Cheongjeokbaekbyeong 청적백병

Relic

Blue, Red, and White Bottles

Cheongjeokbaekbyeong—literally “the Blue, Red, and White Bottles”—isn’t a single artifact so much as a recurring, deeply symbolic motif in Korean folklore.

The best-known version of the story appears in Collection of Joseon Folk Tales, compiled by the scholar Son Jin-tae in 1930.

Each of the three bottles holds a different magical liquid, and all three are required to bring someone back from the dead:

• White Bottle (baekbyeong, 백병 ): “puts flesh back on the bones.”

• Red Bottle (jeokbyeong, 적병 ): “sets the blood flowing.”

• Blue Bottle (cheongbyeong, 청병 ): “restores breath to the body.”

In the classic tale the bottles are given to a young woman named Yeoni. Abused by her stepmother, Yeon-i is sent out in mid-winter to gather frozen vegetables. She comes upon a strange boulder, beneath which she discovers a small house owned by a kindly youth called Doryeon. Although winter rages outside, it is spring in his domain and vegetables grow in profusion. Impressed by Yeon-i’s perseverance, Doryeon rewards her with the three bottles of “living water” and teaches her how to use them.

Consumed by jealousy, the stepmother secretly follows Yeon-i, murders Do-ryeon, and burns his house. Yeon-i, remembering the instructions, brings him back to life in the exact order required: first the white bottle to rebuild flesh, then the red to make the blood run, and finally the blue so he can breathe once more.

From Korean Bestiary 5E, p. 101 · Fern Flower Press