Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. The origin may be a blend of Korean shamanism, Buddhist, Chinese myths, Confucian and Taoist legends and myths. The legends may also vary gre...
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The two main elements in the birth myth are birth and agriculture. The birth myth is closely related to women, since only women have the secret of reproduction. Thus, the three concepts of birth, agriculture and women (or goddesses) are the important keywords in understanding the birth myth. The myths about Samshin (goddess of birth) and the Samsegyeong (the three gods of agriculture) are examples of this. In the Samshin myth, both of the main characters (the maleovelant Princess of the Dragon Palace of the East Sea and the kind Princess of the Kingdom of Myeongjin) are female.
In the romantic Segyeong Bonpuli myth, the protagonist is the woman Jacheong Bi. In this story, Jacheong Bi disguiises herself as a man, and goes to school with the teenaged deity Mun Doryeong. After secretly pretending she was a man for three years, she sends a letter on a leaf while Mun Doryeong is bathing, telling Mun Doryeong the truth. Mun Doryeong and Jacheong Bi share love that night, then Mun Doryeong leaves for Heaven. Mun Doryeong does not return, and Jacheong Bi sends her slave, Jeongsu Nam, to log in the woods and feed the cattle. However, Jeongsu Nam devours all the cattle, drops his axe in a lake, and gets all his clothes stolen. However, Jeongsu Nam lies to Jacheong Bi that he met Mun Doryeong, and tries to have an affair with Jacheong Bi. Jacheong Bi kills Jeongsu Nam by piercing his ear with a thorned branch. Jeongsu Nam's soul flies away, turning into an owl.
Jacheong Bi is chased out of the house because she murdered someone, and she finds herself weaving the clothes for Mun Doryeong's wedding. She signs her name in the clothes, and Mun Doryeong returns to Jacheong Bi; however, Jacheong Bi stabs Mun Doryeong with a needle, chasing him away.
Jacheong Bi again disguises herself as a man and goes to the house of Sara Doryeong, who has flowers that can revive the dead (Hwansaengkkot). She apologizes to Jeongsu Nam, who (in the form of an owl) has been magically cursing Sara Doryeong. The owl dies, and Sara Doryeong gives Jacheong Bi his third daughter and the Hwansaengkkot. Because Jacheong Bi is a woman and does not want to have an affair with another woman, Jacheong Bi flees with the Hwansaengkkot and brings Jeongsu Nam back to life. However, Jacheong bi's parents consider it evil to make a dead person be alive again, and chase Jacheong Bi away again.
Jacheong Bi encounters Mun Doryeong, and comes to heaven with him. However, Mun Doryeong had already promised to marry the daughter of King Seosu, a ruler of Heaven. Mun Doryeong's father, King Munseon, tells the two women that the one who could cross a burning trail filled with knives would be Mun doryeong's wife. The daughter of Seosuwang refused, but Jacheong Bi crossed the bridge. When she wiped her blood, menstruation began.
When Jacheong Bi's new husband, Mun Doryeong, is ordered to fight an army of rebel ghosts, Jacheong Bi sends Mun Doryeong to Sara Doryeong's mansion while she fights. She destroys the rebelling spirits, but Sara Doryeong's third daughter does not want Mun Doryeong to leave. Thus, the third daughter saddls Mun Doryeong's horse backwards. Jacheong Bi is angered when she sees Mun Doryeong riding with his back towards her, and parts from Mun Doryeong. Jacheong Bi rejoins Jeongsu Nam, and with Mun Doryeong, they become the gods of agriculture.
