Talk:Cheonji-wang bon-puri

Reasons for merging
I am going to be bold and merge this page into Korean creation narratives (about to be created) because, while the Cheonji-wang bon-puri ideally does deserve a good separate article, it is my opinion that the current article is actively detrimental to the Encyclopedia because not only is most of it unsourced, the unsourced information actively conflicts with the primary and secondary sources I used while writing Korean creation narratives. All usable information here is already in Korean creation narratives without any of the misinformation. See below for a few examples of misinformation.


 * "Sumyeong Jangja's hubris"

This version of the Sumyeong-jangja (SJ) episode (SJ shows hubris towards heaven, Cheonji-wang decides not to punish him) is found only in Bak Bong-chun's version. (Choi W. 2017 mentions three versions where CW fails to punish SJ, and all three are fully available in the Appendix of Kim H. 1994 where I checked.) You can read all of Bak's version here in English. It is unfortunately clear that the current article misreports the source completely.


 * "The Twins"

The mention of the jade comb was an exclusively Bak Bong-chun motif as of 1994. You will see that Bak Bong-chun's narrative does not mention the name of Cheonji-wang's human consort at all. So the mention of her name as Chongmyeong-agi is the writer's own synthesis of multiple narratives. Same goes for Chongmyeong-agi's supposed name change; Kim H. 1994 mentions no such name change, nor do any of the more recent articles on the Cheonji-wang bon-puri. It is my impression that this is motivated by an attempt to fit the various different names of CW's consort into a single coherent narrative in a sort of original research/synthesis.

As of 1994, the armrest motif and Daebyeol-wang asking the questions were both exclusively found in the Jeong Ju-byeong version. Since both elements are included in the article, it seems that this section is from Jeong's version. But Jeong's version is famous for the twins never meeting Cheonji-wang at all! Again, the article is engaging in synthesis of multiple divergent narratives into a single story.


 * "Rectifying wrongs"

Sobyeol-wang pulverizing (not dismembering) SJ and his flesh turning into insects is again from Bak Bong-chun's version, but his children turning into beetles and kites is, per Kim H. 1994, found only in the Jeong Ju-byeong narrative. But in Jeong's narrative, this is done by Cheonji-wang himself.

It gets even more bizarre with the destruction of the doubled sun and moon. Bak's narrative titled the Cheonji-wang bon-puri does not mention the destruction of the superfluous sun and moon, while Jeong's narrative places it before the flower contest. The account in the article, with Daebyeol-wang creating the "great law" for his younger twin, is found in yet other narratives like Yi Mu-saeng's.

To conclude, the entire plot section is a synthesis of multiple incompatible narratives accomplished through what appears to be original research.--Karaeng Matoaya (talk) 15:19, 19 June 2020 (UTC)