Hoe

Gwaengi, or a hoe, is an agricultural tool used to dig into the ground. It has different names by region, for example, including gwangi, kkaengi, kkwaengi, kwaengi, kkoengi, gwakji, and gwaegi. A hoe is generally made up of a metal body with one end folded in an L shape and the other end shaped into a socket into which a long handle is inserted. Hoes can be classified by the shape of the blade: the blade of an eggplant leaf gwaengi has a wide upper end and a pointed tip; the blade of a taro leaf gwaengi is wide at the upper part and gradually narrows towards the end to resemble a taro leaf; gok gwaengi, a pickax, has a horizontally thin and long blade with one or two pointed ends, while its handle is driven into the blade at the center. Other types include sapgwaengi, waegwaengi, and byeokchae. The blades are shaped differently in terms of the length, width, the angle between the blade and the handle, and weight, which are determined by the quality of the soil that the hoe is used for. The handle is made mostly of solid wood such as oak and sawleaf zelkova, 1.5 m in length, 3-4 cm in thickness, and has a round or oval cross section. Hoes are often used to dig and break the ground; to plow, weed, and cultivate fields; and to level the ground, with the exception of ginseng gwaengi, which has a long blade for harvesting ginseng. In a traditional hoe, the end of the blade was plated with steel, while today, the blade is made of steel or cast iron and has the same width for both the top and bottom parts with a round shape at the end.