Korean

Mythology
Au- Yeung Ho

2A 1) Au-Yeung Ho Lam
7) Chu Hui Nam
25) Wong Yin Pin
20) Pun Ka Po
To understand more about the
characters and scope of Korean
mythology and folklore, it is necessary to
have at least a brief background in the
history and geography of the country.
Nowadays, very few people believe Korean
myths as a religion. Usually, they are the
followers of Daejonggyo and Chondogyo,
and worship Dangun as a god. There are
many variations in Korean cosmology,
but they can be grouped into three categories
generally.
Shamanistic creation mythology , Taoistic
cosmology and Buddhist-influenced cosmology.
The most“ Korean" cosmology perhaps is two
shamanistic traditions, which depends a lot on
local geography, for example, rivers and
mountains.
Shamanistic legends consist lots of oral
literature, they focus on local Mudang,
which act as a shaman and a story-teller.
The legends often seemed to explain the
origin of some tribes and to justify the
powers of the Mudang.
How were the Sun and the Moon
created?
At first, there were only stars in the sky
but no sun and moon. Haesik( 해식 ),
the older brother and Dalsun( 달순 ), the
younger sister were living in these early
days and their mother was a poor
peasant who sold rice-cake for living.
One day, their mother encountered by a
tiger when she was coming back home
from the village. The tiger begged her
for a rice-cake in exchange for sparing
her life so she gave it to the tiger then
kept on walking towards another hill.
But she soon saw the tiger again and it
asked for two more rice-cakes. At
last, the mother gave it the cakes to
retain her life. While she was walking
to the third hill, the tiger appeared.
And this time, it asked for four cakes
but the mother did not give the tiger
the cakes since she finally ran out of
cakes. Then the tiger ate her
immediately. The tiger devoured the
mother and then took on her clothing
as a disguise.
The children at home were
very worried about their
mother and Haesik
suggested locking the door
for safety and he heard a
voice which was calling
them from outside. Dalsun
thought that it was their
mother but Haesik knew
the voice was different and
he sensed that something
was not right. So they
refused to open the door.
The tiger used some of
the powder left from
the rice-cakes and
applied it on the back
of his hand and made
them become white.
Then it put its fingers
through the space of
the door and Dalsun
believed that it was
their mother so she
opened the door at
once.
Unfortunately,
the tiger
chased them
until the
children
climbed up
to a tree. It
found an axe
in their
house and
began to
chop down
the tree.
While they were
hopeless,
Dulsun began to
pray and asked
the heaven to
send down a
strong rope if
they should be
saved and a
rotten rope if
they were to be
damned. At last,
a strong rope
was sent down
and both of
them climbed up
to the heaven.
 His blood stained the
Seeing this, the millet and this is why
tiger made a millet stalk is said to
similar request. be red.
But the rope he In heaven, Haesik
got was rotten became the sun
and he fell in a (Haennim 햇님 ) and
millet field. Dalsun became the
moon (Dallim 달님 ).
Nevertheless, Dalsun
complained that she
was afraid of the dark
later.
Thus Haesik decided to stand in for her so
that Dalsun could become the sun.

And that’s the Korean story of how the sun

and the moon were created.
 What happened when the heavenly
people stopped drinking the milk of the
Earth?
The Heavenly people were pure. It is
said that drinking milk from the Earth,
they could speak without making
sounds, act without seeing and never
die while living for a long time
undisturbed. When the number of
people grew larger, there was not
enough Earth’s milk for everyone.
People who ate these grapes began to grow
teeth. They were able to see while they
were no longer able to hear the heavens.
Their skin became coarse and their
footsteps became heavier. They were no
longer pure. They gave birth to many
children and their lifetime became shorter.
So what happened when they
stopped drinking the milk of the
Earth?

A man from Magosung ( 麻姑城 ) called Jiso

( 支巢 ) did not get Earth’s milk, even had
waited a long time. Then he decided to kill
himself towards a cliff. At that time, he
discovered a grape vine. He ate it and got
five tastes and told other people.
People in Magosung( 麻姑城 ) began to
blam Jiso( 支巢 ) and people who had
eaten the grapes were forced to leave
Magosung( 麻姑城 ) . People who had
eaten grapes rushed into the castle
which contained the source of spring
that had given them Earth’s milk.
They damaged the castle. The milk
began to flow everywhere and turned
into the Earth.
How did Chumong manage to get a
good horse from the king for him to
travel south on ?
Chumong‘ s skill improved as he
became a young man. He often went
hunting with the king's seven sons.
Although they could catch a deer all
together, Chumong could catch many.

The eldest prince had warned his father

, ''Chumong is a boy with supernatural
powers. It would be best to take care
of him quickly, before he grows into a
man with stronger powers.
So the king ordered Chumong to work as a stable
boy, to see how he would react of being received
such a lowly work.

Dissatisfied with such a lowly station,

Chumong said to his mother '' i am the
son of a god. this is no way for me to live. i
will travel southwards and find a nation of
my own.
One of the horses leaped over the fence
with the height of two men. Chumong
immediately determined that this was an
exceptional horse. Secretly he stuck a
needle in the horse's tongue so that it
wouldn't be able to eat or drink.
When the king saw that all horse had grew big and
strong, he was very satisfied and gave him the
thin, starving horse to Chumong.

Chumong took the needle from the

horse's tongue and fed him very well.
when the horse became healthy , he
fled south until he came to a great river.
The king's troops were fast on
his heels, so he pointed his
whip at heaven and shouted
‘ I am the son of Haemosu,
the son-in- law of Habaek.
Now may the gods of heaven
and earth have mercy on me
and send me a bridge !’

Then he struck the water with

an arrow, and all the fish and
turtles in the river came up to
the surface and formed a
bridge.
Chumong quickly rode across, even as
the king's troops were approaching.
when he had reached the other side, the
fish and turtles dove back into the water,
eventually all the king's troops on the
bridge drowned.

Chumong’s mother had given him many

different seeds of grain when he left, but
he had lost most of the barley seed
along his journey. As he was resting
beneath a great tree, a pigeon came
flying into view.
 How did Chumong take Songyang’s
kingdom away from him ?
One day, when he was out
hunting, he met Songyang, the
original king of the land. When
Songyang asked him who he
was, Chumong answered ‘I am
a descendant of the god of
heaven, and I am now the king
of this land.'
Songyang replied angrily‘ I
have been king of this land
for some time now, so don’t
you think it would be right for
you submit me?’

Chumong said to him.

‘However, you are not
descendant of gods, if you
don't submit to me, heaven
will surely strike you down.’
Songyang decided to try
another strategy. ‘The mark
of a great king is surely his
skill in archery,’ he said.
‘Let's have a contest.’ He
commanded his servant to
draw a deer and place it at a
hundred paces. Songyang
took aim and fired, but he
missed his target.
Then Chumong
commanded his
servant to place a
jade ring at a hundred
paces, and broke it
with one arrow only.
Songyang was defeated,
and Chumong commanded
rain from heaven. It rained
for seven days, and
Songyang's capital was
swept away in flood.

With the help of heaven,

Chumong constructed his
own palace in another
seven days, and thus he
founded the kingdom of
Koguryeo.
The End