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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Most Korean folklore is passed on by a shaman who performs a shamanistic ceremony called kut. During Joseon Korea, shamans belonged to the class of the cheonmin, the lowest social class; however, they frequently served as transmitters of myths through oral stories and kut. Although shamanism was popular during pre-Joseon Korea, upon the formation of the Joseon state, shamanism was disregarded as backwards by Confucianism, the dominating philosophy and the official one endorsed by the state. However, shamans remained popular among the population as a medium with which to communicate with the dead, and a served as an additional method in which women were able to maintain the spiritual stability of the household. The story of the Abandoned Princess (바리공주), the origin myth of the shamans, is a common myth recited during rituals.
The ancestral shaman is believed to be Bari. Bari was the seventh daughter of King Ogu, but she was abandoned in infancy. Because he abandoned his daughter, King Ogu suddenly fell sick. King Ogu's wife discovered Bari. After finding out that the only way to cure King Ogu of his sickness would be to drink the water of Mt. Dongdae, Bari began her journey. First, Bari encountered an old man who was plowing the field. Bari decided to plow the field for the old man. Suddenly, hundreds of magical animals fell from the sky and plowed the field. In return, the old man told Bari the direction of Mt. Dongdae. Bari encountered a fork on the road. Bari did not know which direction to take, so she asked an old woman. In return, Bari washed the old woman's clothes and killed the lice crawling over her. The old woman then told which trail to take, and gave Bari a golden bell and a branch with three magical flowers. In fact, the old woman was Mago, the creator of the world.
Bari crossed a range of twelve mountains. Each of the mountains were full of ghosts, but their howling could not stop Bari from crossing them. Finally, Bari encountered the Hwangcheon River, a river that only the dead could cross. The guards of Hwangcheon forbade Bari from riding the boat that crossed the river. Bari showed them the flowers that Mago had given her. The flowers signified that Bari was a goddess, and the guards gave permission for Bari to cross the river. When Bari reached the Underworld, she found a fortress built of iron thorns. When she waved the flowers, the fortress melted away into smoke, and all the sinners imprisoned in the fortress were set free. Bari then reached a pink river. The water of this river could melt human flesh. When Bari waved the bell, a rainbow bridge formed over the river. Bari crossed the rainbow bridge and reached Mt. Dongdae.
In Mt. Dongdae, Dongsuja, keeper of Mt. Dongdae, married Bari and had three children. Only after the third child was born did Dongsuja reveal the water of Mt. Dongdae. The Hwansaengkkot, or flowers that could revive the dead, grew next to the water. She took each of the flowers and scooped up some of the water. When she came back, she found that Dongsuja had abandoned her and her three children. Bari returned to her home in no time, but found that both King Ogu and the queen were dead. She brought her parents back to life with the Hwansaengkkot, and cured the sickness with the water. Bari became the death goddess, the guider of the dead to the Underworld. She also became the first shaman, and the patron of all the shamans in Korea.
