Kong-Ji and Pat-Ji, A Korean Cinderella Story

Nationality: Korean
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: South Korea
Performance Date: April 20
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

This is a story of Kong-Ji and Pat-Ji. It is a Korean version of Cinderella.

Main Piece:

Kong-Ji was a younger living with her dad in a small village. When she was young, her mother died and his dad brought in a new mother. The stepmother had a daughter called Pat-Ji. Whenever Kong-Ji’s dad wasn’t present, her stepmother and Pat-Ji treated her horribly and forced her to chores.

One day, there was a feast held in the village to celebrate the governor’s son’s birthday and everyone was invited. Kong-Ji wanted to go but her stepmother and Pat-Ji told her that she had to finish all her chores if she wanted to go. The job was to fill a broken jar full of water, pull the grass in the fields with insufficient tools. After she finished these chores, if she could weave her own clothing, then she could go to the feast.

Kong-Ji started filling the jar but noticed that it was impossible because it kept spilling out. Then, a toad appeared and filled the crack in the jar with his body to help her fill the jar.

Next, she had to plow the field and pull grass, but her hoe was made from wood instead of metal. Whenever she tried to use it, it would break, and Kong-Ji’s hands were full of cuts. A bull appeared and helped her plow the field. With the bull’s help, she was able to plow through the whole field.

Her next task was to weave clothing. A fairy appeared and helped her weave the clothing and Kong-Ji was able to get the work done a lot faster. The fairy made a beautiful garment and Kong-Ji was able to wear it to the feast and meet the governor’s son.

The governor’s son fell in love with Kong-Ji but she had to instantly leave when she spotted her stepmother and Pat-Ji who wanted to know the mysterious woman the governor’s son was taken by. While fleeing, she shed a pair of her shoes and the governor’s son wandered all around the village looking for the owner of the shoe until she found Kong-Ji.

Kong-Ji and the governor’s son got married and punished the stepmother and Pat-Ji.

Background:

This story is a popular children’s story in Korea. I had heard about it when I was younger, but this particular collection was translation of a version my friend told me about. She said she knew about this piece from hearing it from her own parents when she was younger. She doesn’t know if there are any meaning behind the story or if she learned anything from it. She says it’s just a story that she heard when she was younger.

Context:

This was collected from a casual conversation with a friend form Korea, who I asked about Korean children’s stories she heard about when she was younger.

Thoughts:

Just like there’s Cinderella in Western cultures, Korea has their own variation of the story of an evil stepmother and her daughter who treats the adopted daughter horribly. I think this just shows that different cultures and countries have their own folk stories they tell children. Just as there are differences in the German and French version of Cinderella, Korea has their own version of Cinderella in the form of Kong-Ji and Pat-Ji. While the name isn’t the same, the premise is the same and it is a testament to the common folklore tropes in many cultures.

Annotation: For another version of this tale, refer to

Kang, Sungsook. “Kongjwi and Patjwi.” Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, National Folk Museum of Korea, folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/5996.

산후조리 (sanhujori), Korean Postpartum care

Nationality: Korean
Age: early 50s
Occupation: housewife
Residence: south korea
Performance Date: april 17
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Piece:

This is a translation of a conversation with my mom about “Sanhu-jori” which can vaguely be translated to postpartum care. My mom is identified as M, and I am identified as IC.

IC: Can you tell me about sanhujori? What is it?

M: After you give birth, your body is weak and tired so it is a traditional custom that new mothers should rest and recover. You should be careful and take care of yourself for about three weeks to a month.

IC: What do you have to do to take care of yourself? Are there any precautions you need to take?

M: Yes, typically you don’t eat hard, spicy or cold foods. You also have to stay warm with the baby so it’s harder in the summer since it’s hot. I think the precautions have become laxer now but when I had you and your brother, I wore socks to keep my feet warm and didn’t do any physical labour.

IC: If you can’t have hard, spicy or cold foods, what are you supposed to eat?

M: Traditionally you have mi-yeok-gook, which is Korean traditional seaweed soup. It’s warm, nutritious and easy to eat and I had it for all three meals, every day for three weeks.

IC: Wait, in Korea we eat seaweed soup on our birthday, does this tradition of sanhujori have anything to do with that?

M: Yes, it’s because the mother had it when the baby was born so it just keeps that tradition.

IC: Why is taking care of yourself after birth so important in Korea?

M: It is believed that if you didn’t take care of yourself, you have a higher risk of getting sick later. Like your bones would be weaker so you would have more pain in those areas.

IC: You had me in the US. What do you think are the differences between post-birth procedures and traditions in Korea and the US?

M: It’s very different. I don’t think the US has specific procedures of postpartum care. After you were born, I wasn’t feeling very well, and the nurse came in and asked if I wanted ice cubes to suck on. This was very surprising to me and I didn’t understand why. The first meal they gave me was like bread, orange juice and yogurt and it was very hard for me to stomach it. So, I asked your dad to make seaweed soup at home and bring it for me.

IC: Why do you think it’s so different?

M: I think it has to do with strength, bone structure and physique. When we were bringing you home, we had to put you in a car-seat and bring that to the car. It was very heavy for me and I had to ask your dad to help me but there was this woman who gave birth around the same time I did, and she lifted up the car-seat without any problems.

IC: So, how did you take care of yourself after I was born, since you had to rest?

M: When I was in Korea and had your brother, there was a sanhujori helper we hired to help around the house. And when you were born, my mother—so your grandmother—contacted her and asked if she could go to the US to help care for her daughter who had just given birth. She agreed, and my grandmother paid for the travel expenses and she came and helped me.

Background:

I vaguely knew about sanhujori but didn’t know the details of it since I’ve never experienced it myself. I thought it would be interesting to ask my mom about it and knew that she would have a unique insight into the differences of Asian and Western cultures and traditions since she had me in the US and my brother in Korea.

Context:

This was collected in an interview with my mom in a casual setting. I asked her about specific procedures that a new mom has to follow to take care of her body.

Thoughts:

As this is something, I haven’t experienced myself, I thought it was interesting to hear about the traditions of Korea. It was also fascinating to hear the diffrences between Asian and Western cultures from my mom who has experienced both cultures. The difference really shows the variation of tradition, which is something we’ve talked about in this class. Just as fairytales and myths have variation from country to country and sometimes household to household, even something as simple as post-birth procedures are different. I think if I decide to have kids in the future, I will also try to do sanhujori if I can.

Tae-mong, Korean Conception Dreams

Nationality: Korean
Age: Early 50s
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: South Korea
Performance Date: April 13th
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Piece:

The following is translation of a conversation with my mom, identified here as M, in Korean about “tae-mong”, Korean conception dreams. I am identified as IC.

IC: Can you tell me about tae-mong?

M: Tae-mong is a dream that you have either when you’re pregnant or about to be pregnant. Usually it’s the pregnant woman that has the dream but sometimes it’s people around you. When you have this dream, you usually know that it’s tae-mong

IC: How do you know?

M: It just feels a little different. The dream is clearer and something big either comes at you or you pick up something nice.

IC: Is there a specific time frame for when you have tae-mong?

M: There isn’t a specific time, but generally it’s in early or mid-pregnancy. But I had mine before, for both you and your brother.

IC: What was the dream for my brother?

M: I went to my in-law’s place where your dad’s grandmother lived. So, She and I were walking when a huge pig came towards me, bit my hand and didn’t let go. I screamed and screamed and woke up. So, I thought, this is either a tae-mong or a dream telling me to buy lottery. I wasn’t pregnant so I but the lottery which I didn’t win. But two months later, I became pregnant. Also, what’s fascinating about tae-mong is that when people hear it they guess the gender.

IC:  How do they know?

M: Normally if it’s a big or fierce animal, people say it’s a boy

IC: Is this guess usually correct?

M: It was right for me, but for some people it’s wrong. For girls it’s something small and pretty like flowers.

IC: What was the dream for me?

M: One day, I went up a mountain and there was a small, spring pool that was filled with clean and sparkly water. Inside, there were two small fish playing and I picked one up and kept it.

Also, after I was pregnant with your brother, my mother said that I would have two kids, one year apart. I asked why and my mother said that she had a dream and there were two puppies, similar in size—one little smaller than the other—ran to me.

IC: I see, that’s cool. My brother and I are one year apart.

M: Right. And in Korea, when you’re pregnant, people generally ask if you had a dream. When they ask this, they’re referring to tae-mong. And typically, you just know that it’s a tae-mong because you’re the center focus of the dream.

Background:

It is common for pregnant Korean women to have conception dreams that relate to the gender of their baby. My mom experienced this when she had me and my brother.

Context:

TThis was collected in an interview with my mom in a casual setting.  I had remembered about my mom telling me about conception dreams before and I thought it would be interesting to ask her about it for this project.

Thoughts:

Although the idea of conception dreams to predict gender is interesting, I can’t help but think that the basis for differentiating gender is a little outdated and somewhat sexist. For boys, it’s a big and fierce animal like pigs, lions et cetera. But for girls, it’s something small and sparkly, like small animals or jewels. Whether it’s food, animals or flowers it’s always small for girls. I don’t know if this is something in Western cultures or even other Asian cultures, but I think it’s a unique tradition that Koreans have.

Quarantine and Chill Meme

Nationality: American, Jamaican/ Nicaraguan Descent
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4.18.20
Primary Language: English

The Main Piece:

Ya so there’s Netflix and Chill which is the big basic term that went around for so long about hooking up and just hook up culture. And there’s always like a new thing with that, with Netflix and Chill, like when Disney Plus came out it turned into Disney Plus and thrust and then during quarantine it became quarantine and chill. And, I don’t remember how it originated, but I remembered just seeing like all the memes and stuff. I think the first one I saw was on Twitter. This one basketball player messaged this model “wyd” and then she responded and quoted it with “quarantine and chill?” I think that’s the first place I saw it. And then from there there’s just like all these memes about it. There’s this one meme going around about this girl and this guy and it just became popular during quarantine where this guy will text this girl and then she’ll say something back. And then, there’s a lot now that don’t have to do with quarantine, but there were a lot that had to do with quarantine . Just stupid stuff like that. 

Background: My informant is a Junior in college. She is also a major in communications and prides herself on being well connected and up to date with what’s happening online. Here she expands on some of the Covid-19 memes and sayings that have taken over social media and pop culture during this time.

Context: This conversation was happening casually at night with the group I’m quarantining with. We had just spent a good hour engrossed in our phones, consuming said content, when we decided to start sharing with each other. I asked this individual what her take was on certain memes of our time and she shared what she felt to be one of the more prominent examples.

My thoughts: It’s important to not gloss over what my informant said in terms of content changing. She stated that quarantine and chill has evolved from Netflix and Chill, but it has also involved from there, and I believe that’s super important. The idea that the masses are taking their quarantine inspired memes, and then revamping them once again to fit other relatable areas of life. In this specific pandemic, such a concept feels like a nod to what the world was like just months ago, as well as a longing for a restoration of that period. Once again, during this time people are finding creative ways to express all their emotions including lust, boredom, and fear through memes that in some way have become one of our strongest ways to stay in touch while on lockdown.

Origin of Fairies

Nationality: Irish American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4.18.20
Primary Language: English

The Main Piece: 

Every Irish folk tale has the christianized version, and the non christianized version. So, how the fairies came to be, you know back before the old testament there was this big war between God and Lucifer. And you know they all fought and stuff and some angels and then some stayed on the fence and they were like, “I don’t know, we’ll see who can win.” And then afterword, God was like, “YOU didn’t take my side, I’m going to banish you to hell!” And as they’re falling down from Heaven the Archangel Michael was all, “No, no, no you can’t banish them. They’re not good enough for Heaven, but they’re not bad enough for Hell.” And so God decided that they can stop where they land and that’s where they can live. So they all land in Ireland, and uh you know, obviously they’re not human and obviously they’re not the one and only God. They’re fallen angels! That’s why they’re powerful and that’s why the fairies, ya know they’re all just fallen Angels.

Background: The informant was born in Ireland, and moved to the United States as a baby. He is a Dual-Citizen and feels closely connected to his Irish roots. He shared with me one of the folk legends that he heard growing up as an Irish kid. This is an origin story, and the informant stresses that it’s easy to lean into the magic of it in Ireland. It’s clear this is an important part of the informant’s childhood and national identity. He also says that he does believe fairies are in Ireland, because Ireland to him (and many others) feels like a magical place.

Context: This story was told while bored in the house one night. I asked the informant if he had anys stories he wanted to share, and he decided to perform this in a very hilarious way to the people in the room. 

My thoughts: The performative nature of this story is captivating and varied. It sounds to me that the magic kept the informant fixated on this story when it was told. While it was told to him as an origin tale, he turned around and shared with us a very comedic rendition. Here, the captivating part was not just the magic, but also how whimsically humorous it could be for God to kick out some neutral fairies from Heaven. The variation of these stories lies at the heart of folklore and storytelling. I had never heard this story, nor questioned the origin of fairies, but I am glad I was able to experience it from someone who was so fond and understanding of the story, that he made it his own.