Pagputi ng uwak[When the crow turns white]

In the Philippines during the Christmas season, one popular activity among the locals is to go to the movies and watch their favorite local film.  What I’m referring to is called “Metro Manila Film Festival” which showcases local acting talent.  One popular Filipino actress is Mrs. Vilma Santos-Recto who is labeled as the “Star for all Seasons” due to her longevity as an actress, for over 50 years now.  During 1978, she was the lead actress in the Filipino film “Pagputi Ng Uwak[까마귀], Pag-itim Ng Tagak” meaning “When the Crow[까마귀] Turns White, When the Heron Turns Black”.  The year before that (1977), she won an award as best actress in the “Metro Manila Film Festival” for the movie “Burlesk Queen”.

crow - 까마귀

Vilma Santos in “Pagputi Ng Uwak[까마귀], Pag-itim Ng Tagak”

The reason why I mentioned this movie was due to the title itself “When the Crow Turns White, When the Heron Turns Black”.  In the Philippines, this idiomatic expression has been a part of the Filipino culture to express the idea of the extremity of a certain situation, precisely to the extent that a certain thing is not possible to happen.  For example, “Maaari lamang kitang ibigin kapag pumuti na ang uwak.”  Translated in English, it means “It is hopelessly impossible for me to love you.”  In Philippine pop culture, it is also represented like in the following song by Philippine artist “Siakol” called “Lakas Tama”.  If you will try to listen to it, you can catch the phrase “sa pag puti pa ng uwak…” at some point in the song.

Having said that, it is my next point to argue that such expression “Pagputi Ng Uwak, Pag-itim Ng Tagak” in fact originated from Chinese, but with a slightly different version.  The story is from the Warring[전 / 戰] States[국 / 國] Period[시대 / 時代] in China (475 – 221 B.C.).  During that time, there was a state called 진[秦] and a state called 연[燕].  The Crown Prince[태자 / 太子] Dan[단 / 丹] of the state of 연[燕] became a hostage of the powerful state of 진[秦] where he received harsh treatment.  Thus, he requested to the ruler of 진[秦] for him to be returned to his own state.  The following is an excerpt from the annotation of historical records, 사기색은[史記索隱] :

《史記索隱》〈燕丹子〉曰：「丹求歸，秦王曰『烏頭白，馬生角，乃許耳』。

丹乃仰天歎，烏頭即白，馬亦生角。」

《사기색은》〈연단자〉왈：「단구귀，진왕왈『오두백，마생각，내허이』。

단내앙천탄，오두즉백，마역생각。」

(http://sou-yun.com/Query.aspx?type=allusion&id=6157&key=頭白豈無緣&lang=t)

《[史 – history][記 – records][索隱 – Book of Annotations]》〈[燕 – 연 state][丹 – 단][子 – Crown Prince]〉[曰 – said]：「[丹 – 단][求 – request][歸 – return]，[秦 – 진 state][王 – ruler/king][曰 – said]『[烏 – crow][頭 – head][白 – white]，[馬 – horse][生 – grow][角 – horn]，[乃 – then][許 – permit][耳 – simply]』。[丹 – 단][乃 – then][仰 – look up][天 – heaven][歎 – sigh]，[烏 – crow][頭 – head][即 – if][白 – white]，[馬 – horse][亦 – indeed][生 – grow][角 – horn]。」

《Historical Records Book of Annotations》〈At the 연 state, 단 the Crown Prince〉said：「I,  단, request to be returned to my state，but the 진 state’s ruler said『when the crow’s head turns white，when the horse grows a horn， then I will permit it simply』。단 then looked up to the heavens and sighed，the crow’s head, if it turns white，the horse indeed will have grown a horn。」

Notice 단’s lamentation in the last portion, “the crow’s head, if it turns white，the horse indeed will have grown a horn”, for 단 realized that such a thing is impossible to happen.  Hence he came to realize that he will never be returned to his state and forever will be a captive.  This is the reason why I mentioned earlier that the Filipino expression is a variant of the Chinese expression.  To make this assertion stronger, let’s take a look at the Sino-Korean word for 까마귀, the crow.  As it turns out, the word is 오아[烏鴉], a combination of the 한자[漢字] for crow[오 / 烏] and the 한자[漢字] for raven[아 / 鴉].  (http://krdic.naver.com/search.nhn?dic_where=krdic&query=오아).  By the way, in pure-Korean, raven is 갈까마귀.  Going back to what I’ve mentioned earlier, the Filipino word for crow is “uwak” while the Sino-Korean version is 오아[烏鴉].  The similarity in the pronunciation of the two is quite striking and this prompts me to suggest the following :  (1) “uwak” is of Chinese origin; (2)  “Pagputi Ng Uwak[까마귀], Pag-itim Ng Tagak” Filipino expression and/or its similar variants is of Chinese origin; (3)  It is very possible that the word “uwak” and similar variants of the expression in (2) were infused in Philippine culture at about the same time through contact with the Chinese.

The excerpt earlier from the 사기색은[史記索隱] mentioned the state of 진[秦] and its ruler.  진국[秦國] became the most powerful state at that time and eventually emerged as the victor at the end of the Warring States Period.  After that, China became united for the first time under the first emperor, 진시황[秦始皇].  The title/name of the emperor means: [秦 – From 진 state][始 – first/founding][皇 – emperor].  진시황[秦始皇] undertook several projects during his reign, the two most notable of which are “The Great Wall of China” and “The mausoleum guarded by the terracotta army”.  진시황[秦始皇] sought for immortality and during his quest for it, he would eat liquid mercury as part/mixed with his food.  At that time, it was believed that mercury had supernatural powers for it can dissolve gold, the most precious metal.

The Great Wall of China

Terracotta Army in 시안[西安], China

진시황[秦始皇] statue

For a short video about 진시황[秦始皇], you can watch the following from Youtube :  

The expression mentioned by 진시황[秦始皇], “when the crow’s head turns white, when the horse grows a horn” is called “Adynaton”, a figure of speech in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to suggest a complete impossibility.  According to Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adynaton) several countries have their own version of Adynaton and I’ll just mention some in its English translation :

Brazilian :  “It will happen on February 31^st”
German :  “When Christmas and Easter coincide”
Italian :  “When donkeys fly”
English :  “When pigs fly”
French :  “When hens grow teeth”
Ukrainian :  “When fish speak”   
Russian :  “When the crawfish whistles on the mountain”

In the Korean language, there are several ways of stating Adynaton and one way is “금강산[金剛山] 상상봉[上上峰]에 물 밀어 배 띄워 평지[平地] 되거든” – “At the summit of 금강산[金剛山], the waters will be pushed up, the boats will float, and it will become a flatland.”  This expression mentions 금강산[金剛山], a famous mountain in 강원도[江原道] North Korea.  From what I understand, it is possible to tour the mountain via arranged tours with South Korean agencies.  금강산[金剛山] is known for its scenic beauty since ancient times and has been the subject of many different works of art.  In English, it is also referred as “Diamond Mountain”, partly due to the syllables 금강[金剛].  On the other hand, the diamond gemstone is called 금강석[金剛石] in Korean.

Diamond Mountain - 금강산[金剛山], in North Korea

diamond - 금강석[金剛石]

And of course, the most precious diamonds on earth are…Girls’ Generation[소녀시대 / 少女時代], greeting us another Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas !

And finally…at long last…