The In Jung bell and celebrating children in Korean Fairy Tales, illustration published 1922
The children celebrate the bell’s first sounding in Griffis’s speaking-bell legend. Its voice and the sacrificed-child story belong to the literary account; this illustration does not document an actual casting or sacrifice.
Overview
In Griffis’s account, King Tai Jo commissions a great bell for his capital. Three castings crack. A workman recalls an old woman who offered the metal collector her baby and claims that accepting this offer will make the casting succeed. The child is thrown into the molten metal and the next bell is sound. The workman also calls the woman a sorceress and questions whether the baby is human, but the narrator does not establish either claim as true. A jealous fire-imp appears in the framing; its envy is not a technical explanation of the failed castings.
The finished bell, named In Jung in this telling, is said to have memory and a voice. When first struck, its notes become a baby-like complaint interpreted as blaming the mother. The closing moral urges parental care. The two dragons on its suspension are metalwork figures, not separately active creatures. This is a historical literary witness to a sacrifice-and-speaking-bell legend; it does not verify an actual child sacrifice, an archaeological casting procedure, the stated dimensions or the author’s translations and dating of Seoul customs.
Origins & earliest records
Korean tale in an English literary retelling
Records & interpretation
Full relevant tale and collection preface directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Korean Fairy Tales
The Voice of the Bell, pp. 187–194
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
William Elliot Griffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922)
The Voice of the Bell. The Voice of the Bell, pp. 187–194
Complete chapter XXIV read. Literary sacrifice account and speaking bell separated from verified material history; sorceress/nonhuman-child assertions belong to a workman and are not independently established. Metal dragon fittings not separate animate beings.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical English literary retellingGriffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922), The Voice of the Bell, pp. 187–194Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationThe In Jung bell and celebrating children in Korean Fairy Tales, illustration published 1922
The children celebrate the bell’s first sounding in Griffis’s speaking-bell legend. Its voice and the sacrificed-child story belong to the literary account; this illustration does not document an actual casting or sacrifice.