Namu doryeong
Korean flood myth of a tree-born boy who fathers humanity.
Namu doryeong (Master Tree) is a Korean orally transmitted folktale about the son of a tree and a fairy who becomes the progenitor of humanity after a great flood. The story follows the boy as he rides his father the tree during the flood, rescues animals, and marries the daughter of an old woman. Its pattern of an earthly father and heavenly mother founding a new human race after a flood gives it the characteristics of a human foundation myth.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Orally transmitted folktale
- Also known as
- Master Tree
- Cultural origin
- Korea
- Notable recorded version
- Mok doryeong-gwa daehongsu (Master Tree and the Great Flood) recorded by Son Jin-tae during the Japanese colonial period
Facts from the source article.
History and transmission
Namu doryeong belongs to a worldwide family of flood fables and human foundation myths, including the Sumerian tale of Ziusudra, the Greek story of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the biblical account of Noah, and the Indian story of Manu recorded in the Shatapatha Brahmana from the sixth century BCE. A similar story also appears in the Chinese Buddhist text Yukdo jipgyeong (Sutra on the Collection of the Six Perfections). The version recorded by Son Jin-tae during the Japanese colonial period, Mok doryeong-gwa daehongsu, retains strongly mythical characteristics, while later recorded versions show more prominent folktale-style elements.
Plot
Long ago, a fairy came down from the sky, rested in the shade of a tree, became intimate with it, and gave birth to a son. After the boy grew up, the fairy returned to the sky. The boy played with the tree and called it his father, so he was named Namu Doryeong. The tree told the boy that if it ever fell down in heavy rain, the boy must climb onto it and ride it. A huge flood came and covered the world; Namu Doryeong climbed onto his fallen father. While floating, he met ants and a mosquito pleading to be rescued, and with his father's permission saved them. He then encountered a boy begging to be saved; his father refused, but Namu Doryeong disobeyed and rescued the boy. The rain stopped, and the group reached a house on the highest peak where an old woman lived with her daughter and a slave girl. The old woman sought partners for the daughter and slave girl. The rescued boy, wanting the daughter for himself, claimed Namu Doryeong could pick out grains of millet scattered on sand. When tested, the ants gathered the scattered millet. The old woman placed her daughter in the east room and the slave girl in the west room, telling the two boys to choose wives. The mosquito told Namu Doryeong where the daughter was. Namu Doryeong married the daughter, and the rescued boy married the slave girl. Since the flood had wiped out everyone else, they bore a new human race.
Features and significance
Namu doryeong functions as a myth by describing the origins of humanity. The protagonist is of holy descent, born to a fairy and a tree spirit; his mother returns to heaven after his birth, and he is raised by his father on earth, making him an earth-oriented being, unlike heroes in other Korean legends who have heavenly fathers and earthly mothers. The rescued boy, who connives against Namu Doryeong, also becomes a progenitor, symbolizing evil human nature, while Namu Doryeong represents goodness; their conflicting natures show that both good and evil are innate in humans. Some versions omit the birth story and focus on how animals repay kindness, indicating a shift from a legendary form based on a tree spirit to a folk tale emphasizing animal gratitude. The story differs from most flood myths by not ending with a brother-sister marriage of sole survivors, further marking its transformation from myth to folk tale.
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