Yongjae Chonghwa Ghost Lights: How Prefect An's Story Ends

The account of An Buyun in volume 3 of Yongjae chonghwa is a strange tale recorded by Seong Hyeon in the early Joseon period. A man who encounters ghost lights on a nighttime road later mistakes even the pine-knot fire at his country house for a ghost. This article retells that traditional story.

This article follows the story in volume 3 of Yongjae chonghwa and was prepared as of October 2026.

The Story

The lights An Buyun encounters on a nighttime road lead him to cause a commotion even after reaching his country house. The following retelling follows the sequence of events in the Classical Chinese account. The transitions between scenes are newly written.

Lights Surrounding the Nighttime Road

When An Buyun was young, he was traveling to his country house in Seowon. He was riding a thin horse. A single page accompanied him.

Night was falling, and no one was in sight. Lights resembling torches appeared in the direction of the town to the east. Noisy voices could also be heard. It looked like a hunting party.

The lights drew closer. Before long, they surrounded the travelers on both sides. Even after they had traveled some distance, the lights would not leave them. These were what the story calls ghost lights.

An Buyun could find nowhere to retreat. He simply urged his horse onward. As he continued along the road, the lights scattered.

Ghost Lights Reappearing Beyond the Pass

After he crossed a mountain pass, the lights that had disappeared blocked the road again. The sky was overcast, and the rain-soaked road was difficult to travel. Until moments before, An Buyun had been relieved to think he had escaped the ghost lights.

The lights from earlier were gathered in layers before his eyes. He could think of no other way out. He drew his sword, shouted loudly, and charged into the lights.

The lights scattered all at once. The swarm moved into the woods and underbrush. There followed even the sounds of clapping and loud laughter.

The Pine-Knot Fire at the Country House

Even after reaching his country house, An Buyun could not calm his nerves. He leaned against a window and dozed briefly. Inside, the servants were spinning thread by the light of a pine-knot fire.

The light grew brighter, then dimmer. Seeing it, An Buyun thought the ghost lights had followed him again. He sprang up and caused a commotion. Dishes around him broke, and the household was startled.

The man who thought he had driven off the ghost lights on the nighttime road had not yet escaped his fear. What frightened him again at the country house was a fire lit for household work. The story ends with this mistake.

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The comic ending reveals that fear lingers even after he believes he has driven the spirits away.AI-generated image

The Original Source and Its Background

This account comes from volume 3 of Seong Hyeon's Yongjae chonghwa. Seong Hyeon was a figure of the early Joseon period, born in 1439 and deceased in 1504. Kyujanggak describes the book as a collection of essays covering institutions, customs, people, and other subjects. Bibliographic information is available on the detailed page for the copy held by Kyujanggak.

At the beginning of the story, An Buyun is introduced as Seong Hyeon's maternal uncle. A maternal uncle is a brother of one's mother. Here, “An” is the surname, and “Buyun” is an official title. “An Buyun” should therefore not be read as a person's full name.

The Classical Chinese text can also be found in a quotation included in the Korean Modern Historical Materials Database. Son Jin-tae quoted it in issue 15 of Donggwang, published on July 5, 1927. The article is titled “A Study of Early Korean Culture, A Religious and Folk Study of Ancient Korean Religion (4).” The article includes the Classical Chinese text through the commotion at the country house.

The dates associated with these sources should be distinguished as follows.

The relevant Kyujanggak page was used to check the bibliographic details of its copy. This retelling is based on the Classical Chinese passage quoted in Donggwang. No sentences from modern translations were used.

Other Versions and Similar Stories

The differences among the sources consulted concern the scope of quotation and summary rather than distinct versions. Kim Jong-dae's 2004 study focuses on the encounter with ghost lights on a mountain road. The paper is titled “A Preliminary Comparative Study of Korean Dokkaebi and Japanese Yōkai (妖怪).” The relevant material can be found in the paper made available by the National Folk Museum of Korea.

The absence of the country-house scene from a summary does not mean it has a different ending. Nor does a resemblance to motifs in oral traditions make them the same story. To discuss distinct versions, records with different characters and sequences of events must be identified.

Folklore in the Story

The ghost lights in this account can be read in connection with traditions of dokkaebi fire. “Ghost lights” refers to strange lights regarded as the fire of ghosts. Kim Jong-dae's study also interprets this record as an example of dokkaebi fire.

The comparison rests on the shared motifs of nighttime roads, bad weather, and gathering in groups. Here, the weather is a condition under which the lights appear in the tradition. It is not observational evidence establishing what actually caused the lights.

Does This Account Explain the Origin of Dokkaebi Fire?

This account does not explain how the tradition of dokkaebi fire began. It unfolds as the personal account of someone who encounters strange lights. The origin of Korean dokkaebi as a whole therefore cannot be found in this single story.

The following distinctions should be kept in mind when reading.

• Distinguish the expression “ghost lights” in the record from the later interpretation of them as dokkaebi fire.
• Do not assume that ghosts and dokkaebi are always the same beings.
• Do not conclude that a particular natural phenomenon caused the events in this account.
• The setting of the story does not indicate a present-day haunted location.

The Ending and Meaning of the An Buyun Story

The key to the ending is the twist in which a pine-knot fire is mistaken for a ghost. A pine-knot fire burns pieces of resin-rich pine. For the household, it provided light for work. For An Buyun, it became a light that revived his fear from the nighttime road.

This structure can be read as showing how fear changes even the way ordinary things are interpreted. On the mountain road, unidentified lights frighten a person. At the country house, that person misidentifies a familiar light. The contrast between the two scenes creates humor.

This interpretation is a reading drawn from the story's structure. It is not a separate moral explicitly stated by Seong Hyeon. Nor is there a basis for assigning An Buyun a modern medical diagnosis.

Key questions in this article

Is the Story of An Buyun True?

It is a strange tale recorded in a classical work, not an event verified as true. The mere presence of a person in the story does not prove that ghost lights exist. This article retells a traditional story.

Where Can I Read the Original Text?

The Classical Chinese text is quoted in an article in issue 15 of Donggwang in the Korean Modern Historical Materials Database. It runs from the introduction of An Buyun through the commotion at the country house. The linked Kyujanggak page provides bibliographic details for its copy.

Is An Buyun a Person's Name?

“An Buyun” is a form of address combining a surname and an official title. “An” is the surname, and “Buyun” is the official title. The text introduces him as Seong Hyeon's maternal uncle.

Is the Fire That Appears at the End Also a Ghost Light?

The final fire at the country house is a pine-knot fire the servants have lit for their work. An Buyun mistakes it for ghost lights. This mistake creates the twist in the ending.

Is a Summary That Ends on the Mountain Road a Different Version?

There is no basis for treating the summary in the study consulted as a distinct version. The study presents the mountain-road scene with a focus on the characteristics of dokkaebi fire. The Classical Chinese quotation continues through the commotion at the country house.

What Does the Story Mean?

One possible reading is that lingering fear can make even an ordinary light seem threatening. Placing a mistake after the scene in which the ghost lights appear to have been driven away creates humor. This is an interpretation of the story's structure.

Is This a Tradition Connected to Halloween?

There is no evidence that this account originated with Halloween. It can be included among classical ghost stories to read in the lead-up to Halloween. The original source and the meaning of its ending remain the same when read in summer or any other season.