11/5/2023 0 Comments Kumiho cookieIn “Pak Munsu and the Kumiho” (“Pakmunsuwa kumiho”), the famous character Pak Munsu encounters a girl living alone in the woods who has a distinctly fox-like appearance. The kumiho is finally discovered when her clothes are removed. In “Transformation of the Kumiho” (“Kumihoui pyeonshin”), a kumiho transforms into an identical likeness of a bride at a wedding, and not even the bride's mother can tell them apart. A quick look at them will help supplement the brief description given above. There are a number of legendary tales in which the kumiho appears.” A half dozen or so of those legendary tales can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (Hanguk kubimunhak taegye). A fox that lives a thousand years is said to turn into a kumiho. It can freely transform into, among other things, a bewitching girl that seduces men. “A fox with nine tails that commonly appears in the oral tales of our country. Kumiho means, literally, “nine-tailed fox.” The following description appears (word for word) in both the Donga Color World Encyclopedia (Tonga wonsaek segye paekhwasajeon) and the Dusan Great World Encyclopedia (Tusan segye taebaekhwasajeon): The Kumiho usually eats the soul of her prey. Whether she appears as maiden, wife, or succubus, the kumiho's sole goals are power and death. The only role the kumiho-the nine-tailed fox-plays in Korea is the demoness. Several of those can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (한국 구비문학 대계). There are numerous tales in which the kumiho appears. It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful girl often set out to seduce men. According to those tales, a fox that lives a thousand years turns into a kumiho. Unlike its Japanese and Chinese counterparts (the kitsune and the huli jing), that are sometimes considered benevolent creatures, the Korean kumiho is always depicted as evil. The kumiho (literally “nine-tailed fox”) is a creature that appears in the oral tales and legends of Korea.
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