3. A Man And A Woman Who Became The Gods Of The Sun And The Moon

Abstract

According to shamanist myths in the Korean mainland and Cheju Island, the creation God creates order out of chaos in natural phenomena and human affairs. He separated the sky and the earth, split the sun and moon to create stars, made day and night, separated living spirits from ghosts. This chapter narrates a myth where a man (Scholar Kungsan) and a woman (Bride Myŏngwol) became the Gods of sun and moon. Scholar Kungsan stayed at his wife's home for a few days, then returned home with his wife, and celebrated his wife's first coming to his home. Thereafter, because his bride was so pretty, Scholar Kungsan could not bear to leave her and so couldn't work for a living. Scholar Kungsan and Bride Myŏngwol lived together and when they died, their spirits became the Gods of the sun and the moon.Keywords: Bride Myŏngwol; Cheju island; Korean mainland; moon god; Scholar Kungsan; sun god