Paranormal Folklore, Korea's Blue Tiger.

Given how popular Netflix KPop Demon Hunters was last year, a large portion of you already know about the  Jeoseung Saja ( Saja boys) though unlike the movie the folkloric version is not evil they are basically underworld civil servants working for the king of the underworld, they  guide souls to the afterlife, and Huntrix, the main girls are essentially a sensationalised version of shaman/ exorcists.  Then we have a fan favorit,  Derpy the blue demon tiger.....(not actually a demon)....

But just like the rest of the characters, he and his bird companion are also based of  Korean folklore and traditional art work..The tiger in general is well regarded in Korea.

.

......

The tiger is considered a symbol of courage and strength,  he is also revered as a guardian that drives away evil.

During New Year, people would hang paintings of tigers  on their doors to ward off bad luck and invite good fortune.

.......

In (Hojakdo 17th century) traditional Korean folk paintings the tiger was usually shown in a more goofy,  comical or even foolish looking  depiction. this was done  as a form of social Satir to make fun of aristocrats..

 In these minhwa paintings, its often accompanied by one or more  magpie. The foolish tiger symbolized the corrupt aristocrats nobile's or government, while the  magpie represented the common people mocking his  authority.

......

Tigers and the Mountain Spirit.

In Korean mythology,  the tiger was viewed as   a companion of the Mountain God Sanshin, holding absolute authority in nature and can be found in many paintings accompanying him.

.....

One more fun fact, the Korean peninsula also resembles a Tiger....

.......

Ok, now on to today's main topic the Blue Tiger, also known as the Maltese Tiger ..

Though this blue kitty is more of a cryptid then a folkloric creature 

  Most sightings come from  the Fujian province of south east China not far from northern Korea.

Witnesses claim it  has bluish fur with dark gray stripes.

The south Chinese tiger is critically endangered today, due to its illegal and continued use in traditional Chinese medicine, and the "blue" variation  may be  already be extinct .

Though most sightings have taken place in south china, the  Blue tigers have also been reported in Korea and Burma.

The term "Maltese" comes from domestic cat terminology for blue fur, and refers to the slate grey coloration. Many cats with such coloration are present in Malta hence the name Maltese, however two of the more well known blue cat breed are  the Russian Blue, and a variety of the British Shorthair, the British Blue, but blue bobcats and lynxes have also been recorded, and there are genetic mutations and combinations that result in a bluish hue, or at least the impression of a blue-gray animal. And black tigers where once considered nothing more then mythical at one point through pelts have proven this to be a real creature, Not thought it's not  actually a fully black tiger, like a panthers fur,  most of the time it's stripes are simply much wider then average which obscure most of the orange fur. Though a fully melanistic tiger isn't impossible for the same reason white tigers exist, its just a rare genetic trait.

.....

A mostly black tiger has been spotted in Odisha, India .......

.........

The first reported sighting of a blue tiger was in 1910...

In  1910, a big game hunter  named Harry Caldwell who was doing missionary work at the time,  claims to have seen and hunted a blue Tiger outside Fuzhou. He describes his encounter  in his book Blue Tiger (1924), and by his hunting companion Roy Chapman Andrews in his Camps & Trails in China (1925, chapter VII). Chapman cites Caldwell thus:

"The markings of the beast are strikingly beautiful. The ground color is of a delicate shade of maltese, changing into light gray-blue on the underparts. The stripes are well defined and like those of the ordinary yellow tiger."

— Caldwell, Chapman (1925)

A more recent report, given to Mystery Cats of the World author Karl Shuker, comes from the son of a US Army soldier who served in Korea during the Korean War. His father sighted a blue tiger in the mountains near what is now the Demilitarized Zone.  This account takes place in 1953. It is also the last know sighting of the blue tiger.

.......

..,

Two apex predators used to roam the wilderness of Korea, up until the 1900s. The Amur or Siberian tiger, the largest species of tiger, which  became extinct on the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945,  during the Japanese occupation large portions of the tiger population where wiped out. Then the Amur leopard went extinct in Korea some time in 1970s. This leaves the Asiatic brown bear and grey wolf as the only two apex predators left in the Korean peninsula, both said to be found in North Korea..

Officially, there are no more wild tigers in Korea today.

The  Siberian Tiger is also critically endangered, they can still be found in  the Sikhote-Alin mountain region in the Russian Far East, with smaller numbers extending into Northeast China.

Unfortunately there are only around 500 - 750 Siberian tigers left in the wild because of illegal hunting and habitat lose ) deforestation most living in eastern Russia or Northern china, though some could still be make there way into Korea now and then.

..🐯..

...

Korean Folklore, Daltokki, the Moon Rabbit.

 

The origins of the Moon Rabbit myth can be traced back to ancient China, know as the Jade Rabbit. However Japan and Korea have similar talis of this immortal bunny. ( will have a post on the Japanese and Chinese version up  soon)

The Korean version of the Moon Rabbit starts with three animals—a rabbit, a fox, and a monkey they all share a similar goal to become the  embody of the virtues of Buddhism. To test their commitment, the Emperor of the Heavens  comes down  to earth and disguises himself as a  beggar, seeking food. The fox gives him a fish,  the monkey gives him some  fruit. But the rabbit, unable to find food, decides offer up himself as a meal and  to sacrifice himself by jumping into a fire. Moved by his act of selflessness, the Emperor appointed the rabbit as the guardian of the moon, immortalizing its noble act  among the stars and placing an image of the rabbit on the moon for All to see.

In Korean folklore, the Moon Rabbit, known as “daltokki” (달토끼), is often depicted standing beneath a gyesu tree (Korean laurel or cinnamon tree).

diligently pounding rice in a mortar to make rice cakes. 

The image of  Moon Rabbit’s Making rice cakes is heavily association with rice cakes with the Korean autumn festival called Chuseok. 

This holiday emphasizes family unity, gratitude, and the sharing of food, mirroring the rabbit’s virtues of selflessness and communal harmony. Families gather to prepare and enjoy songpyeon (half-moon-shaped rice cakes), reflecting the rabbit’s celestial activities and reinforcing the cultural importance of togetherness.There is also a  children’s song inspired by this hard working bunny  called “Half Moon” (“반달”), written in 1924 by Yoon Geuk-young.

In Chinese myths he is called the Jade Rabbit and is a friend) companion to Chang's the moon goddess, is job on the moon is to create the elixir of life. In the Japanese version he makes sticky rice cakes ( mochi).

...............

The  first version of this tail comes the second century. The earliest version was included in a Chinese  collection of poems  called  the Chu Ci. The poem in question suggested that during the Warring States Period (475 BCE–221 BCE), there was a mythical hare living on the moon and pounding herbs for celestial beings. In the 10th century, Chinese scholars compiled the Taiping Yulan, an ancient encyclopedia that also mentioned the hare on the moon. However there were no rabbits in China at the time, the original moon animal was the hare, and it was called “Jade Hare” or “Gold Hare.”

The earliest known version of the story in Japan appeared in the Konjaku Monogatarishū, a collection of ivery 1,000 poems written  into the Heian period (794–1185)

.....

The rabbit symbolizes  immortality, self-sacrifice, and the eternal cycle of life.

Korean Myth: Jeoseung Saja.

The Jeoseung Saja..저승사자💀

The Korean Grim Reaper/ Messenger of Death.

 In Korean mythology, the god of death is known as Yeomra (also spelled Yeomra-Daewang). 

He is the fifth of the ten Kings of the Underworld, collectively known as Shi-wang, and is considered the supreme ruler of the afterlife. 

Yeomra's main role is to judge the sins of the deceased and determine their fate in the afterlife. He is the Korean equivalent of Yama, the Hindu and Buddhist god of death. 

Though he is not alone in this role,he has servants that collect the souls and bring them to the afterlife/underworld. 

The Jeoseung Saja," or the traditional Korean Grim Reaper.

Depicted as a  pale-faced man, draped in black robes and wearing a gat, a traditional Korean hat made of horsehair and silk.

The modern look is a bit different then the original version, According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture by Kim Deok-mook, the jeoseung saja originally appeared in shamanistic rituals as a military officer, dressed in official armor.

Even though he is frightening (a literal grim reaper ), he was not treated with hostility. In traditional funerary rites, he's regarded with respect.

“Since the reaper also serves as a guide through the long and difficult journey to the afterlife, mistreating him could bring misfortune to the deceased,” That’s why families treat him with care during rituals.”

In a traditional funerary ritual from Hwanghae Province, families prepare three bowls of rice, three pairs of straw shoes, and three sets of spoons and chopsticks. These offerings are meant to honor the three reapers guiding the soul from this world to the next .

Well the western Grim Reaper is seen  as a solitary figure,his Korean counterpart can very  in the number of reapers

.....

In many paintings from the Joseon era he is depicted wearing bright red armor. Instead of the black / darker clothes we usually associate with death.

 The Joseon dynasty, also known as the Yi dynasty, was the last and longest-ruling Korean dynasty, lasting from 1392 to 1897. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye, who established the capital in Hanyang, (modern day ) Seoul. 

The word Saja can also mean lion.

In the 2016  Korean Drama-  K-drama "Goblin" (also called  "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God"), the show features a popular character, played by Lee Dong-wook, who is a Jeoseung Saja, showcasing a more humanized version of the traditional Grim Reaper figure.

(Goblin info)..In his quest for a bride to break his immortal curse, Dokkaebi, a 939-year-old guardian of souls, encounters a grim reaper and a student with a tragic past

 In a more recent depiction they were demons on the Netflix hit Kpop Demon Hunters,though in the actual lore they are more akin to afterlife government workers.  

.