Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. The origin may be a blend of Korean shamanism, Buddhist, Chinese myths, Confucian and Taoist legends and myths. The legends may also vary gre...
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The Igong Bonpuri (Hangul: 이공 본풀이 ), better known in Korea as the Hallakgungi myth (Hangul: 할락궁이 신화 ) is an narrative traditionally told by shamans on the Korean island of Jejudo. The story bears similarity to the Buddhist book Wolin Seokbo (hanja: 月印釋譜 "The Moon's Reflection on the Buddha's Genealogy"), showing the close relationship of Korean mythology and Buddhist mythology.
Plot
The Igong Bonpuli tells the story of Hallakgungi, who became the deity who protected the mythological realm of the Fields of Seocheon (Hangul: 서천 꽃밭, literally flower fields of the West). The story is traditionally split into four parts; the parts will not be mentioned here.
Long ago lived Gimjeongguk of the nation of Gimjeong, who lived in the upper village, and Imjeongguk of Imjeong, who lived in the lower village. Gimjeongguk was very poor, but Imjeongguk was extremely rich. However, both had no children, even after the age of forty; thus, they both prayed to a temple on the eastern peaks. Soon, the wives of both Gimjeongguk and Injeongguk both delivered infants. Gimjeongguk's child was a boy named Sara Doryeong, and Imjeongguk's child was a girl named Wongang Ami. The parents of Sara Doryeong and Wongang Ami promised that their children would marry each other in the future.
When both children matured, Sara Doryeong and Wongang Ami married each other, and Wongang Ami soon bore a child. But one day, Sara Doryeong dreamed that the supreme deity, Okhwang Sangje, was summoning him to be the Igong (also known as Kkotgamdok, literally 'administrator of flowers'), the guardian of the Fields of Seocheon. Wongang Ami dreamed the same dream. However, because Wongang Ami was expecting a child, they refused to go. Still, Sara Doryeong and Wongang Ami was forced to go west to the Fields of Seocheon once they had the same dream for three nights.
As they went on their way, Wongang Ami found that it was nearly impossible to continue the harsh journey because of her pregnancy. Finally, she pleaded with Sara Doryeong to sell herself and her unborn child as a slave. Sara Doryeong accepted the plea, and tried to sell Wongang Ami for 300 coins and the fetus for 100 coins to a wealthy man named Cheonnyeon Jangja.
Cheonnyeon Jangja's first and second daughters advised their father to refuse to buy Wongang Ami, but the third daughter said that they should buy Wongang Ami. Cheonnyeon Jangja heeded the third daughter's advice and bought Wongang Ami. Sara Doryeong broke his comb in half, and gave one half to Wongang Ami, advising her to give this to her child when he/she tried to find his/her father. Sara Doryeong left, telling Wongang Ami to name the child Hallakgungi if he was male and Hallakdegi if she was female.
After Sara Doryeong left, Cheonnyeon Jangja attempted to force Wongang Ami into having sexual intercourse with him, but Wongang Ami excused herself by saying that in her country, people remarried only when a child was born. Soon, Wongang Ami delivered a boy. Heeding her husband's advice, she named the boy Hallakgungi. That night, Cheonnyeon Jangja appeared again, trying to force Wongang Ami into sexual union again, as the child was born. Wongang Ami once again refused, saying that in her country, people remarried only when the child plowed the fields with a plow and a cattle.
