The Visit of the Man of God

In the year 1605, in the seventh moon, a great rain fell on Korea, such a rain as had not been seen since the founding of the dynasty.

Before that rain began, a man of Kang-won Province was cutting wood on a hillside. As he worked, a heavenly being in golden armor came down to him from the sky, riding a white horse and carrying a spear. He shone so brightly that the woodcutter knew at once he was looking at a Man of God. Behind him came a Buddhist monk carrying a staff, and he too was wonderful to look at.

The Man of God reined in his horse and seemed to be talking with the monk, while the woodcutter, frightened by the sight, hid among the trees.

The Man of God seemed very angry about something. He raised his spear, pointed to the four winds and said, “I shall flood all the land from this point to that point and destroy the people who live there.”

The monk cried out and begged him to stop. “This will be the end of so many mortals,” he pleaded. “Please let your anger fall on me instead.” He prayed so earnestly that the Man of God said, “Then I shall limit it to these places here. Will that do?”

But the monk prayed harder still, until the Man of God answered firmly, “For your sake I have cut the punishment by more than half. I can do no more.” The monk went on praying, but the Man of God would not give way, until at last the monk bowed his head and said, “Your will be done.”

So their talk ended, and the two rose through the upper air and passed into heaven. They had spoken for a long time, but the woodcutter was some way off and could not hear everything they said.

Even so, he hurried home as fast as he could and fled with his wife and family. From that day the rain began to fall. Mount Otai collapsed, the ground beneath it sank and became a vast lake, and all who lived there were lost. Only the woodcutter and his family escaped.

About this story

“The Visit of the Man of God” comes from Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies, translated in 1913 by James Scarth Gale from the writings of Im Bang. Im Bang dates the account to 1605 and places the disaster in Kang-won Province. The date belongs to the source narrative; it does not independently verify the heavenly encounter.

Like many flood stories around the world, it pictures a great disaster as a punishment from heaven, softened by the pleading of a merciful holy man. The woodcutter who happens to overhear the heavenly council is the one who lives to tell of it.

Read the original: Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Project Gutenberg)

Best for ages 9–12 — a woodcutter overhears a heavenly warrior and a pleading monk decide the fate of a province.

Mercy that leaves an unsettling ending

The monk asks to take the punishment himself, but the warrior only reduces its extent. The woodcutter survives by overhearing a warning that others never receive. This leaves a difficult question: the rescued family has information, not a demonstrated moral superiority. The tale’s explanation of disaster as punishment need not be accepted as a judgment on people harmed by real floods.

Examine the argument

Write the monk’s request and the warrior’s answer side by side. What changes, and what remains unresolved? Propose one question the woodcutter might ask about the people who never heard the warning.

Talk about it

• What did the monk ask the Man of God to do?
• Why do you think the monk offered to take the punishment himself?
• Do you know any other stories about a great flood?

Related stories

• The Vision of the Holy Man — another heavenly visitor from Im Bang’s collection
• The Magic Invasion of Seoul — a divine warning in a dream
• The Great Flood — another story of a world-changing flood