Korean Myth

25 articles

• Bari Gongju — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Bari Gongju is a representative savior figure in Korean shamanic myth: an abandoned daughter who passes through the paths of the underworld and life, then guides the dead.
• Bonghwang — Korean Mythic Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Bonghwang is an auspicious bird that announces an age of peace and virtuous rule, and it is a symbol of kingship and harmony in East Asia.
• Cheollima — Korean Mythology Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Cheollima is a divine horse said to run a thousand li in a day, symbolizing extraordinary talent and the importance of the eye that recognizes it.
• Chilseongsin — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Chilseongsin is a star deity who governs the Big Dipper, lifespan, descendants, and fate, and remains deeply rooted in Korean folk belief and Buddhist ritual.
• Dangun Wanggeom — Korean Mythic Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Dangun Wanggeom is the central figure of Korea's founding myth, symbolizing the beginning of Gojoseon at the meeting point of heavenly order and an earthly community.
• Dokkaebi — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Dokkaebi are beings in Korean folk tales who appear at the boundary of old objects and the night, bringing mischief, wealth, and tests all at once.
• Gangnim Doryeong — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbols and Archetypes Gangnim Doryeong is a psychopomp in Jeju's Chasa Bonpuri who moves between the authority of the underworld and the human world, establishing the order of death.
• Gumiho — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbol and Archetype The gumiho is a powerful boundary being in East Asian folklore, carrying the fox's shapeshifting, desire, and longing to become human.
• Haetae — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbols and Archetypes The haetae is an imaginary animal said to distinguish right from wrong and ward off disaster, remembered as a symbol of justice and discernment.
• Hwanung — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Hwanung is the descending culture hero of the Dangun myth who brings the order of heaven into the human world and opens the framework of law, livelihood, and ritual.
• Imugi — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbol and Archetype The imugi is a snake-like being that has not yet become a dragon, symbolizing long waiting and incompletion just before transformation.
• Jacheongbi — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Jacheongbi is an agricultural goddess of Jeju's Segyeong Bonpuri, a figure who brings love, wisdom, and the order of grain into the human world.
• Jeoseung Saja — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Jeoseung Saja is a messenger who escorts the dead to the afterlife, symbolizing the unavoidable call at the threshold between life and death.
• Jowangsin — Korean Mythology Character Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Jowangsin is a household deity who protects the kitchen, fire, water, and the family's food, a divine figure who watches over the center of daily life.
• Jumong — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Jumong embodies the archetype of Goguryeo's founding hero, opening a new kingdom through extraordinary birth, escape, and mastery of the bow.
• Magohalmi — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbols and Archetypes Magohalmi is a representative figure in Korean giant goddess traditions, remembered as a colossal female creator who shapes mountains, seas, and the forms of the earth.
• Okhwang Sangje — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Okhwang Sangje is the supreme ruler of the East Asian celestial world, a figure who symbolizes the bureaucracy of heaven and the order of fate.
• Samsin Halmoni — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Samsin Halmoni is a life deity in Korean folk belief who watches over the granting of children, childbirth, and the first stage of a child's growth.
• Sansin — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Sansin is a representative deity of Korean mountain belief who guards the vitality and boundaries of the mountain, symbolizing both protection and testing.
• Seolmundae Halmang — Korean Mythic Figure Dictionary: Symbol and Archetype Seolmundae Halmang is the giant goddess said to have shaped Jeju Island's mountains and oreum, symbolizing creation, incompletion, and the body of the earth.
• Seonangsin — Dictionary of Korean Mythological Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Seonangsin is a guardian deity that protects the entrance and boundaries of a village, symbolizing the safety of the community and rites of passage.
• Teojusin — Korean Mythological Figure Dictionary: Symbols and Archetypes Teojusin is a household deity who protects the homesite and the land, symbolizing the stability and boundaries of the place where people live.
• Ungnyeo — Dictionary of Korean Mythic Figures: Symbol and Archetype Ungnyeo is a being transformed from a bear into a human, showing the archetype of transformation that passes through patience and a time of darkness to give birth to a new community.
• King Yeomra — Dictionary of Korean Mythological Figures: Symbols and Archetypes King Yeomra is the judge of the underworld in Buddhism and folk belief, symbolizing post-mortem accountability and moral judgment.
• Yongwang (Dragon King) — Dictionary of Korean Mythological Figures: Symbols and Archetypes Yongwang is the king who rules over the sea and underwater palaces, symbolizing the abundance and danger of water, as well as the unseen depths of the world.