Preserving the Lore of Korean Antiquity: An Introduction to Native and Local Sources in Iryŏn’s Samguk yusa

Abstract

The (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, ca. 1282–1289) is not a Buddhist or nationalistic response to the (History of the Three Kingdoms, 1136–1145). Iry7n and his disciple Hon’gu compiled the to present anecdotes from Korea’s rich native and local lore and to demonstrate that the tales of Korea’s founders were just as good as those of China. A more fruitful way to concept-ualize the relationship between the and is to think of the former as more representative of official, Confucian, or central discourse and the latter as preserving the lore of Korea’s antiquity. Although unavoidably influenced by Buddhist perceptions of the cosmos, the value of the comes from its inclusion of many types of unofficial materials, including samples of local records, inscriptions, monastery records, strange tales, and songs in the vernacular. These local materials, filtered through the lens of Buddhist monks of the Kory7 period, conserve something of the voice of ancient and medieval Koreans.