Gourd Dipper

Bagaji is a gourd dipper used to scoop and carry water or grains. There are three types of bagaji. The first one is made by cutting a gourd in half, hollowing it out, boiling it, scraping out the inside and outside, and then drying it. The second one is carved from wood, and the third one is the same as the second, but with a handle. A wooden dipper is economical since it is more durable than a gourd dipper. In particular, a wooden dipper with a handle is sculpted from one piece of wood into the shape of a gourd dipper, hollowed out, and then carved to be either round or oval. The handle provides greater portability, and it is sturdy enough to hold heavy substances. In every eighth lunar month, when crops were harvested and the first frost of the year came, farmers picked gourds ripening on the farmhouse roof and split them to use the flesh for food and the shell as a tool. As bagaji is readily available and simple to carry, beggars often used it as a begging bowl. If someone proverbially “puts on jjokbak (a small bagaji),” or “carries bagaji,” it implies that the person has become a beggar.