Why Did the Sardine King Have His Dream Interpreted?

~Reading Korean Fortune-Telling Culture Through Folktales~

When watching Korean dramas,

you may sometimes see mudang (shamans) or fortune-tellers appear.

Even today, the culture of Saju (four pillars of destiny) and dream interpretation remains in Korea, but

where does that background come from?

I was thinking about such things while reading
"The Sardine King's Dream."

—

In this picture book, the Sardine King has a mysterious dream.

And, not knowing the meaning himself, he visits a goby fortune-teller.

While we in the modern day tend to think of dreams as "just dreams,"

for people in the past, dreams were messages from gods or ancestors.

That is why when they had a dream, they wanted to know its meaning.

This is very similar to the dream interpretation culture that still remains in Korea today.

—

What I felt while reading was that

this picture book is not just a story about fish, but

"Why do people seek meaning in dreams?"

—it depicts this folkloric question.

The reason why mudang and dream prophecies appear in Korean dramas

might actually be connected to this worldview of folktales.

—

For those who like Korean folklore or folktales,
and for those who want to know the background of the fortune-telling culture that appears in Korean dramas,
this was a very interesting book.

📚 "The Sardine King's Dream"

Rakuten Ichiba