Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/512

 some powers that are distinctly superhuman, in other points they are less than human. Almost invariably, in the Korean story, the fiend is thwarted by the word of a just man. Him they not only fear, but must obey. But we must pause and give a few special names and characteristics of the Korean gods, beginning with those of the highest grade.

Besides Hananim, who is quite separate and remote from all others, even as Allah was distinct from the gnomes and naiads of the Arabian Nights, the Koreans believe in the Five Point Generals. These are supposed to rule the five divisions of the visible firmament, - North, East, South, West and Centre. It is to these that the pansus, or blind exorcists, pray and offer sacrifice in order to gain the upper hand of evil spirits. Each of these five great gods has a host of lieutenants, nearly one hundred thousand in all, and it is to these that the pansu looks for active help. These five generals are frequently taken as village gods, and the curiously carved posts which are so often found at the entrance of a Korean country town, and which have erroneously been called guide-posts, are representations of these gods, which stand as guardians against the entrance of wicked spirits.

Then come the earth spirits, the ones which make the Koreans so reluctant to dig in the earth for minerals. They think the spirits will consider themselves robbed and so exact a penalty. It may be that it is for this reason that miners are looked down upon as practical outcasts by the people. These spirits must be consulted every time a grave is to be dug, for if a mistake should be made the dead man's descendants might wake up some morning to find that the grave is empty and the body has been spirited away, to their everlasting disgrace. Houses must be built only on spots where the spirits allow, and more than one house has had to be pulled down and erected on some other site because of the terrible misfortunes the imps have inflicted and are ready to inflict because their toes have been trodden upon.

Often the traveller will come across a heap of small stones