Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/346

 326 Miscellanea.

Notes on Hananim,i (The Great One, The One. God ?) the Korean Great Spirit. — In Korea Hana means one, and Nwi is Lord, Master, or Chief, so that the name literally translated means The Ruling One, The Honoicrable One, The Great One, The One.

He {Hananim) rewards the good {soon) with blessing {pok), and the evil {ak) with punishment {who). This has no reference to judgment or a future life, but is simply confined to this world.

Here is a snatch from the song of a market minstrel known to all Koreans : " Pap chal mek-ki-nan, Ha-na-nim tok ; Ot chao ip-ki-nan ch'o-kwon-eui tok." (Feeding us well is by favour of Hananim; Clothing us well is by favour of wife). This illustrates the idea, common to all Korea, that Hananim provides the rice.

A little pony boy once said, as I was riding his pony, "Hananim knows I have no coat, and so is letting the sun shine to warm me to-day." He had been bowing to the trees and expectorating before the hill shrines most devoutly, so I said, " Why do not you bow and thank Hananim then, since he is so good to you, instead of bowing to the trees ? " But," says he, " Hananim is such a long way off; I can't see him, and so I worship the trees instead."

When a Korean sees a wrong done, one of his common sayings is, " Ha?iali-inu-sim ha-jiyaV (Is Hananim indifferent to such?) He means that Hananim will certainly punish such injustice.

Another expression commonly heard is " Ko-ma-o-sin Ha-na- nitn-i pi chu-sin-ta " (Gracious Hananim gives the rain).

Koreans are given to strong language rather than to heavy blows, so a war of words is of frequent occurrence. This is one of the common expressions used at such a time : " CKun angip-eul nom" (A villain who will be punished by Ch'un, or Hananim). Ch'un is the Chinese name for Hananim.

The king offers sacrifice to Hananim for rain {Ke-u-che), using raw food, bathing, and performing other ceremonial cleansing before taking part.

When it lightens and thunders, Koreans say, '■'■ Hattatmn-i o um-ha-si-ta " (Hananim is stern, or awful, or dreadful) ; and they lay their pipes aside and sit reverently. Again, I hear an old saying that has come down from dim antiquity, " Hananim-i

' In all native transliterations the vowels have the French sound.

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