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Overview
A palace secretary falls asleep while dressed for duty and dreams of meeting his dead mother on the road. She says that she is walking to a servant’s house at Yong-san to receive an offering during a ritual. Asked why she goes there despite the family’s regular sacrifices, she answers that she prefers the prayers and mediation of the practitioners conducting that ceremony.
After waking, the secretary sends a servant to the house. The returning servant tells a companion that the medium identified herself as the master’s mother, recognized him by name and said that she had met her son on his way to the palace. The secretary overhears this conversation and takes its agreement with his dream as confirmation. He summons the medium and subsequently makes offerings through her at the returning seasons.
The main tale leaves the secretary unnamed; Gale’s introductory biography says that the episode is reported of Choi Yu-won. That attribution is not an explicit name in the dream narrative itself. The mother appears to the son in sleep, while her presence at the ceremony is mediated through the servant’s account of the practitioner. Her expressed ritual preference belongs to this particular religious story, not a universal statement about deceased ancestors or modern Korean practice.
Origins & earliest records
Korean narrative in historical English translation
Records & interpretation
Complete chapter, relevant introduction and ending directly read; claims separated from editorial explanation.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Korean Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Chapter 32, complete narrative and attached introductory notes. Gutenberg page labels are not relied on as printed pagination.
Family & connections
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Primary records and illustrations
Korean Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (1913), translated by J. S. Gale
Chapter 32. Chapter 32, complete narrative and attached introductory notes. Gutenberg page labels are not relied on as printed pagination.
Complete source section, attached editorial matter and ending directly read. The main tale leaves the secretary unnamed; Gale’s introductory biography says that the episode is reported of Choi Yu-won. That attribution is not an explicit name in the dream narrative itself. The mother appears to the son in sleep, while her presence at the ceremony is mediated through the servant’s account of the practitioner. Her expressed ritual preference belongs to this particular religious story, not a universal statement about deceased ancestors or modern Korean practice.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translated narrative collectionGale, Korean Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (1913), chapter 32Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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