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Overview
A soldier of Kang-wha tries to distract his angry wife by offering to make butterflies. It is winter, and she is sewing in the inner room. He takes differently coloured scraps from her workbasket, closes them in his hand and recites a prayer. When he throws the handful into the air, butterflies fill the room in the same colours as the silk.
After a short time he raises his open hand and the butterflies fly into it. He closes his hand once more; when he opens it, they are again pieces of silk. Their flight and return belong to a temporary material transformation in this episode. The text supplies no separate fairy identity, lasting butterfly population, or claim that all butterflies have this origin.
The narrator explicitly says that only the wife saw the performance. A separate incident in the chapter concerns the soldier’s confidence that his village will escape devastation during the 1637 invasion; it does not say that the butterflies protect the settlement. Gale’s introduction interprets the feat as Taoist magic involving invisible constituents of the air, an explanation that should remain attributed to this English presentation.
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 11, 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 11. Chapter 11, 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 narrator explicitly says that only the wife saw the performance. A separate incident in the chapter concerns the soldier’s confidence that his village will escape devastation during the 1637 invasion; it does not say that the butterflies protect the settlement. Gale’s introduction interprets the feat as Taoist magic involving invisible constituents of the air, an explanation that should remain attributed to this English presentation.
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 11Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.