태국의 우기를 알리는 쏭크란 축제, 그리고 동남아의 쥐불놀이

 

 

 

여름이 오면 동남아시아는 남서 계절풍이 지배합니다.

남서 계절풍이 불어오면 우기도 함께 시작됩니다.

 

2016년 3월 19일 위성영상입니다.

 

The Asian monsoon dominates the climate of Southeast Asia. From roughly mid-April to September, it is rainy and hot; from November to mid-March, it is cooler and dry. Late in the dry season, fires become widespread

 

 

사진의 뿌연 것은 모두 구름이 아니라 연기가 많이 포함되어 있습니다.

 

3월 19일 영상을 보면 이미 남남서 계열의 바람이 불긴하지만

아직 본격적인 우기는 시작되지 않은 것 같습니다.

위의 영문 설명에도 나오듯이 동남아시아의 우기는 일반적으로 mid April 부근 부터입니다.

 

mid April이라면, 딱 생각나는 것이

태국의 쏭크란입니다.

 

우리에게 설날이 있다면 태국에는 쏭크란입니다.

태국에 우기를 알리는 쏭크란축제.

보통 4월 13~15일에 열리곤 합니다.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

위의 지도도 2016년 3월 19일 영상입니다.

빨간 색은 불이 난 곳입니다.

 

본격적인 우기가 시작되면 새로운 생명들도 탄생하게 됩니다.

지력이 확보되어야 다음 생명체도 튼튼하게 태어나겠죠.

그래서 건기 끝자락(3월 하순)에 동남아시아는 쥐불놀이의 향연이 벌어지게 됩니다.

 

 

throughout the Indochina peninsula as people use burning to clear and maintain agricultural and residential landscapes.

 

Fire has a long history as a land management tool in Southeast Asia; most of the fires detected by the satellite were likely lit intentionally. In cultivated lowlands (tan area), farmers use fire to burn crop debris after harvest—often rice—and to prepare the land for the growing season. In the mountains (green), some people practice swidden agriculture, a farming system sometimes called “shifting agriculture” or “slash and burn” that involves clearing forested areas with fire, planting crops for a few years, and then letting brush and forest retake the fields during a fallow period intended to replenish soil nutrients. Fires are also sometimes lit to promote the growth of grasses used to make thatch roofs and brooms, to encourage the reproduction of certain mushrooms, to make seeds of some wild plant seeds germinate, and to flush out game during hunts for wildlife, according to a report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

 

Lowlands = 벼농사를 위한 쥐불 (지푸라기 태우기)

Mountains = swidden agriculture = shifting agriculture = slash and burn (화전)

 

Though many of the fires were surely lit intentionally, natural conditions are potentially intensifying them and causing some to burn out of control. Southeast Asia is in the midst of a drought that has parched forests and other vegetation. Observers in Vietnam are calling the drought there the worst in 90 years. The lack of rain has led to intrusions of salt water into rice paddies and other croplands along the Mekong delta. In Thailand, authorities have diverted water from the Mekong River to agricultural areas in response to the dry weather, a move that has worried neighboring countries. In an attempt to ease tensions, China announced in March that it would release extra water into the Mekong at the Jinghong Hydropower Station.