Cheonjiwang Bonpuli

The Cheonjiwang Bonpuli (Hangul: 천지왕 본풀이, literally 'Chronicles of Cheonjiwang') is a Korean creation myth, traditionally retold by shamans in the small island of Jeju Island. It is one of the best-known Creation myths in the Korean peninsula, and many key elements in the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli can be found in the creation myths of the mainland.^[1]

Plot

Unlike its title, the supreme deity Cheonjiwang (Hangul: 천지왕), whose name literally means 'King of the Heavens and the Earth', serves mainly as a secondary character. The protagonists of the myth are instead the two sons of Cheonjiwang, Daebyeol and Sobyeol.

The myth starts with the creation of the world, when the sky and the earth were one (This concept can be found in most other creation myths; see Chaos and Ginnungagap). As there were no sky nor earth, as a result, there was only an empty void. However, one day, a gap formed in the void. All that was lighter than the gap headed upwards and formed the sky. All that was heavier than the gap fell down to become the earth. From the sky fell a clear blue drop of dew, and from the earth rose a dark black drop of dew. As these two drops mixed, all that existed, except the sun, moon, and the stars, came to be. From these two drops came humans and even the gods.^[2][3][4] The leader of the gods, Cheonjiwang, awoke to the cry of the three roosters; the Cheonhwangdag (Hangul: 천황닭, literally 'Rooster Emperor of the Sky'), the Jihwangdag (Hangul: 지황닭, literally 'Rooster Emperor of the Earth'), and the Inhwangdag (Hangul: 인황닭, literally 'Rooster Emperor of the Humans') (according to some scolars, the cry of the roosters signify time ^[5]). Cheonjiwang knew that the three roosters were crowing because there was no sun. To appease the roosters, Cheonjiwang crafted two suns and two moons, and made the two suns rise and fall every day and the two moons rise and fall every night.

Meanwhile, the king of the mortal human world (Korean: Iseung, literally This World) was Sumyeong Jangja, the first human to tame the beasts. He ruled atop the humans with his nine horses, nine bulls, and nine bloodhounds, taking most of the crop away and leaving just enough to prevent starvation. Sumyeong Jangja, riding on his chariot pulled by his horses and surrounded by his fierce dogs, was invincible. One day, Sumyeong Jangja cried "Who dare subdue me!", looking up at the sky. His boast reached the ears of Cheonjiwang. The infuriated Cheonjiwang invaded Sumyeong Jangja's kingdom. He rode on his own golden chariot, pulled by his five dragons. He ordered his lieutenants, the deities Beongae Janggun (Hangul: 번개장군,literally 'General of Lightning'), Byeorak Janggun (Hangul: 벼락장군,literally 'General of Thunder'), Hwadeok Jingun (Hangul: 화덕진군, literally 'General of Fire'), and Pungu Dosa (Hangul: 풍우도사, literally 'Master of the Winds and the Rains'), to accompany him to Sumyeong Jangja's realm. The four generals themselves led an army of 10,000 soldiers. When Cheonjiwang's army reached Sumyeong Jangja's palace, Cheonjiwang climbed up a willow tree near the palace and cried out; "Foolish human, kneel before me!" Sumyeong Jangja sent out all of his 27 beasts (9 horses, 9 bulls, and 9 hounds) at Cheonjiwang, but with a wave of Cheonjiwang's hands, all the beasts suddenly found themselves atop the roof of Sumyeong Jangja's palace. With another wave of Cheonjiwang's hands, the iron pots in Sumyeong Jangja's kitchen launched themselves into Sumyeong Jangja's garden.

Sumyeong Jangja fought fiercely against the soldiers of Cheonjiwang, but he was finally forced to kneel before Cheonjiwang. Cheonjiwang put an iron ring on Sumyeong Jangja's head (For similar concepts, see Journey to the West), and Sumyeong Jangja experienced extreme pain, as if his head was exploding. Whatever he did, the iron ring did not get off Sumyeong Jangja's head. Finally, in despair, Sumyeong Jangja ordered a slave to ease his pain by decapitating him. The surprised Cheonjiwang murmured "Amazing." and took the iron ring off Sumyeong Jangja's head. He then continued on his way.

Cheonjiwang did not return to the sky immediately, but spent the night in Baekju Halmeom (literally 'Grandmother Baekju')'s cottage. The bright-eared Cheonjiwang heard someone brushing her hair with a jade comb in the next room, and asked Baekju Halmeom who she was. Baekju Halmeom answered that it was her only daughter, Chongmyeong Agi. (Hangul: 총명아기, literally 'Wise Girl').

Chongmyeong Agi was fairer than the Seonnyeo, the heavenly fairies. Cheonjiwang asked both Chongmyeong Agi and Baekju Halmeom if he could have sexual intercourse with Chongmyeong Agi, and both decided to accept. Thus, that night, Chongmyeong Agi became Chongmyeong Buin (Hangul: 총명부인, literally 'Wise Wife'), as she had experienced love.

Cheonjiwang stayed with his new wife for four days, then left. He gave Chongmyeong Buin two gourd seeds, and advised her to name their children Daebyeol (Hangul: 대별, literally 'Large Star') and Sobyeol (Hangul: 소별, literally 'Small Star'). Cheonjiwang then flew away on his golden, dragon-led chariot. Chongmyeong Buin gave birth to two identical twin boys, who she named Daebyeol and Sobyeol. One day, when the twins matured, Daebyeol and Sobyeol asked Chongmyeong Buin; "Who is our father?" (a child abandoned by their parents is one of the most common theme in Korean mythology^[6]) Chongmyeong Buin answered that their father was Cheonjiwang, the supreme god.

Daebyeol and Sobyeol planted the two gourd seeds. Gourd vines instantly sprouted from the seeds, and the vines finally grasped on the left armrest of Cheonjiwang's throne. Daebyeol and Sobyeol climbed up the vines until they reached the Haneul Gungjeon, the Palace of the Heavens, the abode of Cheonjiwang. But because of the combined weight of the two brothers, the left armrest of Cheonjiwang's throne had been broken. From that day, all thrones had no left armrest.^[7]

When Cheonjiwang found his sons, he admitted that they were his sons after a glance at them. Cheonjiwang informed them that he found it difficult to rule the heavens, the earth, the mortal world, and the netherworld all at the same time, and told Daebyeol and Sobyeol to try a contest between each other in order to aid him.

The first contest was riddles. Daebyeol would ask two riddles to Sobyeol, and Sobyeol would answer it. If Sobyeol gave the right answers, Sobyeol would rule the mortal world, and Daebyeol would rule the netherworld. However, if Sobyeol gave the wrong answers, Daebyeol would rule the mortal world, and Sobyeol would rule the netherworld.

Daebyeol's first question was "Why do the leaves of some trees fall, while the leaves of other trees do not?" Sobyeol answered that the leaves of trees that were hollow fell, while the leaves of trees that were full did not fall. However, Daebyeol gave an example of a hollow tree that did not shed its leaves; the reed. Thus, Daebyeol won.

Daebyeol's next question was whether the plants in the high regions or the low regions grew better. Sobyeol answered that plants in the low areas grew better. However, Daebyeol refuted Sobyeol by saying that human hair on the high areas (the head) grew better than on the low areas (the feet). Thus, Daebyeol won again and could rule the mortal world, but Sobyeol, who did not want to rule the netherworld, pleaded to have a new contest. The soft-hearted and kind Daebyeol agreed, and Cheonjiwang thought of a new competition.^[8]

The next contest was growing flowers for a hundred days.^[9] A hundred days later, the person with the better flower would rule the mortal world, and the person with the worse flower would rule the netherworld. Cheonjiwang gave them two flowerpots and two seeds, and let them grow their own flowers.

As time passed, the victor was obvious. Daebyeol's flower was full of life, while Sobyeol's flower was dried up. But in the ninety-ninth night, Sobyeol pretended to be asleep, and then switched the flowers, planting his flower in Daebyeol's pot and planting Daebyeol's flower in his own pot. The next day, Sobyeol proudly cried out that he was the victor. Thus, Daebyeol was forced to rule the netherworld, and Sobyeol went to rule the mortal world.

The first thing Sobyeol did when he came to the mortal world was to kill Sumyeong Jangja. Sobyeol defeated all of Sumyeong Jangja's beasts, and personally captured him, forcing Sumyeong Jangja to kneel before himself. Sobyeol ordered his soldiers to rip Sumyeong Jangja apart into four pieces, and to throw his flesh and bones into the air. Sumyeong Jangja's cadaver turned into swarms of flies, mosquitoes, and bedbugs, which still plague the mortal world.

Sobyeol exterminated Sumyeong Jangja's children as well. Sumyeong Jangja's daughter turned into a bean weevil, and his son turned into a kite. Finally, Sobyeol burned down Sumyeong Jangja's palace.^[10]

But after the execution of Sumyeong Jangja and his family, Sobyeol came to be shocked at the mortal world's chaotic state. Grass, trees, fish, birds, beasts, and humans all had the power of speech, making the mortal world extremely loud. Humans could not converse with each other because whenever a human tried to talk to another person, it was not a fellow human but a ghost who answered it. Moreover, there were two suns and two moons in the sky. Every day, many people burned away, and every night, many people froze to death. Finally, humans were extremely aggressive, promiscuous, and injust, and were great liars and tricksters.

Sobyeol pleaded to his brother, Daebyeol, to rid the mortal world of this chaos, and the twins headed to Sobyeol's realm. Daebyeol prepared the Cheongeunsal, his two arrows, and five sacks of pine dust. Each of the Cheongeunsal weighed 600 kilograms, and were made purely of iron. With the first Cheongeunsal, Daebyeol shot down one of the two suns. The remains of the destroyed sun became the stars of the east sky. Next night, Daebyeol shot down one of the two moons. The remains of the destroyed moon became the stars of the west sky. Only since then were there one sun, one moon, and countless stars in the sky.

Daebyeol then sprayed his sacks of pine dust upon the world. Whenever the pine dust touched a grass, tree, fish, bird, or beast, it rendered these plants and animals incapable of speech. Finally, Daebyeol sorted out the ghosts and humans. The lighter beings became ghosts, and the heavier beings became humans. Daebyeol then returned to the netherworld.

However, Sobyeol forgot to tell Daebyeol about the chaotic habits of the humans. Thus, humans remained aggressive, promiscuous, and injust, and were still liars and tricksters, and Sobyeol could not prevent this chaos because his power was lesser than Daebyeol's.

Meanwhile, Chongmyeong Buin was given the title of Bajiwang, the earth goddess, and thus, the four realms of the heavens, the mortal world, the netherworld, and the earth each came to have a ruler.^[11]

Comparison with Other Myths

The Cheonjiwang Bonpuli has many integral themes that are common in Korean mythology of the mainland (the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli myth is retold only in the large island of Jeju).

In the Changsega myth of the Hamheung region, the creator, Mireuk, destroys each of the two suns and moons, and creates the stars with the destroyed sun and moon. However, it is not shown how Mireuk destroyed the sun and the moon^[12]

Also in the Changsega, Mireuk and the evil deity Seokga has three contests to win the world. The last contest is also growing flowers; in this case, magnolia flowers. If the magnolia flower grew towards Mireuk, Mireuk would win, and vice versa. The flower grew towards Mireuk, but Seokga broke the stem of the plant and put it in his own lap. Looking at what Seokga had done, Mireuk cursed both the magnolia and the mortal world, leading the mortal world to be imperfect and causing the magnolia to die quickly.^[13]

In the Shirumal myth of the Seoul region, the Seonmun and Humun brothers destroy each of the two suns and moons.^[14]

Finally, in the Dosolsa myth, written in the history book Samguk Yusa, the protagonist also destroys the sun and the moon.

Thus, it is generally believed that the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli myth is a branch of the ancestral Korean creation myth, which held such themes as the destruction of each of the two suns and a flower-growing contest between good and evil deities. These themes are still represented in many Korean creation myths, including the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli.^[3]

References