| Samgong bon-puri | |
 First six lines of the first known transcription of the Samgong bon-puri, published in 1937.[1] | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 삼공본풀이 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Samgong bon-puri |
| McCune–Reischauer | Samgong pon-p'uri |
| Part of a series on |
| General bon-puri narratives of Jeju Island shamanism |
|---|
| Presented in order of recitation in the Great Gut |
The Samgong bon-puri (Korean: 삼공본풀이) is a Korean shamanic narrative recited in southern Jeju Island, associated with the goddess Samgong. It is among the most important of the twelve general bon-puri, which are the narratives known by all Jeju shamans.
The myth centers on a girl named Gameunjang-agi, the third and youngest daughter of two beggars. Her parents become very rich after her birth. One day, they ask their daughters the reason for their good fortune. Gameunjang-agi is expelled for crediting her own linea nigra instead of her parents. When her sisters chase her away from the house, Gameunjang-agi turns them into a centipede and a mushroom. Soon after, her parents go blind, lose all their wealth, and return to being beggars. Gameunjang-agi joins a family of impoverished yam gatherers and marries their good-hearted youngest son. The next day, she discovers that her husband's yam fields are full of gold and silver. After becoming rich again, she holds a feast for beggars which her parents attend, oblivious of the fact that their daughter is hosting them. At the end of the feast, Gameunjang-agi reveals her identity and restores her parents' sight.
Gameunjang-agi is worshipped as Samgong, the goddess of jeonsang: a concept roughly equivalent to human destiny. In this religious context, the Samgong bon-puri narrative demonstrates how the goddess assigns a propitious destiny to the good-hearted who respect her and an unfavorable one to the evil-minded who do not. The myth may reflect the proactive, self-driven ethics upheld by Korean shamanism. Many scholars have also noted that the figure of Gameunjang-agi subverts traditional patriarchal expectations of women. While the narrative per se exists only in Jeju Island, a very similar folktale is told in mainland Korea, albeit without religious significance. Similar stories are also known in Buddhist mythology and among the minorities of the southern Chinese highlands.
- ^ Jeong J. 2018, pp. 40–41.