#Korean Folklore

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Storyboarding assignment: Make a 'beat board' out of a fairytale or folk tale.

We were allowed to modify the stories we chose, so I worked with The sun and the moon (a Korean folktale) except I made it take a more vengeful turn.

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

When AI is so prevalent everywhere nowadays that even Death starts to invest in cheap grim reaper robots /j (that keep eventually gaining sentience and becoming spiteful and lost spirits but shhhh, that's too much lore)

Inspired by the Korean folk lore of Death: 저승사자- a psychopomp deity who's job is not to judge or kill, but to simply guide newly deceased souls to the afterlife. They are traditionally depicted wearing a black (한복) hanbok with a black (갓) gat.

[hangukkie]

한국 전래동화에 나오는 어회와 문법 ! - Vocabulary and grammar in traditional Korean fairytales !

English Translation:

———————————————————

Vocabulary:

옛날 - Olden days

옛날에 - Once upon a time

어머니/엄마 - Mum

그녀 - She/Her

돈 - Money

아들 - Son

딸 - Daughter

함께 - Together

숲 - Forest

어느 - Which

날 - Day

호랑이 - Tiger

떡 - Rice cake

더욱 더 - More and more

많이/많은 - Many/A lot

그 - He/Him

아이 - Kid/Child

아이들 - Kids/Children

옷 - Clothes

집 - House

꼬리 - Tail

밖 - Outside

나무 - Tree

꼭대기 - The top

하늘 - Sky

줄 - Rope

바닥 - Floor

오늘 - Today

해 - Sun

달 - Moon

Grammar - Verbs:

있다 - To exist

없다 - To not exist

살다 - To live

나타나다 - To appear

달다 - To ask/To request (In this context)

주다 - To give

원하다 - To want/To wish/To desire

먹다 - To eat

가다 - To go

가리다 - To cover

보다 - To see

도망가다 - To run away

올라가다 - To go up

자르다 - To cut

기도를 하다 - To pray

내리다 - To get off

떨어지다 - To fall

된다 - To become

Grammar - Sentence Forms:

라고 하다 - For indirect quotations

지다 - To become

도 - Too/Also/As well as

고 싶다 - To want

지 않다 - Is not

려고 - To intend to

시도하다 - To attempt to

Grammar - Connectives:

과 - And/With (With 받침)

하지만 - But

그래서 - So

그러나 - But/However

하고 (고) - And/With

Grammar - Markers/Particles:

에 - To/At (Location and time marker)

가 - Subject particle

는 - Topic particle

이 - Subject particle (With 받침)

에서 - At/In/On/From (Location marker)

에게 - To/For

을 - Object particle (With 받침)

를 - Object particle

들 - Plural marker

의 - Possessive marker

으로 - By/As/For/To/Towards/With (Directional marker)

로 - By/As/For/To/With (Directional marker - with 받침)

부터 - From/Since (Location and time marker)

은 - Topic particle (With 받침)

[lapithai]

Centureon, the steel type eeveelution! Along with the ghost type, Gwiseon~

[inspofromancientworld]

Legendary creatures: Kitsune, Kumiho, hồ ly tinh, and huli jing

Fox spirits such as kitsune (狐, きつね) of Japan, kumiho (Hangul 구미호 or Hanja 九尾狐) of Korea, hồ ly tinh (狐狸精) of Vietnam, or huli jing (狐狸精) of China are shape-shifting fox spirits, usually having nine tails. They are typically tricksters that can be either benevolent or malevolent.

By Unknown painter from late 4th to mid 5th century A.D., unknown photographer - http://www.sohu.com/a/193975015_556515, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73024755

The oldest version of the nine-tailed fox spirits was from China. The first story that has the juli jing was the Shanhaijin (山海经 Classic of Mountains and Seas) which was compiled sometime in the fourth century BCE, but the currently known form wasn't completed until the early Han dynasty (202 BCE - 9 CE). It contained stories fables of the pre-Qin dynasty (prior to about 700 BCE). It says '靑丘國在其北其人食五穀衣絲帛其狐四足九尾。 The Land of Blue Hills lies to the north where the inhabitants consume the Five Grains, wear silk and worship foxes that have four legs and nine tails.' The nine-tailed fox was seen as a good omen, only appearing in times of peace. However, it also says 'Three hundred li [150km/93.2 miles]farther east is Qingqiu Mountain, where much jade can be found on its south slope and green cinnabar on its north. There is a beast here whose form resembles a fox with nine tails. It makes a sound like a baby and is a man-eater. Whoever eats it will be protected against insect-poison (gu).' During the Han dynasty, the mythology added the ability to shape-shift into humans as they became older, one description of which was by Guo Pu (郭璞, 276-326 CE) 'When a fox is fifty years old, it can transform itself into a woman; when a hundred years old, it becomes a beautiful female, or a spirit medium, or an adult male who has sexual intercourse with women. Such beings are able to know things at more than a thousand miles' distance; they can poison men by sorcery, or possess and bewilder them, so that they lose their memory and knowledge; and when a fox is thousand years old, it ascends to heaven and becomes a celestial fox.'

By Chris Gladis (MShades) from Kyoto, Japan - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=748434

Fox worship arrived in Japan sometime during the Jomon period (14,000-300 BCE) as evidenced by necklaces including canine teeth and jawbones of foxes. Stories from China were brought to Japan by merchants who traded and brought in as kyuubi no kitsune (九尾の狐, nine-tailed fox). In the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀, the Chronicles of Japan), which is the second-oldest book of Japanese history, mentions foxes twice, both times as omens. It records that in 657 a byakko (white fox) in Iwami Province was a good omen. In 659, a fox bit a vine a construction worker and it was seen as an ill omen. There were tales of kitsune turning into kitsune nyoubo (狐女房 fox wife) that are revealed as foxes after pet dogs that were recorded in the Nihon Ryouki (日本霊異記) book of fables during the Heian period (recorded between 787-824).

By Hùng Phong Lê - Hùng Phong Lê, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134883158

The Hồ ly tinh have specific ages that they have to reach to gain their tails. They must practice for a hundred years to have three tails and be considered a 'demon fox', for a thousand years to become a 'ghost fox' with six tails. When it gains nine tails, it's considered a 'celestial fox' and can turn its tails into humans. If the fox loses its tail, it dies. In the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (chữ Hán: 大越史記全書, Complete annals of Đại Việt), compiled in 1697, states that Emperor Lê Thái Tổ was saved by a hồ ly tinh when he was hiding in Lam Sơn from the Ming army. He took the time during his hiding to bury a girl in a white dress and that a white fox distracted the army when he was almost caught.

source: https://www.deviantart.com/auroreblackcat/art/Gumiho-283762936

The kumiho are able to become beautiful women who seduce men to eat their liver or heart. The Chinese story entered into Korea during the Three Kingdoms period (삼국시대, from about 494-562) and state that foxes become kumiho with great age and become stronger with that age, too. The kumiho were largely viewed neutrally, though self-centered in their need for human organs and souls. It wasn't until later that they were viewed as evil, bloodthirsty fox-human hybrids that might turn into humans if they can avoid eating human flesh for a thousand years. Something unique to the kumiho is that they develop and pass along 'yeowoo geseul' (여우구슬, 'fox marbles' that they give to and then take back from humans by an action that looks like kissing. It can only remain in the human part of the chain for a year before it can kill them completely. When it's returned to the fox part of the chain, the human has no memory of the yeowoo guseul or the kumino.

[briefbestiary]

Spirits bound in servitude to the tiger that killed them. They typically seek freedom to die in peace by bringing their master a new victim in exchange.

[koreanbibliophilegirl]

Korean folk tales are actually hilarious sometimes, bc the tigers keep getting owned by humans. You can immediately tell my ancestors really REALLY disliked tigers.

(To be fair, they did eat livestock & occasionally hurt humans.)

[sol-em-gemeos]

[swordmouse]

Just read Small Gods of Calamity and it was SO GOOD

This book is emotionally devastating in all the right ways. I loved it so much!! The magic system is so cool and the characters are fantastic. It's also one of the very few books I've read with a canonically ace main character, which is always nice. You should definitely read it if you're into urban fantasy, mysteries, horror, or Korean and Japanese folklore.

[peetae]

i kinda wanna write a new fic (has not written in ages)

so basically my idea is like a folklore au where its based off the Korean folktale of the heavenly maiden and woodcutter (like loosely based, some stuff is gonna be changed and i want to give them a happier ending cause i cant do tragedies lol. angst sure but sad endings no) where aziraphale is the angel (obvi) and crowley is the woodcutter.

idk if anyone would be interested in that though lol. still gonna do it anyways. i thought up this idea a month or two ago. this is one of the few folktales i know/remember.

[primalmuckygoop]

The Bulgasal (불가살) is described in Korean classic literature as a creature that is impossible for mortals to kill. It is a blood-thirsty beast that grows bigger the more metal it eats. And so, as brave knights approach the beast, it slaughters the men, devours their weapons, and grows only stronger. Bulgasal paintings can be found on folding screens and chimneys in old Korean houses. It is believed that honoring the spirit of the monster protects people against natural disasters and fires.

A cedar tree got downed by a recent storm so I'm having fun with bark

[ooahanjs]

Cursed by Love: The Story of a Broken Spirit

What else is there to say in this world, besides hurling curses? I asked myself that question. Having lost everything, all that remained was anger, despair, and an endless stream of profanity. “18! Damn witch!” That was the nickname I gave myself—a woman too despicable to live. No, in truth, I deserved to die. A lunatic like me had no right to exist. I had willingly hurled myself into the…

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Tfw when your robotic grim reaper is bugging out so you gotta use the good old percussive maintenance to fix it (spoiler alert: it did not work)

In an attempt to keep up with the fast changing times and the rising human population, Death starts to invest in cheap mass-produced Grim Reapers in an attempt to modernize The Afterlife. Unfortunately, the shoddy craftsmanship often leads the Reapers to malfunction and occasionally target the wrong people.

Said wrong targets are... not as enthusiastic to peacefully join the malfunctioning Reapers (case in point: blunt force trauma via baseball bat).

English translation under cut:

[beehunni62]

The Advisors Alliance Translation Post 2: “Husband, don’t cross the river. Husband, nonetheless, crossed the river.”

The Advisors Alliance 大军师司马懿之军师联盟 is a 2017 two-part Chinese TV series depicting the life of Sima Yi, a government official and military strategist who lived during the late Eastern Han Dynasty 东汉 (25 CE - 220 CE) and the Three Kingdoms Period 三国時代 (220 CE - 280 CE). [Wikipedia of the show’s first season]

The second part is titled Growling Tiger Hidden Dragon 虎啸龙吟 and keeps following Sima Yi’s life as he matures and becomes wiser [Link to the show’s second season’s MyDramaList page].

The Weibo account [Link] of the show made a series of posts in the style of small encyclopedias explaining different historical and cultural facts that where included in the series. The user @moononmyfloor compiled the 50 posts and asked me to translate them. This will be an ongoing series where I will do just that.

The posts are not in order of the episodes but I will provide the episode and season number to avoid confusion. If there are any mistakes in translation, do let me know in the comments or privately message me and I will do my best to fix them. Although I tried to stay as close as possible to the original text, I had to take some liberties in some posts to get the meaning across better. On the side, I have included extra information from personal research that explains certain things better.

If it is difficult to read the letters, tap or click on the image to expand it. Without more preamble, here you go.

Extra information:

Yuefu (乐府), literally Music Bureau, are a genre of ancient Chinese folk songs that, either imitate the style of, or are from the Imperial Music Bureau. The latter was an institution in charge of collecting and writing lyrics to folk songs. Yuefu are known for having strict syllabic rules that change from dynasty to dynasty.

《公无渡河》 is also known as Kong Hou Yin (箜篌引). Konghou is an ancient Chinese stringed instrument similar to a harp. A Yin (引), in this context, is another type of ancient music poetry that has a freer syllabic structure and is characterized by long syllables that go well with the melody of the konghou. Below is a picture of the instrument:

Vertical konghou 箜篌 in exhibit at the Gansu Provincial Museum, Lanzhou, China. Taken on May 10, 2013 by Gary Todd [image source].

Allow me to clarify something. The folk song 《公无渡河》 was recorded by Cui Bao in "Notes on Ancient and Modern Times" to be of Gojoseon origin. As such, Koreans consider it to be their oldest surviving folk song.

The Chinese consider it a Chinese Han Dynasty song on account of the tale being set and song created in the Lelang Commandery [108 B.C.E. - 313 C.E.] which is one of the four regions Gojoseon was split into while under Han rule. Koreans consider the residents of Lelang, and the other commandaries, to be Gojosen Koreans who retained a separate culture to the Han Chinese. If you wish to conduct further research into the song, don’t get surprised if you read different names for the characters that appear in the story.

Koreans call the song "Gongmudohaga (공무도하가)” and the ferryman Gwaklijago (곽리자고). The Korean folk tale differs from the Chinese retelling in that the Korean name of Gwaklijago wife, who is credited with creating the actual song, according to certain Chinese and Korean retellings, is Yeo-ok (여옥) rather than Li Yu (丽玉). In Cao Yong and Cui Bao’s retellings, the wife of the drowned drunk man created the song while, in the Korean version, it was the wife of the ferryman who, upon learning about what had transpired from her husband once he came home, created the song on her harp, called in Korean gonghu (공후).

Many Chinese poets have retold the story in their own ways and added, omitted, or reinterpreted content. Some of said poets are Li Bai and Chen Shou of Shu Han. On top is Li Bai's version which lacks strict syllabic structure, a signature of his style and, on the bottom, Chen Shou's more structured one:

This expression 《公无渡河, 公竟渡河》 is often used as an allegory to satirize someone who is heading into clear danger but is too stubborn or obsessed to listen. If this person doesn't listen, then they are sure to run into trouble.

Catalogue (find the rest of the posts):

[misio-dangisio]

Redrawing old oc

Since her outfit looks a bit bland for a royal bakjae dragon I need to trim her outfit, but I like her so far

...I can say it's her casual clothes

[briefbestiary]

The unkillable beast. Some say that the Bulgasari actually was successfully killed, yet others say that it could not be killed, and instead wanders the forests of Korea today.