[K-drama] Secret Garden – Kim Soo Han Moo?

F E E D B A C K

Wow, I didn’t expect so many people to see my blog and comment. =D Thank you for all your nice comments<33 I read every single one of them and I’m sorry if I didn’t reply much (I had to be occupied with academics and stuff, but I did read them all =D!). I really appreciated it! Well, school’s started so I don’t know how frequently I’ll be able to update and post, but I’ll try whenever I get the time to. Much luff to you all<33 ^___^

K I M  S O O  H A N  M O O ?

I would like to answer the question that somebody had about the ‘poem’ Hyunbin(Joo Won Kim) of Secret Garden said. Kim Soo Han Moo… etc.

Before I explain further, it’s actually not actually a ‘poem’ like most people had suspected. If I remember correctly, it was a name given to a child in a fable where an old couple didn’t have a child for a long time and finally had their wishes granted. They gave their child that name to ensure that they lived very long. It’s also the lyrics of a song called ‘큐티한걸’ (kyutihangeol — It could either mean “Cute girl” or “Very cute”.. the title looks ambiguous but I think it’s “Very cute”) by Cutie Honey(큐티허니) a female singer. So this is how the name goes..:

김 수한무 거북이와 두루미 삼천갑자 동방삭 치치카포 사리사리센타 워리워리 세뿌리카 무두셀라 수름이 허리케인 담벼락 서생원에 고양이 바둑이는 돌돌이…

Kim Soo Han Moo Geo Bukgi Wa Doo Roo Mi Sam Cheon Gab Sa Dong Bang Sark Chi Chi Ka Po Sa Ri Sa Ri Sen Ta Weo Ri Weo Ri Se BBu Ri Ka Moo Doo Sel La Goo Roomi Heo Ri Kae In Dam Byeo Rak Seo Sang Won eh Go Yang ee Ba Du Ki Neun Dol Dol ee…

Long, huh? Now there’s even a meaning for this name as it consists of many phrases. Here are their meanings…

김 수한무 (Kim Soo Han Moo): As many of you know, many Korean people have Kim for their surnames. Here in Kim Soo Han Moo, the surname is Kim and the name is Soo Han Moo. Soo Han Moo means immortal. In Korean it literally means ‘there is no limit to his/her life span’ (목숨에 한계가 없다 moksume hangyega upda).

거북이와 두루미 (Geo Bukgi Wa Doo Roo Mi): Geo Bukgi, which means turtle and Doo Roo Mi, which means crane are one of the ten things known to have long life spans. We call these ten things with longevity as being part of the 십장생(十長生, ship jang saeng), which literally means “Ten, long, life” in Hanmun — Korean Chinese characters. There are however differences as to how many things there are (some say there are twelve) and what those are.

삼천갑자 동방삭 (Sam Cheon Gab Sa Dong Bang Sark): The name of a person (called Dong Bang Sark) who lived in ancient China in Sam Cheon Gab Sa (三千甲子) for 18000 years. He’s known to be a legendary person who lived a very long life.

치치카포 (Chi Chi Ka Po): The name of a person in Africa who lived very long.

사리사리센타, 워리워리, 세뿌리카 (Sa Ri Sa Ri Sen Ta, Weo Ri Weo Ri, Se BBu Ri Ka): They are all names of legendary people who lived long lives.

무두셀라 (Moo Doo Sel La, Methuselah): A person in the Bible who lived until the age of 969.

구름이 (Goo Roomi): 구름(gooroom) means cloud and it symbolizes longevity. Clouds are one of the 십장생(十長生, ship jang saeng) as mentioned before.

허리케인 (Heo Ri Kae In): 허리케인(Heo Ri Kae In) means hurricane. I think they put hurricanes after clouds to show that hurricanes are much more stronger in a relative sense because they blow away the clouds. I think it’s meant to be some kind of comparison showing how much stronger hurricanes are than clouds.

담벼락 (Dam Byeo Rak): 담벼락(Dam Byeo Rak) means wall. It’s another comparison to the hurricane mentioned before meaning that a wall will not break down when a hurricane comes.

서생원에 (Seo Sang Won eh): 서생원(Seo Sang Won) is a very nice/polite way of saying ‘rat'(쥐, jwee). But in this case, the rat here is humanized(anthropomorphism related stuff)**<READ THE EDIT AT THE BOTTOM>. 서생원(Seo Sang Won) is supposed to be stronger than a wall(담벼락, dam byeo rak) because it can dig a hole in it.  에(eh) means at, on, for etc.. Why it has an ‘at, on, for’ at the end, I do not know.. but maybe it’s because of the next word which is…

고양이 (Go Yang ee): 고양이(Go Yang ee) means cat. Now some of you are getting the picture, right? Cats are another comparison to rats because well, cats are the predators of rats. Hence: CATS >>> RATS. For a rat, there is a cat. I think that’s why the 에(eh) was there. Things don’t look so good for the rat.

바둑이는 (Ba Du Ki Neun): 바둑이(ba du ki) means spotted dog. The 는(neun) at the end means is. The fate of the cat doesn’t look so good either.

돌돌이 (Dol Dol ee): 돌돌이(dol dol ee) is a name for a dog. Cute, huh? So the name of the spotted dog is 돌돌이(dol dol ee).

There you go! If you think about it.. the lyrics and the title of the song don’t really match, and the lyrics seem to go more off topic as the song goes on. But at least this strange song worked for Joo Won ee, right? Next time, I’ll try posting on drama dialougues. For now, thanks for reading! : )

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20110319 EDIT: 서생원 is not a rude way but rather a nice way of saying rat. The 생원(saeng won) in 서생원(suh saeng won) means 관료(kwan ryo), which means bureaucrat/government official. If you put 서(seo, 鼠), which means ‘rat’ in Hanmun in front 생원(saeng won), it’s means rat in a polite form. This explains the anthromorphism stuff. You’d only use bureaucrat/government official for only people, but here it’s using it for a rat. However, this word is not commonly used.