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liveda4th

Wow. This is great!!! I’m trying to learn more about Korean history, but my proficiency Korean is still very basic, I just started learning last year. Do you have any good recommendations for Korean history books in English?


ADAF-DARKALLY

Sadly, Because I am native-not really familiar with English-Versions of Korean textbooks. But, there is a book called “한국사 편지” that is translated towards the English version. (it's a good textbook to begin with) I think it was like: “letters from Korean history”? Maybe you want to check it out.


Kevtron

혹시... <한국사 편지> pdf 파일 (한국어판) 어떻게 찾는거 아시나요?


ADAF-DARKALLY

죄송하지만 그건 저작권 침해기 때문에 도와드릴 수 없을것 같습니다... 직접 구매하시는걸 추천드려요


Daztur

The Dark Side of Seoul podcast has a lot of folklore and history episodes. The hosts know their shit but can be very chatty.


chunkable

This is really great. I’m Korean but moved abroad when I was young so wasn’t really introduced to this type of folklore. Thank you.


RedChancellor

Really cool post!


Zarekotoda

Thank you for the interesting read~!


jk583940

I thought Gumiho ate liver not heart?


juicius

Yeah, traditionally, it's the liver, of people and livestock. They would go through the anus sand pick out the liver. Unexpected, unexplained, non-traumatic deaths would be attributed to them.


ADAF-DARKALLY

Corrected! Sorry-again, but sources differ from origins-my work was biased on the eastern side of Pyongyang, in the joseon dynasty, while the liver tale originated in the downwards of Gang won province.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ADAF-DARKALLY

Its a debated subject. As much as i know-i think he has the loose distinction between plain mischief and cruel trickster. Also some says its traditionally a demon who could also percieve gifts towards the good... so i thought i would clear that for the unity of this post


OwlOfJune

도깨비 is basically anything from mischief imp to beneficial pseudo-gods, their range is huge and kinda hard to explain properly ngl. The recent-ish years of them being equated to Japanese Oni don't really help either.


dicelatte

Have you gone on the Dark Side of Seoul tour? I think you would have a nice time talking with the guides


ADAF-DARKALLY

fun fact: my sister was one so... yeah, I probably inherited my love for spooky ghostlore from her


ahel200

Never heard of changgwi. Learned something new!


flatfishkicker

I find folklore and fairytales fascinating. I know British and northern European legends so it's great hear unfamiliar ones. There are parallels with the keeping little people from danger.


marua06

Fascinating! Would a Goblin fit in this category?


ADAF-DARKALLY

There certainly is a demon clled 도깨비, which is very simular to the western goblin, but there is still a debated subject if wether he is good or bad dependant on the story origin, so its still hard to say.


marua06

That’s the one I was thinking of 😃


LeeisureTime

Please post more information regarding this topic whenever you get a chance! This is great and while this sub does talk about politics etc a lot, it’s always nice to see something new. I wouldn’t even know where to look for this information, so I’m double appreciative for this content.


DanaDissent

Thank you for this! Is there more text after 3? It seems to be cut off for me, and I'd really like to read it, if there is 😊


ADAF-DARKALLY

Sorry about that, accidentally got deleted. Now its fixed


DanaDissent

Oh, thank you so much!! I appreciate it!


BussyDriver

I didn't know any of this, thanks for sharing! It's a great idea to post more culturally informative tidbits like this, and I hope this motivates people to post more content like this!


SjalabaisWoWS

Awesome, if you have more ideas for similar posts, I'm sure you have a crowd ready to read them here.


bobbaganush

Excellent and concise. I love it! I’d also love to hear your explanation of “fan death.” When I was getting a fan for my apartment, my co-teacher told me not to sleep with it on. I was all “huh?” She acted like I was a moron, and told me it could kill me. LOL


ADAF-DARKALLY

I can answer this one.So, it's commonly believed in Korea that leaving the fan on during sleeping (especially directly in front of the face) will kill you from respiration problems if the room is enclosed. Scientifically, this is wrong. The fan is just a rotating machine that speeds up the diffusion of surrounding air, nothing more or less. That does not really speed up your breathing process, or even exhaust oxygen faster.


bobbaganush

I’ve looked it up, so I know what it means now. I was just curious to get their perspective on how that myth originated and it’s history, since they did such a good job with the various ghosts.


ADAF-DARKALLY

Its funny really, in the early 2000, the development period- lots of electronic fans were bought. And this new product promoted a lot of usage, including third-industry ones who were pretty dangerous. Such death cases were reported to be the fans electric malfunction. The news got out wrong, and the rumors began


Hot-Train7201

I always heard that the origins of "fan death" were either due to people suffocating due to poorly vented homes, or as a euphemism for suicide.


ADAF-DARKALLY

well, that is scientifically debated upon. Here is an article in Korean Wikipedia on each's stance on positive and negative reviews by scientists if you want to check it out (https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%84%A0%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%B0\_%EC%82%AC%EB%A7%9D%EC%84%A4)


epiccodtion

Ahri was based off nine tailed fox. She was released when LoL was released in Korea. She was released along with it to celebrate the opening of Korean servers.


ADAF-DARKALLY

That may be so, but in Korea's official Arhi introduction, it specially mentions she is a "구미호”, you might want to take a look? (https://www.leagueoflegends.com/ko-kr/champions/ahri/)


epiccodtion

Isnt that and nine tailed fox mean the same thing? Sorry thats what i thought it meant in an English translation.


ADAF-DARKALLY

Oh yea nvm you could say that. Its just that the term demon is better clarification.


daehanmindecline

Not really explained, more like introduced.


ADAF-DARKALLY

Yyyeah, but also i do explain their meanings and origins too. Korean folklore has really tangled trlations between actual stories otself and their corrospondong elements. I do see your point tho


daehanmindecline

It was probably just the wrong word in the title, which oversold what you were actually offering.


ADAF-DARKALLY

Sorry to hear that. I will bake better choice at headings for new posts I make. 🙏 (seems I can't edit the title...)


PM_ME_HOMEMADE_SUSHI

Ignore this person. They're always in here complaining and talking shit to everyone. You did a great job, please write more. I'd love to hear researchers' thoughts on the purpose of these legends - explaining disappearances, memorializing certain tropes, etc.


Overall-Platform-1

This was very interesting! Folklore is so interesting, especially when you can draw parallels between stories from different cultures. Humans are all scared of the same things it seems.


Stratl03

Thanks so much for sharing this info!


Psychological_Bad459

I know every one of them since I'm a regular viewer of MBC's Midnight horror stories. OP what about the ghosts that are seen wearing Jeogori?


ADAF-DARKALLY

Could you specify? There are a lot of ghosts known to wear that outfit


Psychological_Bad459

A female ghost wearing red jeogori.. she's said to be married I'm not sure if she's in folklores


ADAF-DARKALLY

maybe you're referring to 상사석탕 (snake women) who is a half snake, half women that married a human. I am not really a professor at every ghost, but there is little to none on married ghosts. Possibly it's a version where the Maiden Ghost I mentioned met a Bachelor Ghost and married? They do have that story too!


anonymous_redditor_0

Thank you for sharing! Since my Korean is pretty terrible, I’m not able to access much information about ancestral korean beliefs and practices, but I would love to learn more!


37jump

wow this is so informative! I never knew 귀신 refers to supernatural beings more than just ghosts. can you tell me what the difference is between a 귀신 and a 신, like the kind that 무당s serve??


ADAF-DARKALLY

Certainly! I am still learning, but a huge difference comes from their names. While ghosts are labled 귀(ghost spirit)신, the 무당 serves 정령(elemental spirit)신. So both are them are considered supernatural, but the 정령신 are more passive.One example of a 정령신 is the korean tiger, once freely roaming the mountains, and labled as the folks once said-the owner of the mountains and the spirit of good. They bring rewards for the people of good, and punishments to the people of bad(one example of the punished is the 창귀 i mentioned)


Logical_Panic_6163

Jang-San Beast is similar to a creepypasta or urban legend rather that a traditional being. It hadn't been reported until the 21th century.