Tag Archives: Korean culture

The Kong-Kong Gwishin

Nationality: Korean
Age: 49
Occupation: Hardware Engineer
Residence: California
Performance Date: 10/30/2021
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Background: This story is passed around between students. The informant relays that this story was especially common in “doksuhshil,” a Korean building used for overnight studying where students could rent out cubicle-like spaces for a day and study until 3-4 AM, and “hakwon,” the prep schools that are extremely commonplace in Korea. 

Context: The informant conveyed this story to me over a video call, during nighttime in his house. He adopted a steady but story-telling tone, drawing out words for dramatic effect and making use of pauses. 

Relation to story: The informant states that this story was common especially around finals seasons and during high school/university tryout exams (Korea, unlike America, has necessary exams to get into certain universities and high schools). He mentions he first heard it from a classmate, then continued to hear it throughout his academic career. 

Text:

*(Notes: The informant will be referred to as “G” in the following text. Furthermore, this was originally told in Korean; it appears here in its translated form, translated by the interviewer.)

G: The name of this story is the Kong-Kong Gwishin. (TL: Kong-Kong Ghost) It was in a high school somewhere. There was a very hardworking student, but they were always ranked second. Even if they spent the night studying, they would always rank second. So, this student one day, they really wanted to rank first, so they spent nights and days studying, but again they ranked second. And, their seatmate who didn’t really seem like they studied at all, always was first. So, one day, they started to have somewhat of a competition. 

I: Both of them?

G: Probably one-sided. The second-rank student cared a lot more about it, probably. So, one day, the second-rank student called the first-rank to the stairs, and pushed them, thinking “If only they weren’t there, I could become first.” As such, the first-ranking student fell to the bottom of the stairwell and died. In the exam after that, that second-rank student finally placed first. They felt guilty, but their greed to be first was so great that they said “There’s nothing that can be done about it,” and thinking that way, they continued on. 

I: That’s so hardcore…

G: All over ranks. I mean, I guess I get it. But still. One day, that second-rank student was staying late in school and studying. Then, all of a sudden, all the way at the other end of the hall from the classroom, kong…kong…kong…kong….drrrrk. “Nobody here~” The one they had pushed to death with their own hands, that voice of the first-rank student, was echoing around the hall. After that, kong…kong…kong…kong….drrrrk. The door to the next classroom opened, “Nobody here~” and again: drrrrk. “Nobody here~” The student started to be scared, and remembered: Ah, if you meet eyes with a ghost, it’s said you’ll die, and quickly hid under their desk so their eyes didn’t meet the ghost’s eyes. Kong…kong…kong…kong…finally, the ghost was in front of their classroom. Suddenly, the door opened drrrrrk and at that moment, the student made eye contact with the ghost. The student died in that instant, and they heard “Found you~” before they died. 

I: How’d they die if they were hiding under the desk? 

G: That’s the scary part. See, the first-rank student had been pushed off that high stairwell, and fell backwards. Since they were falling backwards, they ended up landing on their head, and so their ghost hopped around on their head—kong….kong….kong…kong…—and had opened the door that way. 

I: So the ghost was already looking straight at the student from the moment they entered the classroom? That’s so scary! I definitely would’ve made that same mistake…

G: Yes, exactly. So, that’s the story of the Kong-Kong Gwishin. 
Interpretation: The environment and context of this story add significantly to the terror. The informant explains that this was frequently told in doksuhshils, which were often in tall office-style buildings with equally high stairwells; this makes the horror of the first-rank student falling down the stairs all the more real. (Note that Korean schools also almost always have several stories, as compared to American schools which do not always have them.) Since said doksuhshils were also frequented by late-night studiers like the student in the story, they also likely felt a thrill as they imagined this same horror happening to them, an interesting break in the monotony of work. This story also reads like a warning to not let greed consume your life, especially in relation to studies. Korea, being a heavily academic-oriented society, places immense importance on entrance exams for schools. This stress and pressure this brings drove the second-rank student to do a horrible thing, excusing it under the guise of it being necessary to succeed, and they suffered the consequences. The surprise of the gwishin finding the student because of their own murderous actions, even though the student hid, imparts the message that one cannot escape the consequences of their actions and warns students studying to be careful to still remain decent people even under stress.

Give Me Back My Leg

Nationality: Korean
Age: 47
Occupation: N/A
Residence: California
Performance Date: 10/29/2021
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Background: This story is a common one told to children by their parents in Korea. According to the informant, it is especially told when the parent wishes to emphasize filial piety or when the child misbehaves. It is also a popular tale during camping trips.

Context: The informant conveyed this story to me over a video call, in the daylight at their house. They told the story with energy and passion, emphasizing certain onomatopoeia with gestures and carrying animated expressions throughout.  

Relation to story: The informant learned this story from her parents and teachers. She explained that her parents would tell it with relative frequency and casually make references to it semi-frequently, every few weeks. They consider it a chilling tale, reiterating that it “made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up” when she heard it as a child. She states that the details were graphic and suspects it was likely told to get her to behave as a child, mentioning how she was unruly when she was younger. 

Text: 

*(Notes: The informant will be referred to as “M” in the following text. Furthermore, this was originally told in Korean; it appears here in its translated form, translated by the interviewer.)

I: When did you first hear this story? 

M: I heard it first from my parents, then my teachers, then on TV on a program called “Korean Ghost Stories”. It’s commonly told in summer. Something about summer makes people want to tell ghost stories, to “get a chill” I guess. 

I: Thank you. Could you tell me this story in full?

M: A long, long, time ago, there was a respected grandson who lived in a village. He was living with his grandmother, whom he assisted. However, this grandmother was very sick, and there wasn’t enough money in the house either, and he was trying to buy whatever medicine he could with the small amount of money he did have, living day to day just trying to stay alive. 

I: What happened to his parents? 

M: Oh, it doesn’t really say in the story. Maybe they’re at work far away, or maybe they died. It wasn’t that weird for grandchildren and grandparents to live together anyways, so it doesn’t really matter. 

I: I see.

M: So, one day, he was preparing to cross a river, and in the middle like shaaa there was this massive bridge. Then, while he was preparing to cross the river, there came a wise man crossing from the other direction, who went plop! into the stream. The grandson rushed over and pulled the wise man out of the water, and the wise man kept saying “Oh, thank you so much, thank you so much, is there anything I can help with? Anything that bothers your mind?”. The son responded, “Oh, lately my grandmother is very sick, but no medicine can help her, and my mind is full of worry because of it.” He said it exactly like that. The wise man responded, “Go to the local cemetery nearby, and find a corpse who hasn’t been dead for more than 3 days, and cut off its leg. Then, if you boil it in water and make a soup, and have your grandmother drink it, she’ll be better.” He said it like that, and the grandson kept saying “How could I do that, Wise Man, oh, how could I do that,” and then he noticed that the wise man had disappeared without a trace. 

I: So the wise man was a ghost?

M: Maybe he was, or maybe he was just a vision sent by the gods or something for being hardworking. It doesn’t really matter.

I: Kind of like a reward, then. (laughs) Although I don’t know if that’s really a reward, being told to go dig up a corpse. 

M: Super grotesque. So, the grandson went back home, and the grandmother kept coughing like she would die at any moment, and just then he saw a funeral procession go by the house, and he started to think. The first night after he saw it, he worried and worried, not sure whether he should do it or not. The second night—remember, he has to get the corpse within 3 days— the second night, his grandmother was so ill, coughing “Oh, my child,” and he felt like his heart was going to tear. He couldn’t stand it, so he went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, and went to the graveyard. He went to the graveyard, and was tearing up the dirt everywhere, and suddenly it started to rain and thunder—Boom! Clap!—and lightning started to flash. He was so scared but what could he do? Thinking, “For my grandmother,” he gritted his teeth and kept digging furiously, windmilling dirt around. So then, a corpse finally popped out—tuk!—and he chopped off the leg—tuk!—and was turning around to go home, when suddenly something (tuk!) grabbed his leg, moaning “Give me back my leg.” So the grandson screamed, “AHHHH!” and scared, sprinted like crazy away from the graveyard, but since the corpse was missing the leg, it kept chasing kong kong kong after the grandson, still moaning “Give me back my leg”. It was so scary that he was dodging this way and dodging that way and tripping and falling and he finally arrived at his home near-crawling. Then he went inside and quickly boiled a pot bugulbugul and tossed the leg in and when he finally turned to look outside, on the floor, there was ginseng—you know, how ginseng can be in the form of human-like shapes—ginseng with one of its “legs” cut off lying there on the floor. Waow, he was wondering what it could be, so he quickly grabbed it up and put it in the pot too, and closed the lid tight, and boiled it papapa. He was thinking “Oh, I have to save my grandmother,” and when he opened the lid, the ginseng—the cut-leg ginseng from earlier and its “leg” which transformed into ginseng too—was boiling away. So he went “Oh, what is this? This is so weird” but anyways since he remembered the wise man’s words from earlier, he put some in a bowl and put it in his grandmother’s mouth, and once she drank it she was completely better and bulduk (onomatopoeia for getting up) stood up, healed. 

I: That’s so scary! So why’d it transform like that? 

M: My parents always told me it was because they wanted to test how far the grandson was really devoted. Or maybe it was so I would eat the ginseng they bought sometimes at the market. (laughs) 

Interpretation: This story consistently emphasizes elder worship and rewards the grandson for being an attentive and helpful family member. As the informant says, this story was commonly told from parents to children, likely with the intention of imparting lessons about respecting one’s elders and the concept of filial piety. Taking the informant’s Korean background into consideration, we can gain further perspective on the key themes. The inclusion of the wise man in the story is especially interesting; historical Korea tended towards an emphasis on spiritualism and shamanistic practices (although in recent years they have increasingly been adopting Christianity) and the “wise man” is a callback to this time. However, according to the informant, the wise man’s identity as a ghost or a spirit isn’t the main focus of the story. The nonchalance with which he is treated by the informant reveals that these kinds of spiritual experiences were not entirely uncommon in stories. The corpse’s leg transforming into a ginseng root also holds significant importance. Ginseng root is commonly prescribed as a panacea by various herbal medicine stores, which suggests that this could be an origin story for the practice. The transformation also adds an additional meaning to the horror story, as it removes the horror element of the grandmother drinking human-flesh broth and shifts the story to one of ultimate filial piety. The informant says that their parents said it was to test the grandson’s devotion to his grandmother; I hypothesize that the ginseng root transformation helped ground this story to reality and create a more easily teachable lesson to the children that heard it.

Korean Ancestral Commemoration Rites

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 67
Occupation: NA
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Performance Date: 04/30/21
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Performance:

The jesa (제사) is traditional Korean ceremony that honors the family’s ancestors as well as deceased family members, particularly parents. It is a fairly large event that involves the extended family of the deceased parent to gather at the house of the eldest child, prepare food, and engage in a ceremony with specific steps. It is celebrated on different days for every family because it held on the day before the death of the deceased persons being honored. Back in Korea we’d have your uncles and aunts show up to commemorate your grandparents but we’re the only ones here in America so your mother doesn’t get as much help as she usually does. Even when if this isn’t even technically her own family that she’s making offerings for, she’s still the the only person who puts in this much effort. You also remember the steps better than I do these days.

The steps are as follows:

  1. The spirits of those who are to be honored are welcomed by an open door.
  2. The spirits are seated at the table before everyone else with food already prepared for them. The spirits are represented by a wooden plaque adorned with a photograph of themselves.
  3. An incense placed upon a bowl of uncooked rice is prepared between two lit candles and the eldest son of the spirits and their siblings or children pour glasses of rice or plum wine.
  4. Wine is poured three times until the cup is full and the cups are then rotated around the smoking incense three times, clockwise.
  5. The cups are placed by the bowls of the spirits and the ones who immediately poured and placed the drinks bow to the spirits. Men do two large bows and one half-bow while women do four half-bows.
  6. The above is repeated by the number of children of the deceased are present.
  7. Once the above step is completed, the spirits’ utensils are placed onto their favorites among the prepared food and the rest of the attendees excuse themselves to another room so the spirits may enjoy their meal alone.
  8. For a couple minutes, the gathered family engage in small talk, reminisce, and exchange pleasantries for a couple minutes before returning to the dining area.
  9. Steps 4 and 5 are repeated one last time and the spirits are led out to an open door and now the family is allowed to eat properly.
  10. The bowls that contained the rice and soup that the spirits would have eaten are considered to be blessed and are offered to those who need the ancestor’s blessings the most.

Background:

The informant is my father who has engaged in this ceremony longer than I have been alive. As he is the oldest among his three siblings, our house was where my father’s side of the family used to convene and celebrate together with as per tradition dictates that the eldest son continues the tradition. My father mentions how my mother has been diligent in her work to continue this tradition as she used to get help from my aunts in preparing the food but now she does all of the work alone for a ceremony honoring my father’s parents instead of any on her own side. Recently my mother receives help from my grandmother but since she is not directly related to my father’s parents, she does not partake in the ritual itself.

Context:

Every October 10th and November 30th, by Lunar Calendar dates, my family engages in these rituals and I’ve asked my father and mother many times about the procedure. Before long I was the one who remembered most of the steps.

My Thoughts:

Despite only having met my paternal grandparents only once or twice before their passing, this ceremony is something that has been ingrained in my life for as long as I could remember. The eldest son’s home becomes the liminal ground where the living descendants commune with the spirits of the deceased. Looking up articles of the ritual now, it appears that me and my family are skipping a number of steps but the way we’ve done it is how it has been for at least 30+ years. I always used to watch my father and my uncles do the steps back in Korea but after coming to the States, I began to take their place in placing offerings to my grandparents. The dates however do make it a pain for my mother who has to prepare not only for American Thanksgiving but also for preparing for my grandfather’s jesa. My parents often joke about how no other Korean family engages in this practice anymore and it made me recently realize that my parents being vaguely irreligious is probably the reason why. Many other Korean families are heavily Christian and have since abandoned the traditional ways which almost makes me a bit sad with how Westernization has started to blot out Korean culture.

Good deeds will always be repaid: The Grateful Magpie

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 30
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/12/21
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Main Piece:

“A man travels to the royal palace to receive employment but lives in the middle of nowhere and crosses a mountain to get to the examination building. As he goes through the mountain, he sees two snakes going up a tree trying to eat a bird’s nest. The man sees the bird in danger, a particular breed that is synonymous with good fortune in Korea, and pulls out his bow and arrow and kills one of the snakes. The other snake runs off and the man mends the bird’s leg and puts it back into its nest. A couple days pass and he’s still crossing the mountain. Night falls and the man needs to find shelter on the mountain or else he fears that he might die if he spends the night in the mountain.

The man passes by an old house, sees a light, and it seems to be inhabited. The man hopes to stay the night and pay any amount to make it so. He knocks on the door and is met with a slithery and pale woman who comes out asking what he wants. The man explains his situation and asks to stay the night as he does not wish to risk dying out in the wilderness. The woman in raspy voice agrees, and guides him to an empty room. The man unloads his baggage and prepares to sleep but hears a knock on the door. The woman brings him some food and he thanks her for the hospitality. The woman lays down the tray of food and the woman leaves, but the man swears he heard some “ssss” noises from her. He passes it off as exhaustion and the man eats what he was offered, falls asleep, but in the middle of the night he hears footsteps and wonders whats going on. The door flings open and he notices it’s the woman again, whispering “murderer murderer”, and the woman transforms into a huge snake. The man wakes up, the snake woman screams that he killed her husband and they were a couple days away from becoming dragons. The woman swears to kill the man, binds him, and prepares to eat him but a far off gong noise scares the snake. “If that bell rings two more times and the sun rises, I cannot eat you anymore as I will ascend”. “But I still seek vengeance for my husband”. The snake becomes distracted and the man runs away. The snake chases him, another gong sounds and the snake begins to transform as the snake grows larger. The gong rings a second time and becomes a dragon and wails as she cannot seek vengeance and pleads for forgiveness from her husband.

The man survives the night and is relieved for whoever rang the bell on the mountaintop, which must mean there was a temple nearby. He seeks the temple out to thank the monks for saving his life. He finds the temple abandoned and the man tries to find the person who could have helped him. By the temple’s bell gongs, the man finds the dead bodies of a number of birds. The magpies had bashed themselves toward the bell to ring it and save the man from the snake and he recognizes the mended leg of the bird he had saved earlier among them.”

Background:

My informant is my brother who had recently returned home after many years away from the family due to the Covid pandemic keeping him longer than he planned for at home. He is more culturally more attuned to Korean stories compared to me and his own enthusiasm towards mythology and history rubbed off on me early. Most of his stories were told to him by our mother before I was born. The Korean Magpie is a symbol of good fortune in Korea as well as the national bird and the snakes in this story are a mythical kind known as “imugi”. Imugi are creatures who normally make homes near the water and they are considered imperfect dragons who must meet a certain requirement to fully become dragons. This story has the snake woman be distraught over the fact she will be unable to seek vengeance once she fully transforms as dragons are inherently forces of good in wider Asian mythology and cannot seek action in vengeance. My brother likes these types of folklore as he is an avid fan of mythologies and belief systems all over the world despite having been active debater against organized religion as well as having it be a fond memory of his country and family’s history before Christianity began phasing things out on the traditional spectrum of Korean culture.

Context:

Before my brother returned to work, I asked him if he could share any stories he remembers from his childhood that our parents told him. He picked out a couple stories while tabling a few others, not confident in being able to retell it as our mother did many years ago.

My Thoughts:

A story that relays the message “Good deeds are always returned in kind” promoting benevolence between all peoples. My father told me a similar story to this when I asked him for something to use for this project but his involved a different animal. The toad was the animal that helps out a human and the malevolent creature in question was an enormous centipede, yet another creature whose body symbolized a false dragon like snakes. It speaks highly to the benevolent light the Asian folk circles sees dragons as if they cannot commit acts of vengeance once they become one. As both of my parents originate from the Southern but different parts of South Korea, their stories seem to differ from each other in slight ways. Even in the most unlikeliest of expectations that animals would knowingly repay humans, it is a good mantra to live by to help and any and all living creature trying to survive out in the harsh realities of life. Even if Buddhist beliefs were starting to phase out individual names away from these types of stories, their message still carries a contextually Korean or humanistic element favoring a helpless bird over that of snakes as Buddhism usually speak against killing any living creature.

Doljanchi

Nationality: American; Korean
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Fairfield, Connecticut
Performance Date: 04/25/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Main Text: 

Doljanchi

Background on Informant: 

Currently a student, my informant grew up in a Korean household and has shared with me the many traditions she grew up practicing and experienced throughout her life. 

Context: 

She explains: 

“In Korea, a baby’s first birthday is one of the most important birthdays they will ever celebrate. The first birthday party is called Doljanchi.

During this tradition, a child is placed in front of a various amount of objects which could include anything from: a soccer ball, stethoscope, money, wool, rice, a pencil, and others. These are objects that symbolize something about your destiny, career, and lifestyle. 

On my first birthday, I picked the money (hehe) which means that I’ll be rich in the profession I pursue. 

Children are also dressed in traditional Korean clothing, I wore a hanbok for mine. 

It’s a very important milestone in in childhood. It’s a tradition that I’ve appreciated and have watched my siblings have and family friends, so it is an integral part of Korean culture.”

Analysis/Thoughts: 

Learning about doljanchi, I was intrigued by the emphasis of identity and childhood placed upon it. I love how important it is for children to be celebrated and the emphasis on pre-destination of where the future is headed. Korean folklore and customs tie into family honor and bond and it is apparent in nearly every tradition that Koreans celebrate. I think it’s really cool how they make the first birthday special and valued and after researching brief history, I learned that it began as a major celebration due to infant mortality, the importance behind its’ legacy. The tradition stems from a long history of tragedy, yet in today’s modern day it has grown into a tradition of celebrating childhood. 

Annotations 

For more information visit: 

https://bestofkorea.com/doljanchi-korean-first-birthday/