Skip to content
Im Kyong-up, a MythSource painting
Korean

Im Kyong-up

01Identity

Im Kyong-up in Korean tradition

Young Im Kyong-up loses his way while hunting near Tai-paik Mountain and follows a woodman to a remote mansion. There he is fed and invited to witness a midnight sword fight between the woodman and another man. The victor offers Im a house and a woman, but Im refuses. The next morning the woodman offers a different lesson: Im stays for six days to learn how to use a sword. The tale moves from an eerie night encounter to six days of sword training.

SourceKorean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 1)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 2)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 3)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 4)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 5)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 6)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 7)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 8)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 9)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 10)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 11)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 12)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 13)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 14)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 15)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 16)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): The Story (EPUB text block 17)

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Im Kyong-up

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Im Kyong-up and the Mountain Swordsman

Im pursued a deer on foot through the mountains, carrying only a sword. Night overtook him near Tai-paik Mountain, where cliffs and chasms hid the way. A woodman directed him towards an isolated mansion. When Im entered, the same man appeared, offered him wine and meat, and invited him to witness something at midnight.

They passed through a succession of gates to a lake with a lighted pavilion. The woodman told Im to climb a tree and secure himself with his belt. From there, Im watched his host leap across the water and join two people in the pavilion. After drinking, the woodman challenged the other man to settle their wager. Both sprang into the air and vanished from view. Im heard steel clash and saw flashes of fire. Something fell with a thud, and the woodman cried out in victory.

The woodman carried Im into the pavilion, where a woman was grieving. He called himself a robber and claimed that she and her lover had tried to kill him. He offered Im the house and the woman, but Im refused. The woodman then killed her with his sword. The next morning, he told Im that courage alone would not protect him without skill in combat. He offered to teach him. Im stayed for six days and learned to use the sword.

Im Kyong-up and the Mountain Swordsman, a MythSource painting of the scene