Eerie Tales from Old Korea by Anthony of Taizé

The tales in the book have Shamanistic, Buddhist and Taoist influence altogether, just like typical Korean folk stories. Gale's 1913 book 'Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies' also included 'yadam,'' or non-official historical accounts.īrother Anthony, Sogang University emeritus professor of English language and literature, revived 29 Korean tales from Hulbert and Gale's books. While having a similar passion for folktales, Gale also showed much interest in classic literature like 'Chunhyangjeon,'' a 17th century romance novel, and 'Guunmong,'' a fantasy adventure written by Kim Man-jung in 1687. The monthly also introduced many folktales about ''dokkaebi,'' a mythical being frequently representing grotesque-looking spirits and goblins. Hulbert published a magazine, 'The Korea Review,'' from 19, which was focused on denouncing the Japanese colonial rule and introducing Korean history and culture to the international audience. During their stay in Korea, they became fascinated about the Korean folktales that featured ghosts, goblins, fairies and magical beasts, and committed themselves to translating these stories for international readers. Gale, North American Christian missionaries who came to Korea in the 1880s, were no exceptions. Compiled by Brother Anthony of Taize Seoul Selection: 176 pp., $15Įveryone loves a good ghost story and Homer B.

Eerie Tales from Old Korea by Anthony of Taizé