Fan death, an outdated evil?

Question

While I lived in South Korea I was told many stories about legends, myths, etc in Korean culture, one being Fan Death.

If you're not familiar with this one, some (no not all so don't generalize) Koreans believe if you go to bed in a room with all the doors and windows shut and you have a fan blowing directly on your face you will die.

Ok stop giggling, I couldn't believe how many older Koreans were absolute in this belief, I mean it's the year 2007, but for the most part the Korean youth didn't really put much currency into this tale.

My question is for Koreans: Do you think that Fan Death will evetually fade into folk tales or is their still enough youth these days who believe it?

PS: I'd like answers from real Koreans, not Korean looking Americans, no you guys don't count. :P

Answer 1

Haha my mom used to tell me that all the time as a kid. My grandmothers fully believe this, every time I visit Korea (which seems to be in the summer) they won't let us sleep with the fan on. (Unfortunately, one of the houses don't have a/c... -_-'')

Considering that my parents' generations will tell this to their kids like mine did, despite the year being 2007, I think people will still believe this for a couple more years to come.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

I think that along with all the miracle cures that can come from kimchi, the idea that Koreans hands have evolved to be better able to hold chopsticks than Westerners, and the notion that Hangul is the most and only phonetically consistent writing system in the world (try writing dongnaemun), fan death will continue. It isn't something that is seriously challenged by people who live there. Why would it disappear? Sorry, I am not Korean and don't even look Korean, but all people have their odd ideas about how the world works, and that isn't going to change for a while.

Answer 3

i lived in a dorm as an RA in south korea for the past 5 years so i was around korean teenagers and it was surprising the number of them that believed in fan death. one of my friends even told all his middleschoolers that he was going to make sure that night to keep his door and all windows closed just to prove that it cant happen. some of them seriously asked him not to do it. so the belief is definitely still out there. some of them swore they knew someone's cousin that knew someone that had died... ^^;;

Answer 4

Haha, I heard about it long long time ago. In my high school girls discussed what would be noble way to suicide (we had no idea we were talking about!) , one suggested the fan, the other suggested, if you fill your room full of lily and sleep in the room you'll die by sum of weak toxins coming out of the lily.
Both methods are wrong, you'll not die.

If you tie a small animal in front of the fan for long time, that animal may suffocate and die for real, also a newborn baby.