The Ginseng Thief

Card meaning

Upright - what is dug from another's field weighs differently. Look at where today's gain came from.

Reversed - even digging alone, the gatherer bows to the mountain. Share the portion and the path opens again.

The card meanings are a game.

The tale

Insam is cultivated ginseng; sansam is ginseng grown wild in the mountains.

A person who digs wild ginseng is called a simmani.

The cry raised on finding a root is passed down as 'simbwatda'.

Tales of stealing ginseng from another's field are told in many regions.

At the end of those tales the stolen root usually leaves nothing behind.

Where you can see this in Korea now

We have not yet measured which places connect to this tale.

Sources

한국민족문화대백과사전 「인삼」

국립민속박물관 한국민속대백과사전 「산삼설화」