No. 012
Yagwanggwi (shoe-stealing spirit)
夜光鬼야광귀 (yagwanggwi)
Malevolent spirit
Draft, not yet reviewed
A spirit that comes down to houses on the night of the Lunar New Year or around the first full moon, tries on shoes and walks off in any pair that fits. Whoever loses their shoes has bad luck all year.
Names
- Korean
- 야광귀
- Hanja
- 夜光鬼
- Revised Romanization
- yagwanggwi
- English
- Yagwanggwi (shoe-stealing spirit)
Weaknesses
- A sieve hung on the wall or outside the door makes it stop to count the holes; it never finishes and flees at cockcrow. Children hid their shoes indoors and went to bed early.
Other names
- 신발귀신 (Source: Encyclopedia of Korean Folklore and Traditional Culture)
Attestations
-
Encyclopedia of Korean Folklore and Traditional Culture Encyclopedia
What it says: The yagwanggwi article: the name 'shoe ghost', the custom of hanging a sieve to keep it away, and the records in Yu Deukgong's Gyeongdo japji and Jo Susam's Sesigi.
Interpretation and notes
Recorded in late Joseon almanacs of seasonal customs, for example the New Year's Day entry in volume 2 of Gyeongdo japji.