How have I lived in Korea this long and not known about the Korean Grim Reaper? I have to learn about this from a Canadian who can't pronounce Korean words?
I hang my head in shame.
The label that JJ shows for the little Grim Reaper toy says, "지옥에서 온 저승사자 몰랑," jiok-eseo ōn jeoseungsaja mollang.
지옥 jiok = hell
에서 eseo (pronounced "eh-saw") = from
온 ōn = came
저승사자 jeoseungsaja = angel of death, Grim Reaper
몰랑 mollang = Mollang, the name of the cute, dumpling-shaped monster
So basically: Mollang, the Grim Reaper (who came) from hell
"몰랑" is also apparently the cutesy way to say, "I dunno," based on the Korean verb 모르다 (moreuda), which conjugates informally as 몰라요 (mollayo) or even more informally as 몰라 (molla). Adding that "ng" sound at the end is considered cutesy or diminutive, as when Koreans say "넹" (neng) instead of "네" (neh) for "yes." (넹 is the equivalent of cutesy "yes"es in English like "yup," or "yep" or "yeppers."*)
You may recall that, in my review of "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," I wrote about how there was a Christian tradition of equating the Grim Reaper with Satan. I wonder whether Korean tradition made that same connection ("came from hell") with the help of Christianity or independently. In Christianity, the scriptural support for the connection comes from the notion, in Genesis, that human sin is what caused or ensured human mortality: had Adam and Eve not eaten of the apple, humans would have either remained immortal or eventually gained immortality (depending on one's interpretation of concepts like "the day thou eatest of it, thou shalt die" and "tree of life," which should not be confused with the "tree of knowledge of good and evil"). The notion of death being a bad thing is almost certainly pancultural: as biological organisms, we're all wired to cling to life, to view it as a good. Even a supposedly suicidal person, if you shove his head into a bucket of water, will struggle to free himself. I'll have to read more about the Korean Grim Reaper. What role does he play in Korean stories? Does he appear in TV dramas and movies?
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*I'm providing a Wiktionary reference for people who've never heard "yeppers" before. It could be a regional thing; I heard it on occasion while growing up.
ADDENDUM: from the comments below the video, there's this (edited):
Korean-New Zealander here. Saja means servant [ed.: in a comment, Charles says this means messenger/envoy] and jeoseung means underworld. He is bit like a servant [messenger/envoy] who is sent out by King Yeomra (king of the underworld) to reap the souls of the dying and lead them to the underworld.
This makes the Korean Grim Reaper more like a psychopomp, i.e., a being that guides recently dead souls to the underworld.
Another commenter says (edited):
I was first introduced to the Korean version of the Grim Reaper through the Korean TV series, “Guardian, The Lonely and Great God.” It was my first Korean drama, which I was coerced to watch by my kids…and I loved it. Highly recommend people watch it (we watched with subtitles).
So yes, he's been featured in at least one TV show. Probably more.
4 comments:
Yeah, I am indeed surprised you've never heard of the figure. Every now and then you'll come up with something that you're just learning for the first time and it will blow my mind.
I hate to correct the Korean-New Zealander, but 사자 means "messenger" or "envoy," not "servant."
As luck would have it, I happen to be making my way through "Guardian" (which is 도깨비 in Korean) at the moment. I enjoy it for the elements they borrow from folklore, but I kind of hate it for being a typical Korean drama: rather childish romance plot, excessive use of flashbacks and slow-motion (often at the same time), using the same theme song every time there is an emotional moment, etc. Basically, think of a meme about Korean dramas and this one probably has it. But I'm still watching it in spite of all that, which I guess says something about it.
But if you really want a deep dive into the 저승사자 (or 저승차사, as they* were originally known--차사 being an old term for a government official sent to arrest a criminal), read the webtoon . They also made it into two films, which are pretty good, but they pale in comparison to the original webtoon as far as I'm concerned, and won't give you nearly as much background information on the characters.
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*Yep, "they," as in plural. Can you imagine one guy having to round up all the dead people?
Yeah, yeah, you're so worldly, blah blah blah...
Worldly Guy,
In my post, I added a correction—based on your comment—to what the KoZealander wrote. But your comment raises its own question: the KoZealander also said the 저승사자's job was to "reap the souls of the dying" (note: dying, not dead). Is "reap"ing part of the duties of an envoy/messenger?
I'm not worldly, I'm just a folklorist. I probably shouldn't be surprised when people don't know every little detail of Korean folklore.
As for the "reaping," I would probably have to disagree there as well--which is why I don't like the translation of 저승사자 as "Grim Reaper." Yeah, it's the Korean analog, I suppose, but that's like translating 봉황 as "phoenix."
The 저승사자 does not "reap" souls (I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean, other than being a literary phrase). His/her (the figure is usually portrayed as male, but in pop culture you will sometimes see female 저승사자) job is to find the souls of the dead. When a person dies, the 저승사자 appears and says their name three times, which calls out their soul. It is generally understood that the person is already dead (not dying), but their soul is not yet aware of this fact and is still lingering near the body. They then lead the soul to the afterlife (like a psychopomp, as you mentioned).
What I didn't like about the film versions of (rendered in English as Along With the Gods) is that they distorted the role of the 저승사자 to make them both messengers and public defenders of the souls during their trials in the afterlife. The original webtoon separates the roles into 저승사자 and lawyers. It's really good--you should check it out if you can. There is a whole lot of info on Korean mythology concerning the afterlife. It's also a good story!
Incidentally, if I had to translate 저승사자, I would probably go with something like "messenger of the afterlife." I really dislike domesticating translations like Grim Reaper, phoenix, fairy, wizard, etc. They distort the nature of the subject in order to make it easily digestible for a Western audience. But it's not like a hundred years ago when very few people knew anything about Korea.
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