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Yi Eui-sin, a MythSource painting
Korean

Yi Eui-sin

01Identity

Yi Eui-sin in Korean tradition

Yi Eui-sin entered the story while following a mountain vein in search of a suitable grave site. After wandering all day, he reached a small house below the hill and asked its owner for food. The household was mourning a recent death, but the funeral had not yet been arranged. Yi asked why and offered to show the mourner a place he had found. He described a prosperous future and a ten-year limit. A later visitor warned that the site's ten years of good fortune had ended. Yi answered by considering the surrounding hills and stream together: the guest saw a kneeling pheasant, while Yi also pointed out a dog behind it, a falcon above, and a cat in front.

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

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Yi Eui-sin

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Yi Eui-sin and the Kneeling Pheasant Grave

After tracing a mountain ridge through the hills, Yi Eui-sin reached a rounded slope that he considered a suitable grave site. Hungry after a day's walking, he went to a small house below it and asked for food. The owner was newly bereaved and had not yet arranged the funeral. Yi asked whether poverty or the lack of a suitable place had delayed the arrangements. He then showed the mourner the site and explained how to orient the grave. Yi said the family would prosper there, though after ten years it would be time to seek another place.

The family prospered and built a large house. At the end of the ten years, a guest noticed the grave beyond the stream and warned that its luck had passed. Remembering Yi's prediction, the owner travelled to Seoul and brought him back. On the hill, the guest explained that the grave resembled a kneeling pheasant which could not remain in place indefinitely. Yi answered by pointing out a dog-shaped hill behind it, a falcon-shaped rise above, and a cat-like stream in front. In his reading, those forms prevented the pheasant from escaping. The guest accepted Yi's wider interpretation, and the account said the family became prosperous and well known.

Yi Eui-sin and the Kneeling Pheasant Grave, a MythSource painting of the scene