on its way out. As old customs eventually reflected the unavoidable times, shouldn't it be time to take off the 'unavoidable'?
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