What is Yeom-Mae(厭魅) - Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938

In Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938, there is a child who curses Lee Yeon. This child represents a real-life curse called Yeom-Mae (厭魅) that existed in the Northeast Asia region encompassing Korea, China, and Japan.

"Seongho Sasul" by Yi Ik

Yeom-Mae (厭魅) is created through the grudge of a child. The records of Yeom-Mae in South Korea can be found in the "Seongho Sasul" by Yi Ik, a historical figure. In this book, the process of creating Yeom-Mae is described in some detail. The method is as follows:

A shaman who wants to create Yeom-Mae steals children and forces them to live on a very small amount of food. Occasionally, they feed the children delicious food to make them aware of the taste, as a way to increase their desire for food. Later, when the child becomes extremely weak and emaciated, the shaman brings a bamboo container filled with delicious food and places it in front of the child. The child, driven by hunger, enters the bamboo container to eat the food. At that moment, the shaman, who has been waiting, stabs the child with a knife, killing them and trapping their body and soul inside the bamboo container. 

Afterward, the child's spirit becomes trapped in the bamboo container and follows the commands of the shaman, who is the owner of the container. The shaman exploits this to create unfavorable events in wealthy households and then offers to resolve them, thus gaining financial profit. 

 It is recorded that this curse was eventually prohibited by law due to its extremely malicious and cruel nature.

Yeom-Mae (厭魅) in Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938

'Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938' presents a slightly different utilization of Yeom-Mae (厭魅). It appears that the Yeom-Mae depicted in the story, which involves a shaman taking away a child, aligns with the historical accounts of Yeom-Mae. However, in the story, the Yeom-Mae was trapped and sealed within a container called 'Dwiju' for a long time, with rice placed inside. When the Yeom-Mae is released from its confinement and encounters Lee Yeon, the protagonist who failed to keep a promise from their past, it curses him. In most cases, Yeom-Mae tends to appear as a malevolent spirit that carries out the shaman's commands, so there aren't many stories about the moment when the seal is broken. However, in this story, the Yeom-Mae is utilized in a different way, seeking out someone with unresolved grievances and assisting in resolving them.

As for how Cheon Mu-yeong, the character who released the Yeom-Mae from its seal, knew that the Yeom-Mae held grudges against Lee Yeon, that remains a question. It's an intriguing aspect that is worth exploring within the context of the story. Regenerate response