The following story supposedly took place in the year 879, during the reign of King Heongang헌강 of Silla. The king went out for a picnic, but the sky suddenly turned dark, with low clouds and a thick fog. One official knowledgeable in the workings of heaven told the king, “This is the doing of the god of the East Sea, so it’s a good thing.” The king ordered a temple to be built there for the sea god and then the sea god came out of the water with his seven songs to praise the king. One of the sons followed the king to the palace, where the king named him “Cheoyong처용.” Cheoyong became a high-ranking official in Silla and married a beautiful woman. His life was a merry one with lots of dancing and singing. Then one day he returned home to find the god of pestilence sleeping with his wife. Rather than becoming enraged at his wife’s infidelity and beating the pestilence god, Cheoyong sang a song describing the situation. Amazed at Cheoyong’s boldness and forgiving heart, the evil god knelt down to plead for forgiveness and vowed never to appear where he can see Cheoyong’s face. Since then, people would draw Cheoyong’s face and put the drawing up on the main gate to ward off evil spirits.

The Song of Cheoyong / Sung by Kim Yong-woo

That was Cheoyong-ga, the Song of Cheoyong, sung by Kim Yong-woo. The song supposedly sung by Cheoyong so many centuries ago is passed down to this day in many different versions. For over a millennium Cheoyong came to be known as a divine being that fights off demons and evil spirits. While common people drew pictures of Cheoyong on their front gates, the royal court warded off evil spirits by performing Cheoyong’s dance on December 31st or when there was a celebration in the palace. In the old days people used to think that gods or ghosts had their hands in human affairs. If something good happened, people would thank their ancestral spirits for looking after them, and when bad things happened, they would blame the evil spirits. Their reliance on myths and superstition can be attributed to a lack of scientific knowledge at the time, but it could also be interpreted as people’s cautious approach to life, or being careful not to go against the rules of nature. Exorcism was a serious task any time of the year, but particularly so when there was illness or bad luck in the family. In life-or-death situations, people would hold shamanistic rituals, but for less dire matters they would call a Buddhist monk or a blind man to recite a sutra. There is a song called “Pagyeong,” a chant repeated by blind people in the western islands, which used to be recited when wishing for good fortune. Here’s “Pagyeong” sung by Oh Bok-nyeo.

Pagyeong / Sori Oh Bok-nyeo

The song commands various ghosts to leave the premise. The ghosts can range from unmarried ghosts, widow ghosts, skeleton-like ghosts who died of starvation, and bloated ghosts who died in a flood. But these poor souls are not chased away empty-handed. The living set tables for them so that they can return to the netherworld fully sated. Such consideration demonstrates how thoughtful the people of the old days were. The existence of ghosts can be debated, but all beings, whether they are real or not, were considered meaningful in their own rights. One of the minor ghosts is called dokkaebi도깨비 in Korea. Dokkaebis are different from ghosts, in that they are household goods, such as a broom or a piece of old furniture, transformed into mischievous beings. Dokkaebis are wicked and so childish in some ways that when they meet people, they want to wrestle or cause disasters, but when befriended, they can bring you all sorts of treasures. Dokkabies appearing in Korean literature and painting are not depicted as malicious spirits, but more as naughty and crabby goblins, suggesting that ancient Koreans had no profound ill will toward dokkaebis. Let’s wrap up the show with Seulgidoong performing “Sandokkaebi” or “Mountain Dokkaebi.”

Sandokkaebi / Seulgidoong