Creation Myths
Main article:Cheonjiwang Bonpuli
The separation of heaven and earth, the creation of the sun, the moon and stars, the origin of fire and water, the origin of clothing and cooking, the genesis of humans, and the fight over this world and the underworld are systematically organized and well presented in creation myths, which convey the true essence of mythological philosophy.
These myths are rare compared to other myths of the peninsula, as the creator deities have no direct connection with the people. However, there are three surviving myths concerning creation; the Changsega of Hamheung, the Sirumal of Seoul, and the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli of Jeju Island.
Among these, the Changsega retells the creation of the world and the conflict between the creator and his usurper. Many themes in the Changsega are unique to Korea. According to the Changsega, Mireuk parted the world by putting four copper pillars between the earth and the sky. He destroyed each of the two suns and two moons and crafted the stars with the destroyed sun and moon. Mireuk discovered fire and water from a mouse after torturing it (as a gift to the mouse, Mireuk gave it the barns of the world), and made the first clothes from a kudzu vine. He created humans from five golden bugs and five silver bugs. The bugs grew into humans; the silver ones were women and the golden ones were male.
Suddenly, the deity Seokga attempted to usurp Mireuk in three contests. In the first contest, which judged who could stretch their ropes across the East Sea, Seokga's silver rope broke, but Mireuk's golden rope did not. Thus, Mireuk claimed victory.
In the second contest, the deities had to make the Seongcheon river connect to all other rivers in the universe. Seokga called on rainstorms, but he could not make the Seongcheon connect with all other rivers. Mireuk called on winter ice, and made the Seongcheon connect with all other rivers (because water expands when frozen).
In the final contest, Mireuk and Seokga grew a magnolia flower. While the two deities were sleeping, the deity that the magnolia reached for would be the winner. The magnolia reached for Mireuk, but Seokga severed the magnolia and put it in his lap. The angered Mireuk cursed the earth, creating prostitution, betrayal, mental disorder, bragging, and other imperfections of the world. Seokga, the injust victor, then imprisoned Mireuk.
In three days, Mireuk fled his prison by transforming into a musk deer. In response, Seokga led his three thousand priests to kill Mireuk. Seokga killed and ate the musk deer, and shared Mireuk's flesh with his priests. But two of the priests refused to eat the venison. They were killed by Seokga, and turned into a large rock and a pine tree. However, people still eat flower pancakes (Hwajeon) in remembrance of the murdered priests.
The Sirumal and the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli share a similar plot, but the story of the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli is much more vibrant then the Sirumal(for more detals, see Cheonjiwang Bonpuli).
Read more about this topic: Korean Mythology, Classification
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