Gotgam - Apocryphal and Traditional Significance

Apocryphal and Traditional Significance

• In Ozark folklore, the severity of the upcoming winter is said to be predictable by slicing a persimmon and observing the cutlery-shaped formation within it. (This is "a myth with no bearing on weather forecasting").
  • The folklore about the seed says that a spoon means snow while a fork is a milder winter and a knife is a cold biting winter.
• In Vietnam, the fruit is a part of Mid-Autumn Festival offering.
• In traditional Chinese medicine the fruit is thought to regulate ch'i.
• The raw fruit is used to treat constipation and hemorrhoids, and to stop bleeding. Over-consumption can induce diarrhea, but the cooked fruit is used to treat diarrhea and dysentery; the opposing effects of the raw and cooked fruit are due to its osmotic effect in the raw fruit sugar (causing diarrhea), and the high tannin content of the cooked fruit helping with diarrhea.
• In philosophy, the painting of persimmons by Mu Qi (13th Century) exemplifies the progression from youth to age as a symbol of the progression from bitterness to sweetness. The persimmon when young is bitter and inedible, but as it ages it becomes sweet and beneficial to humankind. Thus, as we age, we overcome rigidity and prejudice and attain compassion and sweetness. Mu Qi's painting of Six Persimmons is considered a masterpiece.
• In Korean folklore the dried persimmon (gotgam, Korean: 곶감) has a reputation of scaring away tigers.