Saengsabu- Korean ArtifactArtifact"Book of Life and Death"
Also known as: 생사부 and 生死簿
Description
The divine register maintained in the underworld court of Yeomra that records every mortal's allotted lifespan and deeds. When a person's time expires, the Jeoseung Saja consult the Saengsabu before departing to escort the soul to Jeoseung for judgment.
Mythology & Lore
The Celestial Ledger
The Saengsabu is kept in Myeongbu, the underworld court. It records every mortal's name, allotted lifespan, and deeds. No soul departs the living world before its time runs out. None remains beyond it.
When a soul arrives in Myeongbu, Yeomra, the Great King of the Dead, opens the register. The life is there in ink: what the person did, what they failed to do, the years they were given. Yeomra judges from the record. The Siwang, who preside over the ten successive courts, draw on it as well, each king consulting the register for his particular category of judgment.
The Authority of the Register
In the Gangnim Chasa Bonpuri, the Jeju shamanic narrative of the first death messenger, the Saengsabu is what makes orderly death possible. When Gangnim becomes the first Jeoseung Saja, the register binds him to its rules: he must confirm the identity and location of each soul before collecting it, then escort the deceased to Jeoseung. The book governs even its enforcers.
Korean folk tales test the register's power. In some, a name is mistakenly recorded and the Jeoseung Saja arrive for the wrong person. In others, the dying try to bribe the messengers or bargain to have their entry changed. The book holds. The Korean expression for imminent death is still "having one's name written in the Saengsabu."