A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

During the Koryo period as the tale dates its setting, an examination candidate hears sneezing beside a mountain road. His servant digs up a skull whose nostrils are obstructed by roots. The candidate removes the obstruction, washes and wraps the skull, reburies it and offers food and prayer.

That night an old white-haired scholar appears in his dream. The visitor identifies himself as the skull’s spirit and explains that his descendants have died, leaving no one to care for his remains. In gratitude he reveals the forthcoming examination’s form, rhyme and subject, then supplies a poem about summer clouds imagined as a mountain monastery.

The candidate finds the predicted subject at the examination and wins first place with the poem. The ghost’s help responds to care for neglected remains: its complaint, relief and reward form the story’s sequence. Neither the dynasty setting nor the narrator’s report constitutes independent historical verification of a talking skull.

Dream-visiting ancestral remnantTale-specific identity
01

Origins & earliest records

Korea; tale-specific historical narrative

02

Records & interpretation

Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.

In the literature

“a scholar came to him, an old man with white hair”
Im Bang · Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale18, The Grateful Ghost, printed p.81 (Gutenberg markers 93) · James S. Gale

The cared-for skull’s spirit appears in the examination candidate’s dream.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

    Im Bang; translated by James S. Gale · 1913

    Tale 18, “The Grateful Ghost”, printed pp. 80–82 (Gutenberg page labels 92–94). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.

  2. 02

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — The Grateful Ghost

    Im Bang · 1913

    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

Direct primary record

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 18, “The Grateful Ghost”, pp. 92–94

Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

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.

  1. An examination candidate travelling in the Koryo-era setting hears sneezing beside the road. His servant uncovers a skull with roots through its nostrils. He cleans, wraps and reburies it and offers food. In a dream a white-haired scholar identifies himself as its spirit, says his descendants are gone and thanks him. The ghost predicts the examination form, rhyme and subject and supplies a poem. The candidate finds the prediction fulfilled and wins first place.

    Tale18, The Grateful Ghost, printed pp.80–82 (Gutenberg markers 92–94), full account

Dynastic setting and examination success are narrated reports, not independently established events. No poem, prayer or ritual directions copied; the reward follows care for neglected remains.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical primary narrative translationTale 18, “The Grateful Ghost”, printed pp. 80–82 (Gutenberg page labels 92–94) — 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.

FT·1355 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑