논토양의 민속분류 양상과 특징

Abstract

This study examines the characteristics of paddy soil classification through the examples of mountain villages, riverside villages, and island villages, while analyzing the scientific meanings of folk classification by comparing the contents of folk classification with pedological analysis. Comprehensively considered, ethnopedology basically employs the ethnoscientific approach as ethnozoology or ethnobotany does, being significantly related with pedology whose approach is centered on scientific analysis. Main findings are summarized as follows. The paddy soil investigated from the cases of three local areas is respectively classified into ‘nuunjil’(lying soil) vs. ‘seonjil’(standing soil), ‘jilddang’(muddy soil) vs. ‘sabalddang’(sandy soil), and ‘bonddang’(good soil) vs. ‘ggaetmukddang’(sesame-dregs soil). Such classification can be explained as the rough comparison between clay loam and sandy loam, though there are some discrepancies from the pedological perspective. The ‘ggaetmukddang’ in Cheongsan Island notably has been used for rice paddy on its historical and sociological conditions, being not proper for rice paddy. Paddy soil has been mainly classified according to its draining degree regardless of its location, which leads to general classification of either clay loam or sandy loam. The draining degree of soil is a fundamental factor of classification discussion owing to its close correlation with irrigation, weeding, and rice quality. Soil fertility or its chemical characteristics are not regarded as the major criterion in folk classification of paddy soil. That indicates the characteristics of paddy soil folk classification as well as the empirical knowledge and perception of farmers who treat their rice paddy as arable land for a single crop, rice. Paddy soil classification in Korea is not based on specific facts or a tangible single criterion but formed through accumulated empirical knowledge and perception on the soil, which is the main requisite of the empirical science. In conclusion, paddy soil folk classification in Korea is the classification method and approach which differs from the scientific taxonomy method of pedology which mainly adopts the soil analysis.