Tag Archives: korean folklore

Why Frogs Cry(Croak) in the Rain

Text:

Long ago, there lived a widowed frog mother and her son. Her son was notoriously mischievous and disobedient, often doing the opposite of what his mother told him. If his mother told him to come inside, he would stay outside and play longer. If she told him to go up, he would go down. If she told him to go to the hills, he would wander near the river, and so on and so forth. She loved her son very much, but his antics worried her so much she began to get sick. But even then, her son did not change. One day, when the mother frog knew she was going to die, she lay on her deathbed and called her son over. She wanted a proper burial on the mountainside, but knew that if she told her son, he would do the opposite. So she asked him to bury her next to the river. Sorrowfully, he promised. And when she died, her son mourned and blamed himself for her death, and decided to keep his last promise to his mother rather than go against her supposed wishes. So, even though he knew it wasn’t the proper way, he buried his mother next to the river instead of up in the mountains. But when it rained, the waters started to rise, and he prayed that it would not wash away his mother’s grave. But the rain did not stop, and the river overflowed, and indeed washed his mother’s grave away. The son sat in the rain and cried for his mother. And that is why frogs cry in the rain today.

Context:

The informant had heard this tale from her mother, as it is a traditional Korean folktale. She interprets it as a warning to obey your elders, especially your parents.

Analysis:

I, too, interpret this story as a warning to always listen to your parents and respect them. I see this as a broader reflection of Korean culture; historically, almost all aspects of Korean society have operated under strong Confucian influences and values, especially filial piety, obedience, and social harmony. In the story, because the frog disobeyed his mother constantly, he caused her early death, and furthermore caused himself personal distress as he watched her grave wash away. This is a consequence of his constant disregard of hierarchical family relationships(in Korea, elders are held in high esteem and have overarching authority in the family dynamic) that are central to Confucianism. Although this is a folktale to find the reason behind frogs crying–croaking–in the rain, this story seems moreso to be a cautionary tale rather than an etiological story.

Ungnyeo

Text:

A long time ago, a bear and a tiger wished to become human. They prayed fervently, and the god Hwanung decided to fulfill their wish. He gave them each many cloves of garlic and mugwort, and told them to eat these everyday while staying out of the sun for 100 days, then they will turn human. At first, the tiger and bear obediently ate the garlic and mugwort daily, and stayed in a dark cave, but soon the tiger became frustrated and gave up, leaving the cave. However, the bear persisted, and after a 100 days, she turned into a woman named Ungnyeo. She then prayed to Hwanung to become a mother, and her wish was granted–she gave birth to a son named Tangun, who became the first king of the first Korean kingdom, Gojoseon.

Context:

The informant heard this story from their parents, but because it is a creation myth and widely known, they’ve heard it multiple times from multiple people over the years.

Analysis:

This creation story follows the trend among many cultures of giving their rulers a sense of divinity, whether they’re a descendant of the gods, or chosen by. one, or actually a deity. This myth highlights key Confucian and cultural virtues such as patience, endurance, humility, and devotion. The bear’s perseverance is celebrated, positioning these qualities as foundational to Korean identity and societal ideals. There is a huge spiritual meaning behind this myth: the divine connection between the heavens(the god) and the earth(the bear) results in a ruler that symbolizes harmony and is the literal union of the divine and the earthly. It also subtly elevates maternal strength and the feminine role in nation-building, as the bear-woman becomes the literal mother of the Korean people.

Doljanchi Tradition

Text: “In Korea, we wish for health, wealth, and intelligence. That’s something that’s really big when someone turns one year old. There are different objects that you put in front of the baby, whatever they grab signifies something. For example, a string signifies longevity in your life. If the baby reaches for a ball, that symbolizes athleticism.”

Context: The informant is Korean-American. Her parents immigrated from Korea but the informant grew up in the United States and moved around different states as a child. The informant is 21 years old and she currently attends the University of Southern California. The informant has grown up with the Korean culture of wishing for good health and intelligence. The informant participated in the activity described as a baby, also known as Doljanchi. In this ceremony, many objects are placed in front of the baby such as books, a ball, string, a paintbrush, and money. She has also seen some of her younger cousins have a Doljanchi celebration. This celebration is commonly celebrated throughout Korea and among Korean Americans. 

Analysis: This information was very intriguing to me because I hadn’t learned much about it prior to interviewing my informant. I had briefly heard about it but didn’t know a lot of the details. The Dolijanchi is so interesting to me because it brings up the question of how developed are humans at one year old. If the baby can choose an item that determines how they’ll act as an adult, how psychologically developed are they? From what I understand, the parents must love to see the Dolijanchi and then compare the result of the ceremony to how the child acts growing up. 

The Ax Farmer – Tale

Nationality: Korean American
Age: 18
Occupation: Hotel Clerk/Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 03/06/2023
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Context: R is a Korean American who was raised in Hawaii. She moved to Los Angeles to attend USC and is currently a freshman studying Computer Science. Her mom told her this story, and R herself has heard from multiple Koreans each with their own variation on what the tale sounds like. According to R, it’s a very popular folktale.

Text:

The story of the ax farmer begins with an axman who had a very poor quality ax. It was wooden and broken. He dropped in this lake one day, and there was a god living in the lake and the god appears with two axes in his hands, one gold and one wooden. The god asks the axman “Which one is your ax, the golden one or the wooden one?” The axman answers honestly with “the wooden one.” The god, impresses by the man’s honesty, gives him the golden ax.

However, there was another man listening to the ax man and god’s conversation. He then purposefully threw an ax into the lake and the god appeared. The god asks the man which ax is his and the man chooses the golden ax. The god knew he was lying, so he punished him. The punishment R never specifies, but she implies that the god severely punished the other man for lying.

Analysis:

Like any tale, the god and man interaction and the golden ax is clearly not real. There is no real lake that this story was at nor would there be a god living it who can give golden axes to passersby. But, due to the context in which these motifs are placed, the audience is able to learn a very real and applicable lesson about honesty and punishment. From Oring’s definition of a tale, the inherent falsehood of the narrative makes it easier to digest; the linear path the plot takes and the extreme contrast of the characters allow the logical and real-world solution to the story, the man’s punishment, to be impactful and relatable. From there, the two-dimensional and predictable story can be adapted into metaphor, and then motif and then life lesson. A god living in a lake and the existence of a golden ax are metaphors for a high power or authority in life and rewards. By pleasing the authority figures with honesty and good morals, rewards will be given. Lie to power or manipulate selfishly, the punishment will be severe and no such rewards will be yielded. Tales like these are usually told during childhood, so this tale gives a young and innocent audience a hard truth about living in society without it being overwhelming or stressful. The tale is blaring entertainment, yet perfectly subtle in the delivery of morality and ethics.

Story of Heungbu and Nolbu – Korean Folktale

Nationality: Korean American
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 4/4/2023
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

1. Text

When asked for a folktale, the informant shared the story below:

Title: The Story of Heungbu and Nolbu

Heungbu and Nolbu were two brothers whose father was very rich, and they grew up in a well-off home. Once their father died, they had to split the fortune up, but the honest Heungbu was tricked by his older brother and Heungbu had to go become a farmer to support his family. Heungbu suffered through with threadbare clothing and lack of food, but one day, his wife told him they had finally run out of food completely and asked him to go beg his older brother for anything to eat. For the sake of his children, he went to his brother and begged him for food, only to get cruelly cast out into the yard, where his brother’s wife was cooking rice. He begged her for some of the rice she was cooking, but she only struck him with the rice paddle and told him to get out. Noticing that the rice from the paddle would stick to his cheek, he carefully picked off the grains and tucked them away, then asked her to hit him again. However, she noticed this, and washed the paddle clean in water before striking him over and over on the other side.

The rice he had managed to bring back still was able to feed his family for that day, and they kept going, until one day Heungbu’s wife told him that they had once again ran out of food. He went to the brother again, and the brother taunted him and offered him rice if he would get hit.

He agreed, and was paddled until he hobbled, but the brother did not give him any food. As he walked home in shame, he noticed a swallow with a broken leg and rescued it from a snake that was trying to eat it. He slowly nursed this swallow back to health, and once it healed it flew away and came back with the seed for a gourd.

He planted this seed in his garden, and to his shock, the gourds grew overnight into huge gourds half-split open already. He split open the first gourd and found a wealth of riches, overflowing and enough to keep his family rich for the rest of their lives. Then, he split open the second gourd and found beautiful clothing and fabric. The final gourd contained magical servants, who vowed to do their master’s bidding and who were beautiful and kind.

Their quick change in fortune reached the ears of Nolbu, the jealous older brother, who quickly pretend to act nice to his younger brother to learn the secret of success. Heungbu told him the story without any hesitation, and Nolbu vowed to do the same. However, instead of saving a bird from a snake, he instead trapped a swallow and broke its leg himself, “healing” it until it got better from the wound he had inflicted.

After the bird flew away, it brought back a gourd seed for Nolbu as well. However, this gourd quickly grew into three rotten-looking and foul smelling gourds, but Nolbu split them open anyways. The first gourd contained demons that berated him and his family and beat them until they cried. The second gourd contained a mass of debtors that seized his expensive things, leaving him destitute. The final gourd contained a massive flood of sewage and disgusting water that destroyed even his house, leaving him with nothing. He had to go beg his brother, Heungbu, to take the family in, because he had nothing left. The generous Heungbu took his older brother in, and was rewarded with happiness and good fortune for the rest of his life.

2. Context

This is a children’s folk tale from Korea that the informant learned at a young age from his Korean American parents. It is less personal since it is a common story that is told to children to teach them morals. The informant interprets the tale as a story to teach morals.

3. Analysis

This tale of Heungbu and Nolbu tells a story where honesty and kindness is rewarded with happiness and fortune whereas selfishness, jealousy and greed is punished with disaster and unfortune. This seems to be a common theme in popular East Asian folktales for children since there are similar tales in Japan like the “Rolling Rice ball” tale which tells the story of an old farmer who falls and drops his rice ball into a hole where mice live. He tries to look into the hole but he ends up falling in. The mice in the hole welcome him and thank the farmer for the rice. They make him mochi (rice cake) out of the rice and give them to the farmer. When the farmer leaves, the mice offer him a box filled with riches and treasures. After getting back, the farmer’s neighbor is jealous of the farmer and hears of the story. The farmer goes to the home and drops rice in it. The mice welcome him and thank him for the food and prepare mochi for him. When the neighbor leaves, he demands the box of riches and threatens the mice. The mice are angered and attack the farmer and do not let him leave the hole. The parallels between these two stories represent the context of very agriculture based economies in earlier Japanese and Korean civilization. These motifs of slightly anthropomorphic animals that repay or punish the farmers suggest the idea that “nature” rewards kindness and punishes evil therefore revealing the belief of the natural order and distinction between good and bad and a higher power like nature enforcing it. These beliefs persuade people to abide by these rules that are understood to be the “natural law” to be kind and not greedy. The punishments in the magical gourds represent the biggest fears of Korean farmers such as violence, debt, and natural disaster. In addition, these tales tie to the idea of Karma, where good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds do not go unpunished. This helps comfort people who are hurt by “bad” people to know that they will be punished and convince them to be “good” since good will be rewarded.