Korean Creation Myth: The Primordial Giant and the Tale of Divine Betrayal

Discover the great epic of the Korean people about the origin of the world that we never knew.

• Examine the primal creation story where a gigantic female deity shapes the world with her body.
• Understand the unique worldview that the world’s contradictions and injustices began with a ‘divine betrayal.’
• Learn the philosophy behind how the realms of the living and the dead became separated.

When we talk about creation myths, we usually think of Greek-Roman or Norse myths, or the seven days of creation. But Korea also has an equally deep and vast epic. These stories have been preserved as grand songs chanted by shamans during rituals, known as Muga (巫歌), a form of shamanic song that carries a living narrative.

This article opens the door to the grand stories born from the most primal imagination of the Korean people through three major strands of Korean creation myth: Mago and Seolmundae Halmang, the Creation Song (Changsega), and the Cheonjewang Bonpuri.

Part 1: The Giant Grandmother Shapes the World – Mago and Seolmundae Halmang

At the most primal level of Korean creation myth stands a gigantic female creator deity who created the world not through intellect or language but through her body and actions.

Mother of the Earth, Mago Halmi

The story begins with the giant grandmother found throughout the Korean Peninsula, Mago Halmi (麻姑 Halmi). She is not merely a creator but an original deity whose body itself becomes the landscape of the world.

• Mountains and Islands: She carried soil in the folds of her enormous skirt to create them.
• Rivers and Streams: These are said to be the result of her urine.
• Hills and Rocks: These were her excrement or the small stones she played with.

The depiction of creation as physical acts like childbirth and excretion is very important. It stands in stark contrast to Judeo-Christian myths where the world is created by the “Word.” Korean creation myth thus reveals a primal natural worldview that values the earth and the body above all else.

However, over time, the sacredness of the earth goddess was sometimes diminished. For example, Seogu Halmi in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, was depicted as a malevolent spirit, and the creator goddess Mago was degraded to a “devil hag.” This reflects the mythological traces of how indigenous female-centered beliefs were suppressed by male-centered Confucian ideology.

The Tragic Creator, Jeju’s Seolmundae Halmang

The richest giant goddess myth is found in the Jeju Island legend of Seolmundae Halmang. She is a tragic figure who carries deep sorrow beyond her creative power.

• Hallasan and Oreums (volcanic cones): She created Hallasan by carrying soil in her skirt folds, and the soil that fell through a torn hole became 368 oreums.
• The Unfinished Bridge: She promised to build a bridge to the mainland if given 100 bundles of silk underwear, but only 99 were collected, so the dream was broken. This marks a poignant moment of failed communication between gods and humans.
• A Bowl of Porridge of Sorrow (The Legend of the Five Hundred Generals): While cooking porridge for her 500 starving sons, she fell into the pot and died. Unaware of this, her sons ate the porridge containing their mother’s flesh and later turned to stone in grief. This tragic tale is embodied in the jagged rocks of Yeongsil on Hallasan, known as the Five Hundred Generals Rocks.

Seolmundae Halmang’s story goes beyond a simple geographical creation myth to embody universal emotions of loneliness, maternal love, and sacrifice. Thus, Jeju’s landscape is not just nature but a place imbued with the sorrow and pain of a deity.

Myth as Philosophy – Mago in the 『Budoji (符都誌)』

Mago recorded in the 『Budoji』 appears quite differently. This is a reinterpretation layered with advanced philosophical and ethnic reflections from later times.

• Utopia, Mago Castle: A perfect utopia where humanity lived without desire.
• Fall and Exile: Humanity tasted the forbidden fruit, the “grape,” awakening to sensual pleasure and losing purity, resulting in exile from Mago Castle.
• The Quest to Recover Lost Nature (Bokbon, 復本): The exiled humanity begins a grand journey to regain lost nature, a mission that extends to Dangun, the legendary founder of Gojoseon.

The 『Budoji』’s Mago combines indigenous deity names with Taoist worldview and nationalism, attempting to weave a unified narrative from cosmic creation to the founding of ancient Korea.

Part 2: The First Betrayal and a Twisted World – The Creation Song (Changsega)

The stage shifts from the female creator to a male creator and the core theme of Korean creation myth: ‘cosmic injustice.’

Maitreya Creates Order from Chaos

The epic shamanic song from Hamgyeong Province, 『Changsega』, tells the story of the first male deity, Maitreya (Mireuk, 彌勒), who appeared from primordial chaos.

• Designing the World: He separated heaven and earth and supported them with copper pillars.
• Cosmic Order: He corrected the chaos of having two suns and two moons by leaving only one of each and turning the rest into stars.
• Birth of Humanity: Worms descending from heaven grew into five pairs of couples, from whom humanity prospered, illustrating the ‘heavenly descendant’ ritual.

The Battle for World Domination Among Gods

A challenger, Sakyamuni (Seokga, 釋迦), appears and proposes a contest for control over the world created by Maitreya. Maitreya easily wins the first two contests (pulling up a pestle, freezing a river). But the third contest marks the beginning of tragedy.

The Stolen Flower and the World’s Contradictions

The final contest was to see whose knees would bloom with flowers first while sleeping.

• A Deceitful Trick: Maitreya’s honest knees bloomed with peony flowers, but Sakyamuni, pretending to sleep, secretly plucked Maitreya’s flowers and placed them on his own knees.
• Great Resignation and Curse: Disgusted by Sakyamuni’s deceit, Maitreya relinquishes the world and leaves, cursing that the world he leaves behind will be a degenerate age full of injustice and corruption.

Personally, I find this motif of an ‘unjust victory’ most fascinating. It offers a remarkably realistic and critical answer to the age-old question: Why isn’t the world fair despite effort? Our ancestors explained that even the gods ruling the world won by deceit. What do you think about this mythological explanation?

Part 3: Why Are the Living and the Dead Separated? – Cheonjewang Bonpuri

Jeju’s 『Cheonjewang Bonpuri』 develops the competition motif into a more intricate structure explaining the division between life and death.

The Heavenly King’s Twin Sons, Daebyeolwang and Sobyelwang

The heavenly king Cheonjewang descends to earth, marries Chongmyeongbuin, and has twin sons: Daebyeolwang (older brother) and Sobyelwang (younger brother). They shoot down the extra sun and moon that disturbed the heavenly order, creating a stable world.

The Repeated Tragic Rivalry Between Brothers

Once order is established, a competition arises over who will rule the world of the living (Iseung) and the world of the dead (Jiseung). The contest is again ‘flower blooming.’

• The honest elder brother Daebyeolwang’s seed blooms a beautiful ‘prosperity flower.’
• The ambitious younger brother Sobyelwang’s seed blooms a withered flower.
• Realizing defeat, Sobyelwang secretly swaps their flowers while Daebyeolwang sleeps.

The Living World Becomes Turbulent, the Dead World Clear

Daebyeolwang knows of his brother’s deceit but silently accepts the outcome. This decision divides the universe into two orders:

• Sobyelwang (the deceiver) → ruler of the living world: Our world is filled with murder, theft, lies, and all kinds of chaos and injustice.
• Daebyeolwang (the honest one) → ruler of the dead world: The afterlife is governed by clear laws and order, a just world.

This myth presents a cold-eyed recognition of why good people suffer and evil prosper, while offering strong consolation that ultimate justice is realized after death.

Comparison: Changsega vs. Cheonjewang Bonpuri

Both competition stories share a similar structure but differ significantly in their conclusions.

Conclusion

Korean creation myths offer unique and profound insights into the origin and contradictions of the world.

• Key Point 1: The world is depicted as a physical and vibrant space born from the body of a great mother deity.
• Key Point 2: The world’s imperfections are explained not by human original sin but by ‘unjust victories’ in divine power struggles.
• Key Point 3: The injustice of the living world is balanced by justice in the afterlife, providing moral consolation for life’s suffering.

These myths are not relics sleeping in museums but living stories reflecting all of us who live in this world. This is the great creation epic rooted deep in the soul of the Korean people.