Korean mythology includes seolhwa, shinhwa, cheonseol, and mindam stories, classified by narrative and subject matter. Shamanic tradition is a major focus, with myths about the formation of the world and Korean deities. Keonguk shinhwa tales explain the founding of Korea and social hierarchy. Cheonseol stories are handed down orally and feature characters overcoming social boundaries, while mindam tales are humorous and ignore Confucian social mores. The Samguk Yusa is a collection of Korean mythological tales that offer insight into the country’s social customs and history.
Korean mythology literature covers a wide range of seolhwa or stories from across the Korean peninsula and adjacent islands. The stories are mainly classified as shinhwa, or myth; cheonseol, or legend; and mindam, or folklore. Further classifications can be made according to whether the stories concern people, animals, plants, spirits and celestial entities. Mythology can also be classified according to whether the narrative is serious, humorous, tragic or supernatural.
Korean mythology bears many similarities to the mythologies of other East Asian cultures. A major focus of the mythology is religion, especially the shamanic tradition, which still holds a high place of reverence in Korean society. Many shamanic myths concern the formation of the world and the genealogies of Korean deities. These stories have been passed down orally over the centuries.
Tales from Korean mythology also relate to the keonguk shinhwa; that is, explaining how the Korean nation was founded, and justifying the social status accorded to the upper classes over the lower classes. This according to the Confucian philosophy which believes that such a rigid social hierarchy is maintained. Most tales of this type fall into the shinhwa category. Characters in shinhwa stories most often have superhuman powers and interact with gods and supernatural spirits; shin means supernatural in Korean and hwa means to speak.
In Korean, the word cheonseol is formed by combining cheol (to speak) and seol (to speak). This means that these are stories handed down by oral tradition. The tales of cheonseol are about ordinary people with strong characters and extraordinary abilities. The characters make their way through the world by force of their own efforts and may come into conflict with their social superiors, but, as the social boundaries established by Confucianism are not to be crossed, there are usually few happy endings. No doubt these stories were meant as a warning to newcomers from the lower classes.
Unlike the cheonseol tales, the mindam stories quite blithely ignore Confucian social mores, and poverty-stricken protagonists rise above the world, though not always by direct means. Mindam’s tales are quite often quite humorous and witty. The various Korean mythological tales have been collected in many ancient volumes, the main one being the Samguk Yusa; in Korean, it means the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms. In addition to its entertainment value, Korean mythology offers an interesting insight into the country’s social customs and history.
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