Korean Sayings: Can’t Say A Word To One’s Liver
간에기별도안간다
Can’t say a word to one’s liver
What does it mean to say a word to one’s liver? And why is the liver, considered a minor priority to most people when comparing it to other vital organs like the heart, brain, lungs and stomach. In fact the saying is related to hunger. When one says he or she can’t say a word to his or her liver, it means that the food (or the meal) is unsatisfactory. To many Koreans, this is a conventional expression to suggest searching for something more to eat. But what does that have to do with the liver?
Koreans have a special connection to the liver, considering that the liver often becomes the center of many Korean folk tales and legends. One such story involves a rabbit and a sea turtle, in which the sea turtle tricks the rabbit into accompanying him to the sea castle in order to take the rabbit’s liver. The story begins when the dragon king, dwelling in his luxurious sea palace, becomes very sick after living hundreds of years. The king’s illness was serious to the extent that the doctor diagnoses that the only cure for the illness is a rabbit’s liver. In order to save his king, a loyal turtle goes to the land and persuades induces a rabbit to accompany him to the sea palace, lying that the King would like to have a party with him. Nevertheless, the rabbit runs away from the trickery by saying that he had left his liver on the land.
Moreover, the liver has also been the main food source for a traditional Korean monster, known as the nine tailed fox gumiho (구미호). According to the legend, the nine tailed fox becomes a human if he or she (usually she) survives eating human liver for a thousand years. There is no doubt that Koreans have had a special connection with the liver dating back generations.
The truth lies in the fact that even though the stomach digests and absorbs food, the food gives its full energy when it reaches the liver and is stored there.
In addition, unlike western medicine, which believes that the liver is only useful for material purposes such as detoxification or destroying old blood cells, Oriental medicine, believes that the liver also influences humans mentally and control the ki (or spiritual energy necessary for life). This idea of the liver having a mental effect went as far as begetting expressions like “big liver” (간이크다) and “swollen liver” (간덩이가붓다) to describe someone with audacious, impertinent qualities, as well as the expression “Can’t say a word to one’s liver.” The stories of the nine tailed fox and the rabbit also symbolize the vitality and energy of the liver. The nine tailed fox often turns into a comely lady who in turn consumes men’s livers to absorb their energy, and the sea dragon asked for a rabbit’s liver to cure his disease. Without the liver, both humans and monsters are un-lively, lacking energy to move on with the cycle of life.