AI-generated interpretation of the unnamed holy man leading a household uphill before the coastal inundation in GaleVIII. To-jong waits downslope. Faces, ages, clothing, family composition, geography and wave shape are artistic choices. The image condenses the ascent and the later wave into one illustrative scene. This is not historical or ethnographic evidence.
AI-generated interpretation of the unnamed holy man leading a household uphill before the coastal inundation in GaleVIII. To-jong waits downslope. Faces, ages, clothing, family composition, geography and wave shape are artistic choices. The image condenses the ascent and the later wave into one illustrative scene. This is not historical or ethnographic evidence.
Overview
The stranger in The Vision of the Holy Man arrives at a coastal house where the merchant To-jong is spending the night. Gale’s translation calls the newcomer an i-in, rendered as a holy man. He is distinct from To-jong and from the owner of the house. During their conversation on a clear, calm night, he looks over the water and announces that a great wave will engulf the village within roughly two hours. The calm setting makes his warning difficult to believe rather than presenting an obvious storm that anyone could already see.
The householder resists leaving, while To-jong cannot explain the danger through his own knowledge. The stranger proposes a reversible precaution: they can climb the mountain behind the village and return if his words prove false. He asks that the people leave even if the household goods remain. This argument persuades the owner to take his family and a few light possessions uphill. The narrative makes practical persuasion, as well as foresight, central to the rescue; the holy man does not merely announce disaster and depart.
He urges the party to the summit, but To-jong sits partway up the slope. Asked whether this is safe, the stranger replies that others would perish there, whereas To-jong will survive with a fright. At cockcrow the sea rises, engulfs the village and reaches To-jong’s feet. Daylight brings the recession of the water. The differing warning to To-jong remains a specific feature of this encounter, not a general instruction that a traveller should stop short of high ground during a real flood.
Afterward To-jong bows and asks to become the stranger’s disciple. The holy man disclaims special knowledge, saying that his insight was accidental; the narrator presents him as reluctant to disclose his attainments. He indicates a nearby residence, but To-jong finds the house empty when he looks for him the next day. No personal name, monstrous anatomy or confirmed divine title resolves his identity. The chapter’s preceding biographical material credits To-jong himself with prophecy, fasting and calm sea journeys, but the rescuer in this narrative is a separate, anonymous figure. This profile follows the complete account in Gale’s 1913 translation without treating the inundation or supernatural knowledge as independently verified history.
Origins & earliest records
Im Bang accounts in Korean Folk Tales: Imps,Ghosts and Fairies, translated James S.Gale, London J.M.Dent/New York E.P.Dutton,1913. Chapters 8.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected chapters, including biographical framing, read from preserved PG51002 HTML. Title and entire preface also read. No attached footnotes in selected units. Korean manuscript not independently collated.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
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.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Public-domain historical translationGale1913 chapter8Research access: 2026-10-27
Image credits
AI-generated interpretationAI-generated interpretation of the unnamed holy man leading a household uphill before the coastal inundation in GaleVIII. To-jong waits downslope. Faces, ages, clothing, family composition, geography and wave shape are artistic choices. The image condenses the ascent and the later wave into one illustrative scene. This is not historical or ethnographic evidence.
AI-generated interpretation of the unnamed holy man leading a household uphill before the coastal inundation in GaleVIII. To-jong waits downslope. Faces, ages, clothing, family composition, geography and wave shape are artistic choices. The image condenses the ascent and the later wave into one illustrative scene. This is not historical or ethnographic evidence.
