The Legend of Prince Golden Calf in China and Korea by Wilt L. Idema and Allard M. Olof (review)

Edited and translated by Wilt Idema and Allard Olof, The Legend of Prince Golden Calf in China and Korea is the first book to fully detail the historical development and spread of the eponymous legend. A popular tale in both countries, the legend of Prince Golden Calf tells the story of a king’s newborn son who, being born to the king’s third wife, is fed to a cow by his mother’s fellow wives and jealous rivals. To their horror and dismay, the cow gives birth to a (golden) calf, of which the king grows considerably fond. The two wives eventually persuade their husband to kill the calf, but with the help of the royal butcher the calf manages to escape to another kingdom where he ultimately regains human shape and returns to rescue his mother.

While originally believed to be of Korean origin dating back to the fourteenth century, Idema asserts the earliest appearance of the story could be traced back to China as far back as the eighth century. In this text, Wilt Idema and Allard Olof present full translations of major versions of the legend found in both Chinese and Korean across a sustained period. Though not intended to be taken as a systematic study on the spread of popular narratives from China to Korea—through Idema and Olof’s efforts to effectively trace the “migration” of this single legend—this book presents a rare and valuable case study on intercultural, especially Sino-Korean, relations and literary adaptation.

The first chapter “Bovines in China and Korea” serves as an introduction to the case study by addressing the animal’s significance in both cultures. With a general discussion of the sheer extent of bovine lore, including references to the animal in other major tales such as “The Weaving Maiden and Oxherd” or even Journey to the West, it is evident that cattle bear more than solely agricultural value. Rather than a specific reference, however, Idema argues that it is the “growing love of the ox as a household animal” being expressed that associates Prince Golden Calf with this bovine culture (p. 27). This “love” is evidenced by the lengthy descriptions of the king’s deep affection for the calf found in all versions of the legend, which may also account for the tale’s continued popularity.

The following four chapters of the book are each dedicated to a version and translation of the legend, starting with “The Sutra of the Golden Calf,” which details the earliest existing record of the tale. Known as Foshuo xiaoshunzi xiusing chengfo jing, the text itself holds considerable value as it was once believed to have been lost and rediscovered in 1900. Unfortunately, due to only three fragments of the original text having been preserved, the translation in this chapter is incomplete. Regardless, the discussion of this version serves as a starting point for examining the legend’s development, especially given that the tale is presumed to be the Chinese version of a jātaka, a story of one of the prior lives of the Buddha Sākyamuni.

It is perhaps due to these Buddhist origins that renditions of Prince Golden Calf, such as the one described in the following chapter, “The Seventh Stage: Prince Golden Calf,” migrated to other countries such as Korea. It is with studies of this version, which was included in a compilation of Buddhist stories known in Korea as Sŏkka Yŏrae sipchi suhaeng ki, that belief in the legend’s strictly Korean origins initially emerged. This misunderstanding has in recent years been rectified, as scholars realized the text was first printed in China some two hundred years prior. Despite this chronological superiority, the compilation, referred to as Shijia rulai shidi xiuixing ji in Chinese, apparently dropped from circulation in its country of origin while it continued to...