Hello one and all!
The Munjeon Bonpuri (translated as Explanation of the Door) is a popular myth from Jeju Island, the largest island off the Korean coast. This particular story would play a significant role in the everyday life of Jeju households and would allow the Hearth Goddess to be a prominent deity.
Munjeon Bonpuri: Origin of the Hearth Goddess
Once there lived a family of nine in the village of Namseon. The mother, Yeosan Buin, and the father, Namseonbi, with their seven sons, struggled to make a living in harsh conditions. Through hard work Yeosan Buin was able to procure valuable materials, and sent her husband to market to sell the items.
Namseonbi was easily distracted, and on the way to the town he met a ruthless woman called Noiljeodae, who charmed him so much that he took her as his second wife. Noiljeodae tricked her new husband, and he lost all of his possessions, then forced Namseonbi to live in a ramshackle shelter, where she only fed him a weak soup. He didn't give him enough sustenance, and he started to become blind and weak.
Yeosan Buin became worried about her husband's continued absence, so she went to the village where he had last been seen. While she wandered around she heard a song drift on the wind, which detailed how Namseonbi was tricked by Noiljadae and chased to a hut. She followed the sound and discovered her husband in the very same hut. Namseonbi only recognized his first wife after he tasted the meal she had made him.
After Noiljadae saw the affection the two had for each other; she decided that she had to get rid of Yeosan Buin, so she invited Buin to accompany her to come and wash with her in a lake. Noiljadae forced the other women's head under the water and drowned her. It was with this that she became the only wife.
Noiljadae returned with her husband to his village, and impersonated his first wife. Only Nokdisaengin, the youngest of the seven brothers, saw through the woman's ruse and recognized that she was not his mother. Noiljadae, who was naturally full of paranoia, concocted a way to get rid of all of the sons. She pretended being ill, then disguised herself as a fortuneteller and told the husband that only the livers of his youngest son could cure her.
Nokdisaengin heard all of this though. He killed a boar, disguised himself, and fed his stepmother its liver. She was cured all of a sudden. He revealed himself, and as she felt she was backed into a corner, Noiljadae hung herself in the outhouse, thus becoming the deity of this area of the house.
The seven sons retrieved their mother's bones from the lake and worked to revive her. They molded a clay body onto her bones, placed flowers that revived flesh, and exhorted Yeosan Buin's spirit to come back. They succeeded. In her revived form she became Jowang Halmang, the goddess of hearth and fire.
The Korean myth is one of the reasons why the hearth and outhouse had to be situated as far as possible from each other - to keep the two rival deities from clashing. This also had a practical consideration, as keeping the area where food was prepared away from the bathroom was also sanitary. The Munjeon Bonpuli was also told or sung when a house was built. Thus, it had a profound effect on everyday life.
Thank you for reading!
The Munjeon Bonpuri (translated as Explanation of the Door) is a popular myth from Jeju Island, the largest island off the Korean coast. This particular story would play a significant role in the everyday life of Jeju households and would allow the Hearth Goddess to be a prominent deity.
Munjeon Bonpuri: Origin of the Hearth Goddess
Once there lived a family of nine in the village of Namseon. The mother, Yeosan Buin, and the father, Namseonbi, with their seven sons, struggled to make a living in harsh conditions. Through hard work Yeosan Buin was able to procure valuable materials, and sent her husband to market to sell the items.
Namseonbi was easily distracted, and on the way to the town he met a ruthless woman called Noiljeodae, who charmed him so much that he took her as his second wife. Noiljeodae tricked her new husband, and he lost all of his possessions, then forced Namseonbi to live in a ramshackle shelter, where she only fed him a weak soup. He didn't give him enough sustenance, and he started to become blind and weak.
Yeosan Buin became worried about her husband's continued absence, so she went to the village where he had last been seen. While she wandered around she heard a song drift on the wind, which detailed how Namseonbi was tricked by Noiljadae and chased to a hut. She followed the sound and discovered her husband in the very same hut. Namseonbi only recognized his first wife after he tasted the meal she had made him.
After Noiljadae saw the affection the two had for each other; she decided that she had to get rid of Yeosan Buin, so she invited Buin to accompany her to come and wash with her in a lake. Noiljadae forced the other women's head under the water and drowned her. It was with this that she became the only wife.
Noiljadae returned with her husband to his village, and impersonated his first wife. Only Nokdisaengin, the youngest of the seven brothers, saw through the woman's ruse and recognized that she was not his mother. Noiljadae, who was naturally full of paranoia, concocted a way to get rid of all of the sons. She pretended being ill, then disguised herself as a fortuneteller and told the husband that only the livers of his youngest son could cure her.
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| Traditional Korean outhouse. |
Nokdisaengin heard all of this though. He killed a boar, disguised himself, and fed his stepmother its liver. She was cured all of a sudden. He revealed himself, and as she felt she was backed into a corner, Noiljadae hung herself in the outhouse, thus becoming the deity of this area of the house.
The seven sons retrieved their mother's bones from the lake and worked to revive her. They molded a clay body onto her bones, placed flowers that revived flesh, and exhorted Yeosan Buin's spirit to come back. They succeeded. In her revived form she became Jowang Halmang, the goddess of hearth and fire.
 |
| Korean hearth. |
The Korean myth is one of the reasons why the hearth and outhouse had to be situated as far as possible from each other - to keep the two rival deities from clashing. This also had a practical consideration, as keeping the area where food was prepared away from the bathroom was also sanitary. The Munjeon Bonpuli was also told or sung when a house was built. Thus, it had a profound effect on everyday life.
Thank you for reading!
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