Gyejeolmal (Seasonal Word)

Gyejeolmal is a word in a Korea Haiku poem that directly indicates a particular season or evokes seasonal changes and sensory qualities found in nature and everyday life. Gyejeolmal is not limited to the names of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Any word bearing seasonality in Korean life may function as a Gyejeolmal, including words related to plants, animals, astronomy, weather, seasonal divisions, food, labor, play, rituals, and objects of everyday life. Within the four conceptual axes of Korea Haiku, Gyejeolmal represents the axis of time. It establishes the seasonal and temporal setting of a poem and evokes the reader’s senses and memories.

Korea Haiku is a literary form that embodies Korean nature and everyday life, memories of place, and cultural transmission within a brief fixed form. To explain the creation, appreciation, criticism, and study of Korea Haiku systematically, independent conceptual terminology suited to the Korean linguistic environment and lived culture is required. Gyejeolmal is therefore established as an official Korea Haiku term for explaining the temporality of a poem and the seasonality of nature and everyday life. The term provides a theoretical basis for understanding Korea Haiku not merely as a fixed-form poem, but as an independent literary system grounded in Korean perceptions of nature and lived experience.

Gyejeolmal was formulated to explain the seasonal qualities of nature and everyday life that repeatedly appear in Korea Haiku works. In the conceptual structure of Korea Haiku, which consists of the four axes of time, scene, place, and memory and transmission, Gyejeolmal was proposed as the term representing the axis of time. A Gyejeolmal establishes the temporal setting of a poem, reveals seasonal changes in nature and everyday life, and evokes the reader’s senses and memories. It also creates a broad seasonal context within a very short poem and serves as a central formal and thematic element of Korea Haiku.The term was proposed by KIM SUSEONG and formally submitted by An SooHyun. It is established as an official Korea Haiku concept following review by the Terminology Establishment and Review Committee.

Gyejeolmal has been used in the creation, education, and study of Korea Haiku to explain the seasonality and temporal setting of a poem.
Its official definition, functions, categories, and principles of application were systematized in the Korea Haiku Federation publication, Official Glossary of Core Concepts in Korea Haiku, where Gyejeolmal is identified as the axis of time among the four core concepts of Gyejeolmal, Gyeotmal, Ulteomal, and Deotjitgi. The principal categories of Gyejeolmal include seasonal customs, seasonal divisions and rituals; astronomy, weather and the sky; landforms, scenery and natural landscapes; plants, flowers, trees and crops; animals, insects and migratory birds; everyday life, labor, school and movement; food, taste and seasonal ingredients; and objects, play, culture, sound and fragrance.

Examples include:
Spring: plum blossoms, azaleas, mugwort, spring rain, apple blossoms
Summer: monsoon rain, cicadas, snails, fringed pinks, beach
Autumn: buckwheat blossoms, silver grass, crickets, the Milky Way, moonlight
Winter: first snow, camellias, frost, ice, winter rain etc.

1. A Gyejeolmal should arise naturally within the poetic scene.
2. It should not be inserted artificially merely to identify a season, nor should it be used as a dictionary-like explanation.
3. Its seasonal force becomes clearer when it is combined with objects, movement, sound, smell, light, place, and lived experience.
4. Gyejeolmal is not limited to traditional words referring to nature. Food, labor, school life, travel, play, everyday objects, and modern urban spaces may also function as Gyejeolmal when they bear a distinct seasonal quality.
5. Gyejeolmal represents the temporal and seasonal context of a poem. It may operate in connection with Gyeotmal, which expands the scene; Ulteomal, which evokes place-memory; and Deotjitgi, which engages cultural memory and transmission.
6. The official Korean spelling is 계절말, written as a single word.
7. In English-language materials, Gyejeolmal should be used as the primary name in order to preserve the distinct Korea Haiku concept. Seasonal Word may be added as an explanatory translation.

When Gyejeolmal is used as an official Korea Haiku concept, or when its definition, functions, categories, or principles are cited in academic articles, books, lectures, educational materials, media reports, online publications, or digital content, users are encouraged to identify the relevant official record and document number in Malmaru 말마루, operated by the Korea Haiku Federation. The proposer, submitter, reviewing body, and proclaiming institution should not be omitted or inaccurately represented when the official definition is cited.

Recommended citation:
Korea Haiku Federation. “Official Terminology Record of Gyejeolmal.” Malmaru 말마루: Official Terminology, Declarations & Historical Records. Document No. KHF-MALMARU-YEAR-NUMBER, proclamation date.
Proposed by: KIM SUSEONG
Submitted by: An SooHyun
Reviewed by: Terminology Establishment and Review Committee
Proclaimed by: Korea Haiku Federation