A controversy over cosmic time in Korea

"Whether the zodiacal New Year starts on Tongji (Dec. 22) or Ipchun, (Feb. 4) is now a hot potato among fortunetellers after a fortunetellers association from Taejon raised the issue. Lee Sang-yup, a member of the association, regards Tongji, or the winter solstice, as the starting point.

Lee said that according to Oriental philosophers and the Zhouyi [more commonly known as the I Ching -- Ed.], considered the bible of fortunetelling, Tongji is the starting point of a new year.

"On Tongji, one of 24 seasonal divisions [in the Sino-Korean calendar], the Sun is resurrected and days start to become longer than nights. Because the days get longer again, many people consider this the start of the new year.

"To tell a fortune, a teller gets one's birthday and birth time, then consults a special calendar written in Chinese sexagenary cycles based on the movements of the Sun, Moon and five other planets. By reading the cycles, a person's happiness, luck, bad fortune and sadness can be [said to be] predicted.

"The issue becomes serious for people born between Tongji and Ipchun. Depending on a fortuneteller’s interpretation of the start of the new year, they can be labeled with different Chinese zodiac signs. Because many Koreans use their zodiac signs for naming, setting marriage dates or predicting marital harmony, confusion about them can have long-lasting effects."