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Chapters: Korean Mythology, Janghwa Hongryeon Jeon, Hong Gildong, Simcheongga, Chunhyangga, Sugungga, Dong, Dong, Dongdaemun, Arang, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 42. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. The original religion of Korea was a form of the Eurasian shamanism and the totemism of Far East Asia, specifically of the nomadic peoples of present-day Manchuria. These were strongly colored by the later importations of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism from China. During the early ages, when Buddhism was on the rise, Korean shamanism was widely discredited in an attempt to establish Buddhism as the state religion. In later years both Korean Buddhism and shamanism were heavily purged, almost to the point of being lost from the consciousness of the general population. After the Korean War in 1953, shamans came to be seen less as religious figures and more as charlatans willing to exploit people for money. Recently, however, there has been a substantial revival movement reclaiming this element of Korean culture. Although the society is suffused with Confucian values and customs, roughly half of South Koreans today identify themselves as non-religious, a quarter as Christians, and another quarter as Buddhists. Today, those believing in the indigenous Korean myths as a religion form a minority. Among them are the followers of Chondogyo and Daejonggyo, who worship Dangun as a god, in addition to several rural areas where shamanism has managed to survive. Korean creation-mythology, or cosmology has many variations depending on the source, but can be generally separated into one of the following three categories: the first, totemic/shamanistic creation mytho...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=328868 ... Read more

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This highly engaging volume is by one of Korea's leading scholars of comparative mythology. The first study of its kind in English provides a valuable introduction to centuries-old beliefs, myths and folk tales relating to Cosmology and Flood, Birth and Agriculture, Messengers of the Underworld, Shamans, Disease, Good Fortune, Love and Family, Gods of Village Shrines, and Heroes. Containing thirty traditional stories, the book is fully illustrated throughout and contains a wide variety of Korean art, including rare shamanist paintings, as well as the work of some contemporary Korean artists. All the stories, based on Korean oral tradition, have been retold by the author according to their main plot and meaning because the original texts' songs by shamans, containing many obsolete words and obscure idioms, are not easily understood today. The original title and source, including text notes, are provided at the end of each story. The author's introduction sets out the historical background and significance of the myths that appear here. He also provides full details of each of the Korean gods and their roles in mythology.While being a welcome addition to the literature on Korean culture for the non-specialist, "An Illustrated Guide to Korean Mythology" also provides an invaluable reference source for scholars and researchers in the fields of East Asian Mythology and Anthropology, as well as Korean History, Religion and Literature. ... Read more

Product Description
This work is mainly comprised of a translation into English of four complete large-scale Korean Shaman ritual songs transcribed from tape recordings, which, until the present time, have remained either entirely untranslated, or, if otherwise, are only quoted in the form of brief excerpts in a few short articles. The song contents cover a broad regional spectrum which contain invaluablematerials related to Korean folklore, mythology, literature, history, and religion, and offer deep insight into a facet of Korean culture that has remained largely overlooked and unexplored. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"I would only believe in a God that knows how to dance."
Korean religions are a realm largely unexplored in my case, and so part of this book's allure for me was the simple thrill of learning something utterly fresh and new. On the other hand, I have enough experience with the study of Japanese religions to know that one can spend years acquainting oneself with them in their rarefied, academically articulated "great tradition" forms only to go to Japan itself and find these to be but the barely distinguishable ingredients in a complex stew on the level of everyday local life. So "Mu-ga: The Ritual Songs of Korean Mudangs" could be imagined as a sort of short-cut in this same kind of process, as the bulk of this fine book consists of the extended and involved narrative poetry sung rather amazingly from memory by mudangs (usually translated as "shamans"), female and less often male religious specialists too often considered to be on the lower range of the social scale, supposedly ignorant and superstitious--a characterization belied by the dramatically poetic richness and ritual intricacy of the songs here. Transcribed and translated from field recordings taken in rural Korea, this is about as close as you can get (at least secondhand) to this everyday local level of lived religiosity wherein motifs from Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and various native beliefs appear much altered in unaccustomed contexts in ways as baffling as they are endlessly fascinating.

The songs themselves are admittedly tough going. While there is a certain straightforward unselfconscious simplicity in the sentiments expressed, ritual repetitions and the radical abbreviation of detailed exposition require the patient reader to both concentrate very intently and kind of just go with the flow. Luckily, most of the tales are retold in a more user-friendly storyline form in several appendices in the back, resulting in not a few "a-ha!" moments on the part of this reader anyway. The first two-thirds of the book consists of four fairly long songs, each somewhat representative of a different type and region (as categorized by the author, Im Sok-jae): "Tari Kut: the Ritual Song of the Bridge", "The Ritual Song of the God Chesok", "The Ritual Song of the God Son-Nim", and "The Shrine Ritual Song of the Tutelary God of So-Gwi-P'o". The latter third consists of several short articles by the author on the history and social function of Musok (the "shamanistic" tradition of folk religion in Korea exemplified by the mudangs and their songs) along with a series of shorter shrine ritual songs from Cheju Island.

Im's introduction and scholarly analysis are for the most part helpful and thoughtful, and his deep and sincere regard for the mudangs and their ritual songs is wonderfully contagious. Moreover, his commendable labor and forethought in recording these easily lost and gradually fading examples of folk religious art and then sharing them is something for which we owe him many thanks. If one drawback blemishes his exposition, though, it's that part of his overall project seems to be the ethnographer's classic pitfall of attempting to use his materials to construct some sort of unique national cultural identity, giving rise to some clumsy generalizations and essentialized leaps of logic. This in turn leads him to claim that Buddhism, for instance, had no real substantial effect on the mudang's songs, a claim that swiftly becomes almost comical when the first song translated immediately afterward begins with an invocation to Amitabha Buddha and references the Ten Kings of the underworld, while the next one stars an elderly Buddhist monk as the protagonist. Okay, it might not be the bare-bones Buddhism you learned in World Religions class, but some form of Buddhism is clearly at work here, and to turn a blind eye to that fact is to sort of miss part of the point of what the mudangs are accomplishing here. This and a few incidents of editorial sloppiness (endnotes mismatched with their numbers, for instance) are easily forgivable venial sins though in what is an important and interesting record of down-home Korean religion given voice at long last.

Great Work
This book is mainly comprised of four complete large-scale Korean Shaman ritual songs transcribed from tape recordings.
The song contents cover a broad regional spectrum which contain invaluable materials related to Korean folklore, mythology, literature, history, and religion, and offer deep insight into a facet of Korean culture that has remained largely overlooked and unexplored. ... Read more

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Comprised of seven foundation myths, ten shamanist myths from the Korean mainland, and nine shamanist myths from Cheju Island, "Myths of Korea" presents twenty-six myths in accurate and readable translation, mostly for the first time in English. To make them more easily understandable to the general reader, these myths have been rewritten according to their central narrative plot. The corpus assembled here holds out manifold possibilities for future research - a comparative study of myths in general and hamanist myths in particular. ... Read more

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This book is a collection of myths and legends describing the beliefs and customs of the ancient people in the formative stage of Korean civilization, and will help the reader understand the Korean people, their traditions and their culture.The twenty eight myths and legends in this volume are selected from several books of historic importance. Though they have been enjoyed throughout the ages in Korea, they are not known outside so well and this volume will fill that void. ... Read more

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Chapters: Fictional Koreans, Films Set in Korea, Korean Folklore, Jin-Soo Kwon, Korean Mythology, Sun-Hwa Kwon, Kim Kaphwan, Oh Dae-Su, Sunny Lee, Janghwa Hongryeon Jeon, a Frozen Flower, Gustav Graves, the Divine Weapon, Super Strike Eagle, Hong Gildong, Shadows in the Palace, Scrambler, the Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan, Portrait of a Beauty, Simcheongga, Chunhyangga, Sugungga, Dong, Dong, Dongdaemun, Arang, Heungbuga, Jeokbyeokga, Park Eun-Suh. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 109. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Daniel Dae Kim. Jin-Soo Kwon was born on 27 November 1974 in Namhae, South Korea to a fisherman and a prostitute, the latter of which abandoned Jin and his father during his infancy. Jin had since been told that his mother died when he was young. Even though he wasn't sure about being Jin's father, the fisherman raised Jin, knowing that no one else would. As an adult, Jin attempted to follow his dreams of owning his own restaurant and hotel, and applied for a job at Seoul Gateway Hotel. Jin's heritage is recognized by the owner who employs him as a doorman, under strict instructions to keep "people like him" out of the hotel. When Jin allowed a disheveled man's son to use the hotel toilets, the owner rebuked him, prompting Jin to quit on the spot. Shortly after leaving, Jin literally bumped into Sun Paik (Yunjin Kim). After finding work as a waiter elsewhere, Jin visited Sun's father to ask for her hand in marriage. Jin disowned his heritage in order to gain Mr. Paik's respect, and in doing so was given a job as a floor manager in one of his factories. Sun and Jin were wed, and at their wedding reception, unknowingly spoke with Jacob, who congratu...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2231017 ... Read more

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Chapters: Kraft Foods. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 101. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. The original religion of Korea was a form of the Eurasian shamanism and the totemism of Far East Asia, specifically of the nomadic peoples of present-day Manchuria. These were strongly colored by the later importations of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism from China. During the early ages, when Buddhism was on the rise, Korean shamanism was widely discredited in an attempt to establish Buddhism as the state religion. In later years both Korean Buddhism and shamanism were heavily purged, almost to the point of being lost from the consciousness of the general population. After the Korean War in 1953, shamans came to be seen less as religious figures and more as charlatans willing to exploit people for money. Recently, however, there has been a substantial revival movement reclaiming this element of Korean culture. Although the society is suffused with Confucian values and customs, roughly half of South Koreans today identify themselves as non-religious, a quarter as Christians, and another quarter as Buddhists. Today, those believing in the indigenous Korean myths as a religion form a minority. Among them are the followers of Chondogyo and Daejonggyo, who worship Dangun as a god, in addition to several rural areas where shamanism has managed to survive. Korean creation-mythology, or cosmology has many variations depending on the source, but can be generally separated into one of the following three categories: the first, totemic/shamanistic creation mythology, the second Taoistic cosmology, and the third, Buddhist-influenced cosmology. These first two are commonly referred to as pre-Bu...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=328868 ... Read more

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AN Authoratative a-z guide to the mythologies and legends of China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Religion, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 7903 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The second edition of this highly regarded encyclopedia, preserving the best of the first edition's cross-cultural approach, while emphasizing religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture, this new edition is the definitive work in the field for the 21st century. An international team of scholars and contributors have reviewed, revised and added to every word of the classic work, making it relevant to the questions and interests of all researchers. ... Read more

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Two charming tales are included in this single volume. Bilingual: English and Korean. 1) The Seven Brothers and the Big Dipper brothers help their widowed mother with such devotion that they become the seven stars in the Big Dipper. 2) Two brothers, one kind-hearted and one mean, plant some gourd seeds that were brought to them by a bird. When the gourds are opened, they reveal the difference between the fruits of greed and compassion. Volume 4 in the 10-volume set Korean Folktales for Children. ... Read more

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Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. The original religion of Korea was a form of the Eurasian shamanism and the totemism of Far East Asia, specifically of the nomadic peoples of present-day Manchuria. These were strongly colored by the later importations of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism from China. During the early ages, when Buddhism was on the rise, Korean shamanism was widely discredited in an attempt to establish Buddhism as the state religion. In later years both Korean Buddhism and shamanism were heavily purged, almost to the point of being lost from the consciousness of the general population. After the Korean War in 1953, shamans came to be seen less as religious figures and more as charlatans willing to exploit people for money. Recently, however, there has been a substantial revival movement reclaiming this element of Korean culture. ... Read more

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Sok-dam - folk sayings - represent enduring values held throughoutall strata of Korean society.Each proverb in this book focuses on asignificant folk symbol or belief deeply held by Koreans.In aculture where language ability, particularly taciturnity, is highlyrespected, proverbs are used as a tool for expressing oneself withgrace and style. Accompanied by glowing illustrations, twenty proverbs are grouped inthree themes: character, cooperation and accomplishment, and eating.By reading and understanidng only a few words, the simple elegance ofproverbs helps us learn much about Korean culture and langauge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

More than a bit thin...
Tigers, Frogs and Rice Cakes is certainly a book of Korean Proverbs - 20 proverbs to be exact.

Perhaps I am biased in that I was hoping for both something more comprehensive as well as academic. There were several proverbs that I am personally familiar with that were not included. Additionally, while there IS an explanatory section at the back of the book (the only 3 pages of the entire work that I personally found useful), there is little in the history or evolution the proverbs.

As a children's book for use in an ESL or culture class it would be an excellent choice. For someone (myself, in this case) looking for a more or less comprehensive listing of proverbs with attached histories and evolution it is a waste of money.

Tigers, Frogs, and Rice Cakes
The book has great illustration and the proverbs are right, but it doesn't explain the meanings of the proverbs.You can look them up on the inet though.

Tigers, frogs, and rice cakes: a book of korean proverbs
I like the illustration of the book and I enjoy reading korean proverbs because it brings all the good memories from korea. Although, it is very difficult to understand korean proverbs if you are not a korean. I try to explain some of the proverbs to non koreans and they just have no clue. At the end of the book it explains each proverbs but it doesn't describe the origin of the proverbs and doesn't explain what that proverbs really means to people.

This beautiful book opens many doors
I thought Tigers would be great to use for a presentation as a lesson in an English language development (ESL) class. And it also would be a good interdisciplinary assignment--write it in English class and illustrate itin Art class. It would also be a good writing-across-the-curriculumactivity for the art class. I showed it to my high school class today andwe had a great discussion about proverbs and sayings in various cultures. APunjabi girl who recently enrolled in my class shared one with us and itwas the first time she had spoken up in class so I was pleased. It isinteresting to see how many of the same ideas transcend language andculture and this beautiful book opens the door to have that conversation.Susan Davis, English teacher, Modesto, CA

Tigers, Frogs, and Rice Cakes arrived by UPS one morning.
I read it during my lunch time, enjoying it thoroughly. Not only is it a work of art, but a work of wisdom as well. A key to the proverbs at the back of the book was helpful in articulating these Korean pearls of wisdom.

I think my favorite on "character" is "It is dark at the base of the lamp." On "cooperation," I especially liked, "An empty push cart makes more noise." On "eating," I loved," Licking the outside of the watermelon." These proverbs help me see and understand human frailty, while suggesting something greater to strive for. They are whimsical, correcting me gently for my oversights. A great book for anyone under the age of 112.

Barry Zeve English teacher San Francisco, C ... Read more

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From ungrateful young frogs to generous brothers, the captivating characters of Korea's folktales have provided entertainment and insight for centuries. Frog's Tears invites students of Korean at the high-beginning or low-intermediate levels to immerse themselves in Korea's rich folkloric tradition as they develop their language skills and cultural knowledge. Frog's Tears is a perfect supplementary reader for a first- or second-year Korean course, or for pleasure reading and independent study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a great selection of korean modern novels
this collection surely contains quintessential works in Korean modern literature, thanks to a very committed translator! especially the title work "the rainy spell" epitomizes a vivid reality of koreansituation after the civil war.also, it would be interesting to read thiswork from the perspective of ideology allegorized in family relation, esp.mother/son relationship.in one of the two families, (s)mothering sonseems to be responsible for the devastated and deviant youth who"wrongly" seeks his way in communism (to be exact, in playingpartisan).this portrait replicates the distorted image of communismsustained by capitalist ideology, which is ironically approved by theostensible reconciliation through the tradtional shamanism at the end (whenthe prodigal son returns home in the body of a snake).but remember, thisis only one way to read it.by and large, the tragedy that swirls all overthe korean peninsula is bittersweetly chrystalized in a small house whichis temporarily crowded by two families and again finitely confined by therainy season.this story of ominous density and suffocating humidity istold, but beautifully, from first person perspective of a boy who isawkwardly situated in the middle of feud. ... Read more

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Chapters: Lgbt Themes in Mythology. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 357. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt:Democratic People's Republic of Korea People's Republic of ChinaSoviet Union Victims of a massacre with their hands bound in burial area near Waegwan, Korea. Definitions from Wiktionary Textbooks from Wikibooks Quotations from Wikiquote Source texts from Wikisource Images and media from Commons News stories from Wikinews Learning resources from Wikiversity ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=16772 ... Read more

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A translation of the contents of the manual used for the masked dance of Korea. Readers will delight in the wit and liveliness of these dramas that depict human errors as well as the redeeming virtues of social bonds.

"...a pioneering collection of Korean mask-dance and puppet plays... a fine introduction to the traditional vernacular Korean theater..."--Choice ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting Collection
A fascinating look into the theatre of another culture. Very funny and down to earth. The scholarship in the translations is excellent. ... Read more