음양陰陽

48. The Legend of the Rooster (雄鷄 傳說, 羽衣 傳說)
Once upon a time, in a certain place, a young man lived alone with his mother. He couldn't get married until he was thirty. He was a poor woodcutter who went up the mountain every day from morning till night, cutting wood and selling it. One day, as he was cutting wood in the mountains as usual, a deer, as if being chased by something, ran towards the woodcutter from somewhere and pleaded, “Please save me!” out of breath. The woodcutter felt pity and hid the deer among the piles of wood, then continued his work with an unconcerned expression.
 
A little while later, a hunter came running from the other side, also out of breath, and asked the woodcutter, “Didn't you see a deer escape this way?” The woodcutter replied, pointing to the mountain path in that direction, “Yes, I did. But that deer ran away down that path.” The hunter ran off in the direction the woodcutter had indicated, chasing the deer. When the hunter was out of sight, the woodcutter let the deer out. The deer, which had been holding its breath hidden among the piles of wood, respectfully told the woodcutter how happy it was that the woodcutter's wisdom had helped it escape a dangerous situation, bowing many times and saying to the woodcutter, “I am the mountain spirit of this mountain, and today I came out to play for a change, but I was spotted by a hunter and almost got into big trouble. Since you saved my life, I must repay your kindness, so please tell me your wish without hesitation.”
 
The woodcutter thought for a moment, and although no particular wish came to mind and he didn't desire anything else, he wished, "I am not yet married, so I wish to have a beautiful bride." The deer then said, "Is that so? That's good. If you go to the end of this mountain, there will be a large pond. And in that pond, celestial maidens who have descended from heaven will be bathing. The celestial maidens all take off their clothes and leave them around the pond, so secretly hide the underwear of one of the young maidens. Then, when the celestial maidens finish bathing and try to ascend to heaven, the maiden without clothes will not be able to fly." This is because a celestial maiden cannot fly without her clothes. "At this time, you can entice the maiden, take her home, and make her your wife. However, you must never show her those clothes. If she sees them, the celestial maiden will put them on and fly back to heaven. However, if four children are born, it doesn't matter if you return the clothes. If there are up to three, she can carry two in her arms and one between her legs and ascend to heaven, but with four, she can't do anything. This is because no mother can leave even one child behind and depart," it taught, and then disappeared into the mountains by the way it had come.
 
The woodcutter climbed the mountain for a while as the deer had told him, and indeed, a large pond appeared. In the pond, beautiful celestial maidens were bathing naked. Around the pond, on a large rock, lay the beautiful white silk-like clothes of the celestial maidens. He tiptoed, hid among the trees and under the grass, stole one of the maidens' undergarments, and hid it behind the rock. The other celestial maidens, having finished their bath, put on their clothes and flew away, but one young maiden could not fly. She stamped her feet, looking for her clothes, but they were nowhere to be seen. At that moment, the woodcutter appeared from behind the rock and said, “I have your clothes.” The maiden pleaded with him to return them, but the woodcutter said, “I will return them if you become my wife,” and did not listen. She had no choice but to go to the woodcutter's house and become his wife. Three children were born to them. The eldest son went to Gyeongseong (京城), took the civil service examination, and passed. The couple's relationship was very strong, and the wife had not mentioned the clothes once. The husband, reassured by this, had completely forgotten about the clothes.
 
Around that time, one day, the wife offered her husband a drink and said, “Three children have already been born between us. At first, I wanted to go up to heaven, but now I find the human world rather enjoyable and good. Sometimes I miss my undergarments from those days, so please show me what you did with them someday. It's just an old memory, and I want to see it.” Because she spoke with this meaning, the man, slightly intoxicated and in a good mood, and trusting his wife's words without suspicion, eventually took out the undergarments and showed them to her. As soon as the celestial maiden put them on, she immediately held two of her children in her arms, the youngest between her legs, and flew through the ceiling into the sky.
 
The woodcutter became the old woodcutter again, entering the mountain alone and sadly to cut wood, recalling his unfortunate self. He threw down his axe and, like a discarded object, lay on the ground, sighing. One day, after spending a long time like this, the deer reappeared and said, “There’s no need to lament like that. Go back to that pond once more. A well bucket will descend from the sky there. Since the celestial maidens haven't descended to the pond since that incident, they decided to draw water with the well bucket and bathe in the sky. When they try to pull the well bucket full of water up to the sky, you must empty all the water, get into the well bucket, and ascend to the sky. Then you can meet your wife and children.”
 
The woodcutter was indeed able to ascend to the sky as the deer had said. He was amazed by the beautiful celestial objects, and as he gazed at the sight, the celestial maidens appeared and said, “Oh, I smell a human.” They were very surprised to find him and asked what had happened. He recounted the whole story and was finally summoned before the god of the sky, where he met his wife and children. His wife was said to be the daughter of the god of the sky. The woodcutter lived in heaven for a while, eating delicious food and wearing fine clothes every day without any worries. However, one day, he suddenly remembered his mother whom he had left behind alone, and he yearned to return to her side. He consulted his wife about this. His wife repeatedly tried to dissuade him, saying, “If you return to the earth, you might not be able to come back here.” But the woodcutter did not give in and instead pleaded, “I’ll be back soon…” So, his wife reluctantly agreed, saying, “I will give you a celestial dragon-horse. Ride this, and you will reach the earth in an instant. However, if you set foot on the ground even once, you will never be able to return to heaven, so no matter what, finish your business from atop the horse and never touch the ground.” She repeated this several times.
 
The woodcutter, riding the heavenly dragon horse, arrived at his mother's house in an instant. His mother was overjoyed to see her son after such a long time. When he bid his mother farewell, she stopped him, saying, “I just made pumpkin porridge for you to eat, so please have at least one bowl before you go.” Unable to refuse his mother's kindness, he waited briefly and received the bowl of porridge from his mother while still on horseback. However, the bowl was very hot from the porridge, and as he tried to switch hands, he accidentally dropped the bowl onto the horse's back, spilling it. The horse, startled, bucked, and he fell off, landing on the ground. The heavenly dragon horse neighed loudly and ascended high into the sky, disappearing.
 
So the woodcutter could not return to heaven and cried every day, looking up at the sky. And he died that way. And he became a rooster. It is said that the reason roosters often climb onto rooftops today, stretching their necks and looking up at the sky while crowing, is because his soul from his woodcutter days became a rooster, and he climbs onto the roof to look at the sky from the highest possible point.
 
August 1923, Gyeongseong, Bang Jeong-hwan (方定煥, 1899~1931) Kun-dam
 
 
49. Origin of Gwanje-myo (Guan Yu Shrine)

In Gyeongseong, there are two Gwanje-myo shrines, one in the east and one in the west, and their origins are as follows. During King Seonjo's reign, in the Imjin year (1592), Konishi Yukinaga (小西行長), the vanguard commander of the Japanese forces, advanced from Busan to Gyeongseong as if through a demilitarized zone, reaching the outskirts of Namdaemun. And the Japanese general Kato Kiyomasa (加藤清正) also arrived shortly after, advancing to the outskirts of Dongdaemun. At this time, King Seonjo gathered his officials and fled north, leaving only the remaining citizens and soldiers defending the city.
 
Before Haengjang and Cheongjeong captured Gyeongseong, the spirit of Gwanunjang appeared in the dream of a general defending the castle and said, “Tomorrow, I intend to fight the Japanese invaders, but Cheongjeong’s horse is terrifying, so you must kill that horse for me. I will handle the rest alone.” The next day, the Japanese invaders indeed attacked the castle in large numbers. Gwanje appeared, riding Jeoktoma and wielding Cheongnyongdo, from where the current Nammyeong (Namgwanwangmyo) is located, and fought the Japanese invaders like falling leaves. He advanced to where the current Dongmyo (Donggwanwangmyo) is located, fighting and killing as if mowing grass.
 
However, the Joseon soldiers had no way to kill Cheongjeong's horse. But when Cheongjeong learned of Gwanje's secret assistance, he was greatly surprised and immediately cut off his horse's neck, sprinkling its blood towards Gwanje. Gwanje's divine manifestation immediately disappeared, and the Japanese invaders rushed into the castle with battle cries (it is said that spirits can be repelled by the blood of animals).
 
King Seonjo, who pacified the rebellion, returned to Gyeongseong. Upon hearing of Gwanje's secret assistance, he was heartbroken and deeply moved by his intentions. He immediately ordered the Yejo to build shrines at the places where Gwan Gong appeared and disappeared. These are the current Nammyeong and Dongmyo. Furthermore, it is said that he issued a decree throughout the country, ordering the construction of Gwanjemyo in each bu-gun-hyeon (prefecture, county, district) and holding sacrifices twice a year, in spring and autumn. It is said that before the Imjin War, there was no practice of honoring Gwanje in Joseon.
 
August 1927, Gwandong 72, Gyeongseong-bu. Donated by Kim Tae-gyeong.
 
 
50. Okhamga, Chebu-dong
If you go to Chebu-dong in Gyeongseong and ask for the house with the jade box (okham: a box made of jade), there is no one who doesn't know it. It is said that this is because a strange jade box is known to be hidden under the wooden floor of this house. It was quite a long time ago. One day, a passing Taoist asked to stay overnight at that house, but at that time, the owner was very poor and could not prepare a meal for a guest, so he reluctantly explained the reason and refused. However, the Taoist pleaded to be allowed to stay, so he was guided to the inner room where the family lived, as there was no guest room. The Taoist sympathized with the owner's poverty and took out a considerable amount of horseshoe-shaped silver (mateun: silver, the basic currency during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, circulated as horseshoe-shaped ingots, not coins, weighing 50 taels (about 1.8 kg)) from his bosom and gave it to him.
 
And the next morning, as he was about to leave, the Taoist took out another cloth wrapper and pushed it under the floor of the house, saying to the owner, “If you move or open this after I leave, your house will be completely destroyed, so please be careful.” However, the owner could not contain his curiosity, and after the Taoist left, he secretly untied the wrapper. Inside, a jade box appeared, and hidden within the box were armor (gapju) and a precious sword (bogum). And on the inside lid of the jade box, it was written ‘某人開見 (moin gae gyeon: someone opened it)’, meaning the name of the person who would open it was recorded. Indeed, from that day on, the owner fell ill and died shortly after, and his family also died one after another. Therefore, his relatives, considering it an inauspicious object, discussed breaking it into pieces. As they laid hands on the box, black clouds immediately rose, and with thunder and lightning, a heavy rain poured down. Everyone was startled and withdrew their hands, and from then on, they could not harbor any other thoughts about the box.
 
And after that, the owner of this house changed many times, but before moving in, the previous owner had thoroughly informed them about the jade box (玉函). So, without being touched, the jade box is said to still remain in the house, hiding its treasures. It is strange who can open it, and when and in what circumstances it might be useful.
 
Same day, Mr. Kim Tae-kyung sent
 
 
*Readers seem unaware of the symbolism of Son Jin-tae, who compiled Korean folk tales and was abducted to North Korea at the start of the Korean War, with his whereabouts unknown ever since. The Korean War was a Western plot to establish puppet regimes in both the South and the North. One might ask what a single folklorist or historian like Son Jin-tae could do, but if you look closely, people from all walks of life were taken to the North as pre-planned.
 
Those who dismiss and laugh off the interpretation of this historical event as a conspiracy theory are likely to remain in a low-frequency world, and even if they are reborn through reincarnation, their souls will never be born into a higher dimension. Korean history is not a simple history confined to the Korean Peninsula, but its current simplification is due to the dilution of history over hundreds of years.
 
Therefore, it can be assumed that the contents of this book include information that they do not want to be known to the world. In a world where folklore and history were forbidden to be exposed, Son Jin-tae's idea seems to have been to gradually leak history under the guise of a collection of folk tales. For example, let's say that Korea is suddenly incorporated as the 51st state of the United States due to a military attack, the president is overthrown, and a puppet is installed to change all administration and systems to American style. Let's say it's an era where anyone who rebels or expresses dissatisfaction is dragged to prison, assassinated, followed, and eventually disappears. This brutal era instantly makes all Korean customs and practices disappear, so the idea is that a knowledgeable and courageous intellectual would publish a storybook, metaphorically saying that Korea was once such a country.
 
Son Jin-tae's life-risking actions in a real dystopian era are all disparaged posthumously and dismissed as merely a folklorist who defected to the North. However, if Koreans cannot overcome the sense of alienation that these writings sound like stories from another country, with all cultural artifacts evaluated and recorded by foreign standards, then Koreans will be buried in history. It is necessary to consider that a scene from history is hidden within these writings.
 
Bang Jeong-hwan, who likened the reason a rooster crows at the sky and the historicity of Gyerim to the story of the Woodcutter and the Fairy, died of high blood pressure due to stress. Many legends, such as the Woodcutter and the Fairy, also exist in India, but not researching these similarities is precisely colonial historiography. The Gwanje Temple was attached to what is now Dongmyo Market, but is it a fact or a legend that there was a Nammyo Temple in Dongjak-gu? The public is not interested in history. The person who sold off this Donggwanmyo was Hyun Young-woon (玄映運, 1868~?), the lover and husband of Bae Jeong-ja, who was Ito Hirobumi's adopted daughter and mistress. If Bae Jeong-ja is Kim Keon-hee, then Hyun Young-woon is Yoon Suk-yeol. Given that modern Korea is run by such figures, the future of this country is obvious.
 
The Imjin War was a humiliation and a defeat for King Seonjo, but here it is described as a war that was pacified, and Guan Yu, a legendary Chinese figure, is depicted as the guardian saint of Joseon. Koreans, brainwashed into believing a history where they used another country's calendar, were protected by another country's god in battle, and were a vassal state, cannot escape the heavy yoke of history even when faced with simple contradictions. Where was the Okhamjip in Chebu-dong located? When history changes and is absorbed, space also changes. Now, the last chance to overturn a past that has become another's history is approaching, but the people themselves are breaking the Okham. Koreans, who would never hand over power they cannot grasp to others, are all deluding themselves into thinking they are the protagonists of '某人開見' (someone's insight), and the country is perishing.