The oldest Korean myths predate Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist beliefs, therefore, their origin comes from Korean religion and traditional shamanism. After the rise of Confucianism, which emphasized rationalism or pragmatism, shamanistic myths were lost. This left only a small fraction of the Korean myths that existed, or so it is believed, in ancient times and were documented, but modified to fit the new beliefs.
In ancient times, Koreans believed that every object had a soul, so their rituals included worshiping spirits and demons that inhabited objects such as mountains and rivers.
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It is believed that a shaman can communicate with the spirit world and in mythology, the early leaders of Korea are said to have these qualities or to be descended from shamans.
The largest number of shamanistic myths come from Jeju Island and South Hamgyong Province.
Changsega (창세 가)
Changsega is the name of its creation myth, where Kim Ssangdoli, a shaman from Hamheung Province of Hamgyeong-do tells the story as part of his shamanic rituals.
In the beginning, the Earth and the sky were inseparable, until one day the sky swelled like the lid of a pot, causing the formation of cracks. After this, the Maitreya deity raised four copper columns that separated the Earth from the sky. At that moment there were two suns and two moons.
Maitreya took one sun and one moon to make the Bukduchilseong (Big Dipper) and the Namdulchilseong (Sagittarius). Likewise, it also created other stars, large and small. When he finally finished, it wove hemp with arrowroot and made a robe to embark on a journey in search of the origin of water and fire.
Maitreya followed the instructions of a mouse by climbing the mountain of Geumgangsan where he struck a stone against arrowroot and made fire. While climbing the mountain of Sohasan he discovered a spring.
He took a gold and a silver tray, one in each hand, and began to pray to heaven, which gave him five gold and five silver insects that became men and women who formed five couples that led the flourishing of the human race.
Maitreya was a good ruler, he led them with wisdom and peace during his term until one day Sakyamuni arrived and demanded Maitreya to give up his position. A contest was held in order to determine the ruler of the human world. In one of the four tests, Sakaymuni proposed a competition of blooming flowers on their knees while they slept, when Maitreya was sleeping, Sakyamuni stole the flowers from Maitreya’s knees and won the competition. Maitreya gave up his place to Sakyamuni and disappeared.
After the unjust victory, sins and evil appeared in the human world.
This myth explains that Maitreya played the role of the presiding deity of creation, as the moon, sun, and stars were created. The world was peaceful under Maitreya’s rule, but when Sakyamuni came to take over the human world, many things changed. The men who were good and honest were broken by the unrighteous deity, it produced sins and evil, and the sins of humans come from the corrupt deity.
This myth has been passed down in the northern regions of Korea, and here the gods already exist at the beginning of everything, no specific lineage is mentioned, which means that they do not need to acquire sacred characteristics through the lineage of their parents.
