This research, as a follow-up study, compares two kinds of folktales,
Chibyeong Hwalin Keumcheok and Farmhand's Dream, created based on the
similar motif of a measuring rod healing incurable disease and bringing a dead
person back to life, and the same types in Japan, investigates factors in common
and regional differences between them, and based on the results, analyzes the
relationships between two types and its relation with ‘Keumcheok (a golden
measuring rod) folktales’. The previous study has analyzed the Korean and
Japanese types of Chibyeong Hwalin Keumcheok, and this research investigates
Farmhand's dream.
The Korean and Japanese types of Farmhand's Dream can be summarized
that the main character working as a farmhand boasts that he has had a big
dream but has not accepted the noble’s request on disclosing its content, so
he has come to be punished. However, as obtaining magic objects controlling
life and death during the punishment, he comes to save lives of two noble
women’s. Accordingly, he finally gets married to those women and lives in
wealth and honor, which menas he ultimately realizes his dream. In this way,
its contents are mostly common, but some part of its composition or factors, and the dream content of the main characters appear differently. When it comes
to the subject, both types describe desires to achieve ideal life which is hard
for ordinary males, the main transmitters, to realize in the reality, but they want
to experience through dreams. In other words, what they dream of as ideal
life is entering the upper class with extraordinary abilities, marry women from
noblesse, and ultimately live in splendor by satisfying physiological needs and
making stable family. In addition, they also try to acquire attitudes in life
through the experience of ideal life by depending on belief on the dreams,
which shows two different senses of each nation, wisdom of life with aspiration
and plenty of courage in Korean’s and wisdom of overcoming hardships through
change in attitudes in Japanese’s.
Accordingly, Farmhand's Dream and Chibyeong Hwalin Keumcheok are two
different folktales, based on placing the focus on the realization of dreams in
Farmhand's Dream and sharing magic objects for Chibyeong Hwalin in
Chibyeong Hwalin Keumcheok, but shown differently in part. The western-type
of this folktale, based on the realization of the dream, consists of a motif
addressing dilemma not emphasizing magic objects for Chibyeong Hwalin,
which is changed into ‘a measuring rod curing disease and bringing a dead
person back to life’ and adds ‘Myeongeui (renowned doctor) folktale’ in the
Korean’s. Subsequently, this part makes the final episode whose content is
about saving lives of Korean Princess and daughters of the son of God, as the
measuring rod and eventually realizing advancement in life. The two types of
folktales concentrated on this research has been discussed as ‘Keumcheok
folktale’ by causing confusion in the transmission system since ‘a golden
measuring rod’, ‘dream’ and ‘curing disease and bringing a dead person back
to life’ are all involved just like Keumcheok myths of Park, Hyeokgeose
(progenitor of Silla) ․ Lee, Seong-gye (founder and the first king of the Joseon Dynasty) and they are in the influential relationships in part, but the results
of this study eventually makes their relations accurate.