A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Im Bang introduces this account as a story told to him by fellow prisoner Captain Choi Won-so. When young, Choi occupies the front room of a vacant Seoul house. A familiar-looking beautiful woman visits twice, retreating backwards whenever he tries to touch her and vanishing beyond the gate. Later a curtain and a fiercely hot bed of coals appear in the room, then disappear at cockcrow without leaving a trace.
The next assailant is a strong man wearing a soldier’s felt hat and a blue tunic like an official servant’s. He drags Choi into the courtyard, swings him around and throws him down. A group of similarly dressed figures urges restraint. Ignoring them, the tormentor repeatedly tosses Choi through the sky toward Chulla and back to the house. One of the others finally leads him away.
Choi’s father finds him injured below the veranda the next morning, and the family leaves. The narrative calls the house haunted and closes with Im Bang’s moral interpretation that spirits fear sufficiently courageous people. The several manifestations belong to one reported haunting; the text does not explicitly show each transforming into the next, so that identity is not imposed.
Origins & earliest records
Korea; tale-specific historical narrative
Records & interpretation
Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.
In the literature
“a soldier’s felt hat”
Tale28, An Encounter with a Hobgoblin, printed p.143 (Gutenberg markers 155) · James S. Gale
The violent assailant’s clothing is distinct from the earlier woman and fiery manifestations.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale 28, “An Encounter with a Hobgoblin”, printed pp. 141–145 (Gutenberg page labels 153–157). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.
- 02
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin
London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 28, “An Encounter with a Hobgoblin”, pp. 153–157
Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.
- Im Bang says fellow prisoner Captain Choi Won-so told him this account. Young Choi occupies a vacant Seoul house with his father’s family in the inner quarters. A familiar-looking woman visits twice, retreating backwards beyond reach and vanishing at the gate. Later a curtain and great bed of coals descend; intense heat disappears at cockcrow with no trace.
- A man in soldier’s hat and blue tunic drags Choi out, swings and throws him from a terrace. A group urges restraint but the assailant repeatedly tosses him through the sky toward Chulla and back. One figure finally leads the tormentor away. Choi’s father finds him injured and the family leaves. Im Bang’s note attributes spirit fear to superior courage.
Captain Choi is explicitly the reported speaker, not a modern independently verified witness. No narrated transformation proves all manifestations are the same individual. Provinces traversed are Choi’s reported view during supernatural flight, not geography independently checked by the editor. Im Bang’s victim-blaming moral explanation is explicitly attributed rather than adopted.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary narrative translationTale 28, “An Encounter with a Hobgoblin”, printed pp. 141–145 (Gutenberg page labels 153–157) — Im Bang, Gale translationResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.