King Gyeongmun's ear tale is a tale about the ear of King Gyeongmun of Silla. "Samguk Yusa" tells two stories related to King Gyeongmun. One is that King Gyeongmun slept comfortably only when snakes stuck out their tongues and covered his chest whenever he slept, the other is that the king's ears are donkey ears.

Plot

It is also called ‘the king’s ears are donkey ears’, ‘King Gyeongmun’s ears’, and ‘Yeoiseolhwa (여이설화, 驢耳說話)’. This story is included in the part for the 48th Gyeongmun Daewang Dynasty of the "

Samguk Yusa ''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, duri ...

(三國遺事)" Volume 2, Records of Great Wonders Part 2 (권2 기이(紀異) 제2). This part has three stories: the story of 'The King with donkey ears' , ‘Eungryeom (응렴, 膺廉) who became king with three good things’ and ‘the king who sleeps with snakes’. After King Gyeongmun ascended the throne, his ears suddenly grew longer and became like the ears of a donkey. No one knew about it. Even the empress and the court ladies didn't know about it. Only one, the king's 'bokdujangi' ( (幞頭장이), a person who used to make or repair bokdu worn by kings or government officials on their head, knew it. He did not dare to reveal the fact all his life, but when he died, he went into the bamboo grove of Dorimsa (도림사, 道林寺) which is a temple which used to exist in

Gyeongju Gyeongju ( ko, 경주, ), historically known as ''Seorabeol'' ( ko, 서라벌, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, ...

. Then he shouted at a bamboo tree, "Our king's ears are like donkey ears." After that, when the wind blew, a sound came from the bamboo field, saying, "Our king's ears are like donkey ears." The king did not like this, so he cut down the bamboo and planted cornus officinalis, but the sound was still the same.

Analysis

It can be understood that it reflects the political burden of King Gyeongmun, who pursued the strengthening of royal authority while pacifying the resistance of the aristocrats, and the confused social image of uneasy public sentiment.

Characteristics

This story has been widely orally handed down due to its rich folklore, and has been a subject of research by domestic and foreign scholars from an early age in that its distribution area is not only domestic but also global.

Aarne Aarne as a surname may refer to: *Antti Aarne (1867–1925), Finnish folklorist * Els Aarne (1917–1995), Estonian composer *Johan Victor Aarne (1863–1934), Finnish metalsmith As a given name it may refer to: *Aarne Ahi (born 1943), Estonian ...

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

's '' Midas and the Ass's Ears'' basically consists of 'a man with donkey ears', 'a secret physical singularity discovered by a barber', 'a shamanic reed reveals a secret.' The oldest record of this story is by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

, in

Ovidius Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

, which relates Midas, king of

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Midas' ears are donkey ears which is the same as in Korea. However, it also appears as horse or goat ears in regions such as France, Romania, Russia, Greece, Ireland, and Chile. On the other hand, it is a little different that our 'dresser (복두장이)' is 'barber' in the story of King Midas, and 'bamboo' is 'reed'. It has been confirmed that this tale exists not only in Korea but also in India, Mongolia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, showing considerable differences in terms of content, but common in that the main characters all have donkey ears. Considering the geographical and political conditions, it is possible that this type of tale exists in China and Japan, but it has not yet been confirmed. A work that modernized this tale is 'Gwi' by Bang Gi-hwan, published in the November issue of Munhakyesul (문학예술, 文學藝術, Literature and Art) in 1957.

References

External links

경문왕(景文王)‘임금님 귀는 당나귀 귀’의 주인공 (King Gyeongmun with donkey ears)
''(in Korean)''
경문왕이 즉위하다 (King Gyeongmun rose to the throne)
''(in Korean)'' {{Korean mythology Korean fairy tales

Plot

Analysis

Characteristics

See also

References

External links