Jeju Myth Cycles
Also known as: Jeju Bonpuri, Jeju Shamanic Myths, Jeju Gut Narratives, Cheju Bonpuri
The Jeju myth cycles (bonpuri) are ritual narratives sung by island shamans, recounting creation, divine genealogies, local deities, and heroic episodes that sacralize Jeju’s land and seascape.
Description
Transmitted within Jeju gut ceremonies, the bonpuri form an interlinked cycle of origin tales for gods of sky, sea, household, fields, and fate, together with heroic and etiological episodes. Core narratives include the cosmogonic Cheonji-wang cycle with Daebyeol-wang and Sobyeol-wang, the agricultural heroine Jacheongbi and her partner Mun Doryeong, the psychopomp Chasa and the descent of Gangnim, and the visitations of Yeongdeung Halmang who governs spring winds and fisheries. Local giants such as Seolmundae Halmang shape Hallasan and the island’s lava cones, while household and village tutelaries receive their origin-stories for ritual address. Performed in fixed yet flexible formulaic diction, these tales anchor community rites, encode customary ethics (hospitality, reciprocity, oath-keeping), and map Jeju’s geography onto a sacred mythic order.
Historiography
The cycles were maintained orally by hereditary and spirit-possessed shamans; stable formulae preserved plot cores while allowing performer variation. Systematic transcription and comparative study accelerated in the 20th century through Jeju-based collectors and national folklore institutes. Modern editions align variants, note performance contexts (specific gut types), and document localized deity names. Reception has emphasized the cycles’ distinctness from mainland Korean myth while tracing shared motifs and possible maritime exchanges with the Korean peninsula and the Ryukyu archipelago.
Date Notes
Narratives transmitted orally in Jeju shamanism; principal written transcriptions from early–late 20th century ethnographic collection.
Major Characters
- Seolmundae Halmang
- Yeongdeung Halmang
- Jacheongbi
- Chasa
- Hallasan Spirit
Myths
- Seolmundae Halmang and the Making of Jeju
- Chogong Bonpuri: Origins of Shamanic Lineages
- Princess Bari the Guide of Souls
- Jacheongbi of the Western Sea
Facts
- Bonpuri are performed within Jeju gut rituals by professional shamans.
- Core cycles explain origins of deities tied to specific household, village, field, and sea rites.
- Cheonji-wang myths narrate cosmic ordering and the fates of Daebyeol-wang and Sobyeol-wang.
- Jacheongbi is a central agrarian heroine associated with fertility and irrigation.
- Chasa Bonpuri recounts Gangnim’s journey to the underworld and the establishment of death’s order.
- Yeongdeung Halmang governs seasonal winds and fisheries during the second lunar month visit.
- Seolmundae Halmang is credited with shaping Hallasan and Jeju’s oreum landscape.
- Household deities such as Seongju and Jowang possess dedicated origin myths and rites.
- Performance language is formulaic and metrically patterned but allows local variation.
- Most written records are 20th-century transcriptions from living ritual practice.