page_title: Korean creation narratives
section_title: Relationship to Buddhism
hierarchical_section_title: Korean creation narratives / Relationship to Buddhism
caption_attribution_description: 한국어: 관촉사 석조미륵보살입상 This media shows the cultural heritage monument in South Korea with the number: T-218
context_page_description: Korean creation narratives are Korean shamanic narratives which recount the mythological beginnings of the universe. They are grouped into two categories: the eight narratives of mainland Korea, which were transcribed by scholars between the 1920s and 1980s, and the Cheonji-wang bon-puri narrative of southern Jeju Island, which exists in multiple versions and continues to be sung in its ritual context today. The mainland narratives themselves are subdivided into four northern and three eastern varieties, along with one from west-central Korea.
  Many elements are shared by most Korean creation narratives. In one such episode, two gods grow flowers in a contest to decide who will rule the human world. The deserving benevolent god grows the blossom, but the other god steals it while the good god sleeps. The undeserving cheater thereby becomes the ruler of humanity and spreads evil into the world. In another pan-Korean episode, there are originally two suns and two moons, making the world unbearably hot during the day and intolerably cold at night, until a deity destroys one of each.
context_section_description: Most of the content of the mainland creation narratives appears to be unrelated to Buddhism. But (except for the Siru-mal) not only do the creator and the usurper both have unmistakably Buddhist names, those names are used in a strikingly different context from their associations in Buddhist orthodoxy. The creator of the ancient past is given the name "Mireuk," which is the Korean reading of Maitreya, the prophesied Buddha of the distant future. The usurper god responsible for suffering is named Seokga, the Korean pronunciation of Shakyamuni: the historical Buddha and the very founder of the religion. The gods presumably had indigenous names which were at some point replaced by the names of Buddhas.
  The narratives thus show strong influence from East Asian Maitreya worship, which was popularized in Korea beginning in the late eighth century. Maitreya worshippers believe that the future world of the Maitreya Buddha will be a messianic paradise in stark contrast to the present world of the historical Buddha, which is characterized by human suffering. It is in this tradition that the association of the historical Buddha with the evil of the present world and Maitreya with a mythical paradise, whether located in the past or future, should be understood. The association between the historical Buddha and the usurper may have been further motivated by Korean shamans' antagonism towards the foreign religion. The shamanic tradition of the Hamhung region, the origin of two of the four northern creation narratives, features other myths that show hostility towards Buddhism. On the other hand, a flower contest myth involving a benevolent Maitreya and a malevolent Shakyamuni is widespread in East Asia. The episode may have been imported from elsewhere with the Buddhist influences already present, as discussed in the "Cross-cultural connections" section.
  The gods of the Cheonji-wang bon-puri do not have Buddhist names and the Jeju narratives have negligible Buddhist influence, other than one version where the flower contest is held at a Mahavira hall under the supervision of a bodhisattva and the god Cheonji-wang preaches the doctrine of nidana to the impious man Sumyeong-jangja. The names "Daebyeol-wang" and "Sobyeol-wang" may mean "Great Star King" and "Little Star King" respectively.
caption: Tenth-century Korean statue of Maitreya Buddha, or Mireuk-bul
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