Gwisin ( ko, 귀신) are a type of spirit or

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

Korean folklore Stories and practices that are considered part of Korean folklore go back several thousand years. These tales derive from a variety of origins, including Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and more recently Christianity. Many folk traditions dev ...

. They are considered similar to a ''Yogoe'' ( ko, 요괴);, and ''Mamul'' ( ko, 마물); they are people who have died, not monsters or creatures such as

Dokkaebi Dokkaebi ( ko, 도깨비) are legendary creatures from Korean mythology and folklore. Dokkaebi, also known as "Korean goblins", are nature deities or spirits possessing extraordinary powers and abilities that are used to interact with humans, ...

. According to the folklore, Gwisin may be found in many places. It is claimed that when an individual dies but still has ties to the world of the living, such as in the case of revenge or caring for a loved one, their spirit remains on earth to complete the task before going on to the underworld.

Legends

There are a lot of legends about Gwisin. Because they are a common form of ghost, children often make them up to scare others or parents tell stories to their children to teach them a lesson. Most legends are about revenge, revenge for their families or about men who cheated on their wives, or murdered the victim. Appearances of Gwisin often occur in

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, a concept popularized with the release of ''

Whispering Corridors ''Whispering Corridors'' () is a 1998 South Korean supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Park Ki-hyung. It was part of the explosion in South Korean cinema following the Cinema of South Korea#Recovery (1980–1996), liberalization of ...

'', a Korean horror movie released in 1998.

Physical characteristics

Folklore says that the Gwisin ghosts are usually transparent, legless and float in mid-air. Female Gwisin or known as Cheonyeogwisin usually have white

Hanbok The (; term used in South Korean standard language, South Korea), also called () n North Korean standard language, North Korea and China, is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term which is used to refer to traditional ethnic Koreans, Korean ...

(한복) which are worn for funerals. They have long, drooping black hair and sometimes they are faceless, depending on their personality. Male Gwisin are somewhat rare, and may appear different.

References

External links

World of Human and Gwisin
Korea Creative Content Agency {{Ghosts Korean legendary creatures Female legendary creatures Korean ghosts

Legends

Physical characteristics

See also

References

External links