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Overview
In Im Bang’s account, Chon U-chi anticipates an attack from the more powerful Yun Se-pyong and changes himself into a beetle beneath an overturned crock. He instructs his wife to say that he is absent. A beautiful woman then calls, claiming an appointment and a long friendship with him. His jealous wife assumes that the visitor is another wife and smashes the crock, exposing the beetle.
The visitor immediately becomes a bee and stings the beetle. Chon resumes his human form, falls over and dies; the bee flies away. The surrounding narrative associates the assault with Yun, whom Chon had feared, but the actual transformation scene names the visitor only as the woman. No particular beetle or bee species, unusual insect anatomy, or subsequent revival is given.
Gale deliberately preserves a conflicting witness in his introduction. A cited history says that Chon died in prison and that relatives later found his coffin empty; a separate anecdote describes him borrowing a book after his death. Gale says that he cannot judge between the prison account and Im Bang’s version. Those notices are not additional stages in one continuous biography. This entry concerns the narrated transformed body, while retaining that unresolved difference in its ending.
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 5, 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 5. Chapter 5, 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. Gale deliberately preserves a conflicting witness in his introduction. A cited history says that Chon died in prison and that relatives later found his coffin empty; a separate anecdote describes him borrowing a book after his death. Gale says that he cannot judge between the prison account and Im Bang’s version. Those notices are not additional stages in one continuous biography. This entry concerns the narrated transformed body, while retaining that unresolved difference in its ending.
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 5Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.