KOREAN FOLKORE CORNER - SEPT 2024

Image Credit to Korea Foundation ASEAN Culture House Monthly 

KOREAN FOLKLORE CORNER

By Joshua Kim

This month we have a short fairy tale called The Golden Ax and the Silver Ax -

금도끼 은도끼. 

In it, there are two woodcutters: Deokbo, the kind one, and Yunbo, the lazy one. One day, Deokbo goes to chop wood in the forest with his iron ax but accidentally drops it in a pond, crying out in sadness. In the form of an old man, a mountain god, Sanshinryeong, comes out of the pond holding a golden ax. He asks Deokbo if this is his ax. Deokbo says no. Sanshinryeong then brings a silver ax from the pond. He asks Deokbo if this is his ax. Deokbo says no again, that his ax is iron. Pleased with Deokbo’s honesty, Sanshinryeong retrieves Deokbo’s iron ax from the pond and also gives Deokbo the golden and silver axes as gifts. 

Later, Deokbo tells Yunbo about the event. Jealous of the gifts, Yunbo goes to the same pond and drops his own iron ax into it. Sanshinryeong appears with a golden ax and asks Yunbo if this is his ax. Yunbo eagerly says: “Yes, my ax is gold!” Knowing his lie, Sanshinryeong bonks Yunbo on the head with the golden ax and disappears, leaving Yunbo without any axes at all.

If you look for this fairy tale, you’ll find different versions with minor differences. Interestingly, this general tale is not only Korean but can be found across a multitude of different cultures, probably stemming from Aesop’s Fables in Ancient Greece.

산신도 (Drawing of the Mountain God), Ho-Am Museum of Art, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

I find it interesting how cultures will learn about tales with overarching human lessons but adopt them for their particular people. In the Korean version, the spirit that appears to the woodcutters is the mountain god Sanshinryeong - 산신령. Centuries ago, native Koreans would pray to Sanshinryeong for protection or problems, and shrines to Sanshinryeong can be found standing in Korea today.