Korean fairytales and folktales have been passed down for
hundreds of years and are still told in Korea today. There are many modern interpretations in K-dramas, children’s books and novels.
hundreds of years and are still told in Korea today. There are many modern interpretations in K-dramas, children’s books and novels.
Korean Buddhist mural.
There are many different variations of Korean myths that have different ideological bases. Somewhere between reality and fiction come stories that represent history repeating itself over generations. Korean folktales can be seen to represent the hopes and dreams of the ‘common’ people, when they have often found their lives to be difficult and unfair. Korean folktales are able to show different facets of ordinary people’s lives in these societies where people dreamed of a world without sickness and disease and of rulers that were fair and wise.
These tales represented ideas that often shaped the views, morals and ideologies that formed the belief system of Korean people for hundreds of years. Korean folktales are a mixture of the beliefs held in Shamanism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The strong hierarchal system of Korean people, their connection with the environment and their family are represented in folktales and in the lives of Korean people. There are supernatural entities which connect humans to the spiritual world and explain both the pleasures and injustices of the world.
These tales represented ideas that often shaped the views, morals and ideologies that formed the belief system of Korean people for hundreds of years. Korean folktales are a mixture of the beliefs held in Shamanism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The strong hierarchal system of Korean people, their connection with the environment and their family are represented in folktales and in the lives of Korean people. There are supernatural entities which connect humans to the spiritual world and explain both the pleasures and injustices of the world.
Princess Bari.
Feminist icons in Korean Folktales
One of the most famous myths based in Shamanism is the story about Princess Bari, or the ‘Abandoned Princess’, who represents a strong feminist icon. This poem tells the story of Princess Bari, who was abandoned at birth because of her gender. She makes a journey into the underworld to find the Elixir of Life. Through this journey she becomes a Goddess who takes souls to heaven after they enter the afterlife.
This story resonated with many Korean women as it touched on so many of the things they had to deal with in their lives. They had to accept the burden of mistakes made by their parents and accept the idea in Korea of the expression of ‘filial piety’. This is the idea that women should support and serve their parents above all else and men are placed above women. It is also a duty to one’s nation, as the family is connected to the nation. Many Korean women have had to sacrifice their lives as a result of filial piety. This story shows how a woman can be transformed by making this sacrifice.
While this myth shows Korean social ideals such as filial piety, it also represents a strong woman in a society that has historically been patriarchal. Princess Bari is able to find a life outside of the typical ideal of a wife and devoted daughter.
One of the most famous myths based in Shamanism is the story about Princess Bari, or the ‘Abandoned Princess’, who represents a strong feminist icon. This poem tells the story of Princess Bari, who was abandoned at birth because of her gender. She makes a journey into the underworld to find the Elixir of Life. Through this journey she becomes a Goddess who takes souls to heaven after they enter the afterlife.
This story resonated with many Korean women as it touched on so many of the things they had to deal with in their lives. They had to accept the burden of mistakes made by their parents and accept the idea in Korea of the expression of ‘filial piety’. This is the idea that women should support and serve their parents above all else and men are placed above women. It is also a duty to one’s nation, as the family is connected to the nation. Many Korean women have had to sacrifice their lives as a result of filial piety. This story shows how a woman can be transformed by making this sacrifice.
While this myth shows Korean social ideals such as filial piety, it also represents a strong woman in a society that has historically been patriarchal. Princess Bari is able to find a life outside of the typical ideal of a wife and devoted daughter.
The Magpie and Tiger is a common fold image in Korean art.
Moral messages in Korean Folktales
Many folktales are steeped in Buddhism and the philosophical teachings of Confucius. There are often good and evil spirits which give benefits to the righteous or deal retribution for wrongdoings. People can suffer because of sins committed both in this life and previous lives.
Two famous Korean folktales with the common theme of people suffering because of their own actions and of filial piety are The Magpie and the Bell and The Young Man and the Wild Ginseng. In the Magpie and the Bell, a young student kills a snake in order to stop it from taking the life of a magpie. Later, the wife of the dead snake tries to kill the scholar unless he can toll a bell three times in a mountain temple. His life is saved when three of the young magpies lose their own lives by using their beaks to ring the bell.
In The Young Man and the Wild Ginseng, a young couple boils their only son in order to make broth for the man’s dying father to recover. The father recovers and the monk that made the recommendation (a good spirit) reveals that it was in fact a Ginseng disguised as their son and their son is still alive. The couple were rewarded for their filial piety in sacrificing what they believed was their son in order to save the father. This folktale sends the message that children should do anything to help their parents.
Korean folktales can also have an emphasis on the importance of wisdom. There is the idea that fair rulers are able to be persuaded by reason and people who are powerful through physical strength, economics and politics can exercise fair judgements.
Many folktales are steeped in Buddhism and the philosophical teachings of Confucius. There are often good and evil spirits which give benefits to the righteous or deal retribution for wrongdoings. People can suffer because of sins committed both in this life and previous lives.
Two famous Korean folktales with the common theme of people suffering because of their own actions and of filial piety are The Magpie and the Bell and The Young Man and the Wild Ginseng. In the Magpie and the Bell, a young student kills a snake in order to stop it from taking the life of a magpie. Later, the wife of the dead snake tries to kill the scholar unless he can toll a bell three times in a mountain temple. His life is saved when three of the young magpies lose their own lives by using their beaks to ring the bell.
In The Young Man and the Wild Ginseng, a young couple boils their only son in order to make broth for the man’s dying father to recover. The father recovers and the monk that made the recommendation (a good spirit) reveals that it was in fact a Ginseng disguised as their son and their son is still alive. The couple were rewarded for their filial piety in sacrificing what they believed was their son in order to save the father. This folktale sends the message that children should do anything to help their parents.
Korean folktales can also have an emphasis on the importance of wisdom. There is the idea that fair rulers are able to be persuaded by reason and people who are powerful through physical strength, economics and politics can exercise fair judgements.
The Teacher's Secret.
In The Teacher’s Secret, a teacher who teaches students at a private school often likes to eat snacks while the students are studying. He tells the children that these snacks are poisonous and they should not eat them. One day, when he is out of school for the morning the students discover it is dried fruit and eat the snacks. When the teacher returns they are all lying on the floor. They broke a table and explain to the teacher that they felt so bad about it that they ate his snacks and are waiting to die. The teacher, rather than admonishing them, walks outside and thinks: “hmm… they are learning fast”. In this way the wily students are able to avoid a punishment in schools that had very strict discipline.
The Insane Magistrate is a story in which the subordinates of a local magistrate orchestrate a plan to make him appear mentally unstable and get him removed from office, as he is seen by them to be morally corrupt. One of his subordinates slaps him in the face and when he tries to have him removed, the other workers claim it did not happen and that he imagined it. This continues until his son arrives, who also accuses him of being mentally unwell. He gets so angry he kicks his son in public and is removed from office. The message in this story seems to be that he would not have had a temper tantrum about the situation if he was a fair ruler with a sense of mercy.
The Insane Magistrate is a story in which the subordinates of a local magistrate orchestrate a plan to make him appear mentally unstable and get him removed from office, as he is seen by them to be morally corrupt. One of his subordinates slaps him in the face and when he tries to have him removed, the other workers claim it did not happen and that he imagined it. This continues until his son arrives, who also accuses him of being mentally unwell. He gets so angry he kicks his son in public and is removed from office. The message in this story seems to be that he would not have had a temper tantrum about the situation if he was a fair ruler with a sense of mercy.
Dobbkaebi.
Mythical creatures in folklore and K-dramas
A type of Korean folktale called Imuldam contains supernatural creatures. The Goblin, known as Dokkaebi in traditional Korean folklore, is a spirit which possesses inanimate objects. Many Korean legends have Dokkaebi in them playing pranks on mortals or punishing them because of their evil deeds.
One tale is about an old man who lived alone in a mountain when a Dokkaebi visited his house. With surprise, the kind old man gave the Dokkaebi an alcoholic beverage and they become friends. The Dokkaebi visited the old man often and they had long conversations together, but one day, the man took a walk by himself in the woods near the river and discovered that his reflection looked like the Dokkaebi. With fear, he realized that he was gradually becoming that creature. The man made a plan to prevent himself from becoming a Dokkaebi and invited the creature to his house. He asked, "What are you most afraid of?" and the Dokkaebi answered, "I'm afraid of blood. What are you afraid of?" The man pretended to be frightened and said, "I'm afraid of money. That's why I live in the mountains by myself." The next day, the old man killed a cow and poured its blood all over his house. The Dokkaebi, with shock and great anger, ran away and said, "I'll be back with your greatest fear!" The next day, the Dokkaebi brought bags of money and threw it to the old man. After that, Dokkaebi never came back and the old man became the richest person in the town.
A type of Korean folktale called Imuldam contains supernatural creatures. The Goblin, known as Dokkaebi in traditional Korean folklore, is a spirit which possesses inanimate objects. Many Korean legends have Dokkaebi in them playing pranks on mortals or punishing them because of their evil deeds.
One tale is about an old man who lived alone in a mountain when a Dokkaebi visited his house. With surprise, the kind old man gave the Dokkaebi an alcoholic beverage and they become friends. The Dokkaebi visited the old man often and they had long conversations together, but one day, the man took a walk by himself in the woods near the river and discovered that his reflection looked like the Dokkaebi. With fear, he realized that he was gradually becoming that creature. The man made a plan to prevent himself from becoming a Dokkaebi and invited the creature to his house. He asked, "What are you most afraid of?" and the Dokkaebi answered, "I'm afraid of blood. What are you afraid of?" The man pretended to be frightened and said, "I'm afraid of money. That's why I live in the mountains by myself." The next day, the old man killed a cow and poured its blood all over his house. The Dokkaebi, with shock and great anger, ran away and said, "I'll be back with your greatest fear!" The next day, the Dokkaebi brought bags of money and threw it to the old man. After that, Dokkaebi never came back and the old man became the richest person in the town.
The representation of death in Korean folktales is the Grim Reaper. The ruler of the underworld, Yeomra, sends the Grim Reapers out as messengers.
Creatures from both Western and Korean mythology have appeared in K-dramas. The Goblin 도깨비 appeared in The Great and Lonely Lord, in which an unbeatable general was resurrected as a Goblin and able to live an eternal life. The Grim Reaper gives a girl 49 days to live in the Drama 49 days. The Grim Reaper also appears in Arang and the Magistrate, when a girl who died comes back as a ghost and is chased by the Grim Reaper, who has been sent to deliver her to Yeomra.
While mermaids are prevalent in a large amount of Western folklore, there are origins of the mermaid in Asian folklore too. There are two K-dramas with mermaids in them, namely Surplus Princess (which closely represents ‘The Little Mermaid’) and The Legend of the Blue Sea, in which a mermaid and a nobleman try to escape the humans who seek to separate them and force the nobleman into an arranged marriage.
Creatures from both Western and Korean mythology have appeared in K-dramas. The Goblin 도깨비 appeared in The Great and Lonely Lord, in which an unbeatable general was resurrected as a Goblin and able to live an eternal life. The Grim Reaper gives a girl 49 days to live in the Drama 49 days. The Grim Reaper also appears in Arang and the Magistrate, when a girl who died comes back as a ghost and is chased by the Grim Reaper, who has been sent to deliver her to Yeomra.
While mermaids are prevalent in a large amount of Western folklore, there are origins of the mermaid in Asian folklore too. There are two K-dramas with mermaids in them, namely Surplus Princess (which closely represents ‘The Little Mermaid’) and The Legend of the Blue Sea, in which a mermaid and a nobleman try to escape the humans who seek to separate them and force the nobleman into an arranged marriage.
The Tale of Haengbu and Nolbu.
Some well known Korean Folk Tales
Heungbu and Nolbu is a story of two brothers who show how greed can be one’s undoing. Nolbu is the older, greedy brother who tricks his kind and empathetic brother out of their father’s inheritance, leaving Nolbu rich and Heungbu poor. Heungbu was content with his simple life and saved a sparrow from being eaten by a snake, a kindness for which he was rewarded with riches a year later. Nolbu tries to recreate the situation, but instead he loses all of his wealth. The main lesson from this story is that being kind and generous will lead you to wealth and luck.
The Tale of Shim Chong is about the love a blind girl has for her father. Her love is so strong that she offers herself as a sacrifice in order to regain his eyesight. Shim Chong is summoned by the Dragon King and resurrected because of the love she showed towards her father. She becomes an empress, her father regains his eyesight, and they live happily together. Putting others before yourself is the right thing to do.
Heungbu and Nolbu is a story of two brothers who show how greed can be one’s undoing. Nolbu is the older, greedy brother who tricks his kind and empathetic brother out of their father’s inheritance, leaving Nolbu rich and Heungbu poor. Heungbu was content with his simple life and saved a sparrow from being eaten by a snake, a kindness for which he was rewarded with riches a year later. Nolbu tries to recreate the situation, but instead he loses all of his wealth. The main lesson from this story is that being kind and generous will lead you to wealth and luck.
The Tale of Shim Chong is about the love a blind girl has for her father. Her love is so strong that she offers herself as a sacrifice in order to regain his eyesight. Shim Chong is summoned by the Dragon King and resurrected because of the love she showed towards her father. She becomes an empress, her father regains his eyesight, and they live happily together. Putting others before yourself is the right thing to do.
The Rabbit and the Dragon King, or The Rabbit’s Liver, is about the Dragon King who has an ailment which can only be cured by the liver from a rabbit. The terrapin volunteers to search for a rabbit and sets out. He captures a rabbit and brings it back to the palace with him. However, the rabbit realizes the danger he is in and lies to the King, saying his liver is hidden in the forest and he must go back to retrieve it. The rabbit is able to escape because of his quick thinking and never returns to the palace. Study well and think quick and things will turn out well.
Gyeonu and Jiknyeo, or The Cowherd and the Weaver , is a story about the heavenly king’s daughter, Jiknyeo, who was a masterful, hardworking weaver. Jiknyeo fell in love with a cow herder named Gyeonu across the Milky Way, and her father allowed them to get married. However, once married, the two became devoted to their love and abandoned their work. Her father forbade them to meet, only allowed to meet once a year. This tale is the lore behind Chilseok, a traditional Korean festival, which celebrates the dwindling of the heat and the start of the wet season. |
The Cowherd and the Weaver.
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The Fairy and the Woodcutter is a story of a woodcutter who saves a magical deer from sure death. Grateful, the deer tells the woodcutter to make a wish. When the woodcutter asks for a wife, the magical deer tells the woodcutter to wait by the lake where the fairies bathe, hide one of their robes and ask the fairy whose robe he had hidden to marry him. The deer warns him though not to return the robe to his future wife unless they’ve had their fourth child, otherwise she will leave him and take their children with her. They already had three children when she had asked him for her robe back, promising not to leave him. When he returns it, she flies away with their children, leaving him behind. He then does everything in his power to get his family back. This tale is a very popular tragic love story that emphasizes the moral of honesty and respect of others and their things.
The Rooster’s Comb, the Dog’s Leg and the Pig’s Nose One day, God summoned these three animals to go to earth and do some good while they were there. When they came back each shared how they had helped the people on earth. Rooster would crow early in the morning to help wake everyone up, and so God rewarded him with a red crown on his head. The dog (an animal who back then only had three legs) said that he watched over the house when everyone was away at work and stayed awake at night when they were all asleep to keep robbers away. God rewarded Dog with a fourth leg. When God asked Pig what he had done Pig merely answered that there was nothing else for him to do so he simply slept and ate. Furious, God punished Pig which is why he ended up with a small nose.
The River Snail and the Young Man. While plowing his field, a young man encounteed a particularly large river snail. The man took pity on the snail and took it home, placing it in a vat of water. The next night, when he returned home, he discovered his little house had been cleanly swept and that a very fine, still-hot meal was awaiting him on his table. “How kind my neighbors are. ” he said. But when he asked his closest neighbours to thank those who have been kind, none had any knowledge of the incident. Strangely, the same thing happened on the second day, then on the third, fourth and fifth day. At last, he decided to find out who was his benefactor. The next afternoon he returned especially early. Crouching down, he peered into the window, and to his great astonishment, he saw a pretty girl cooking at the stove. He rushed to the vat and found hat the giant snail was missing; only an empty shell remained. “Who are you?” he asked. “Why are you caring for my house?” The girl told him she was the snail he saved. She found him to be a kind-hearted man and wanted to do a favor for him to thank him. Soon they married. They both loved each other deeply, and they lived happily ever after.
The Two Brothers Who Were Kind to Each Other. There was once two brothers who took very good care of their mother. When she passed away, they both inherited everything equally and both worked very hard on their fields. One day, each brother wanted to give the other a sack of rice, but kept wondering why their own pile of sacks never seemed to lessen.
The Two Brothers Who Were Kind to Each Other. There was once two brothers who took very good care of their mother. When she passed away, they both inherited everything equally and both worked very hard on their fields. One day, each brother wanted to give the other a sack of rice, but kept wondering why their own pile of sacks never seemed to lessen.
The Gold Axe and the Silver Axe, or The Honest Woodcutter, is the Korean version of the Aesop’s fable of the same name. The story is about a woodcutter who drops his axe into the river and starts to cry. The God of the Mountain dives into the river and pulls out a gold axe and then a silver axe when the woodcutter tells the God neither of the axe’s are his. Because of the woodcutter’s honesty, the God gives the woodcutter both the axes, plus the one he originally lost. Honesty will earn you generosity of others.
Pouch of Songs. There once was a man who was always subjected to ridicule because of the giant lump on his neck. One day while out at a late hour in the forest, he found a house and decided he would sleep there for the night. But the little hut was so dark and eerie that he decided to sing a bit to make it less scary. His singing drew the attention of a group of goblins who demanded to know why his voice sounded so nice. When he told them that his lump was actually a pouch of songs, the goblins offered to buy his lump in exchange for their treasure. He agreed, and the goblins painlessly removed the lump from his neck. The next day, the whole town was surprised to see that his lump was gone! Another man with a lump on his neck also wanted to know how he got rid of his lump. The man told him the story, and so the second man with the lump decided to try out his luck as well. Unfortunately the goblins don’t buy his trick and he ends up getting a bit more than he bargained for.
These are just a few of the many tales that abound in Korean folklore. You'll find others, including some animated versions, if you search the web.
Pouch of Songs. There once was a man who was always subjected to ridicule because of the giant lump on his neck. One day while out at a late hour in the forest, he found a house and decided he would sleep there for the night. But the little hut was so dark and eerie that he decided to sing a bit to make it less scary. His singing drew the attention of a group of goblins who demanded to know why his voice sounded so nice. When he told them that his lump was actually a pouch of songs, the goblins offered to buy his lump in exchange for their treasure. He agreed, and the goblins painlessly removed the lump from his neck. The next day, the whole town was surprised to see that his lump was gone! Another man with a lump on his neck also wanted to know how he got rid of his lump. The man told him the story, and so the second man with the lump decided to try out his luck as well. Unfortunately the goblins don’t buy his trick and he ends up getting a bit more than he bargained for.
These are just a few of the many tales that abound in Korean folklore. You'll find others, including some animated versions, if you search the web.
