Where Korean talismans come from
Last updated: 2026-11-08
A bujeok (부적, written 符籍 in Chinese characters) is a paper talisman. The first character, bu, originally meant a tally — one half of a token that matched its partner to prove authority. A talisman was imagined the same way: a written token that carried authority over bad luck.
Three roots
Korean talismans grew from several traditions that mixed over many centuries.
- Folk belief and shamanism. Korea’s oldest religious practice involves spirits of the household, village and mountains. Shamans (무당, mudang) made talismans for clients as part of rituals for protection and healing, and many still do.
- Taoism. Chinese Taoist priests drew elaborate written charms, often in stylized characters only initiates could read, and many ended with the command 急急如律令 — “swiftly, swiftly, as the law commands.” These forms reached Korea and shaped how talismans look.
- Buddhism. Korean temples have long printed protective sheets carrying sacred syllables (dharani) and images of guardian figures. Some temples still hand out talismans at the New Year.
Guarding the gate
One of the best-known stories behind Korean door charms is the tale of Cheoyong, recorded in the 13th-century Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms). Cheoyong, a figure of the Silla kingdom, calmly sang and danced when he found a spirit of disease in his home; the spirit was so moved that it promised never to enter a house that showed Cheoyong’s image. For centuries afterward people hung his picture at their gates to keep sickness away.
By the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), pasting pictures and written wishes on doors at the New Year was widespread. The royal court gave out New Year paintings, and ordinary families put up images of tigers, roosters and guardian generals, along with talismans for keeping trouble out.
Wishes for every part of life
Over time talismans came to cover almost every hope: passing the state examination, a happy marriage, a son or daughter, a good harvest, a safe journey, a profitable shop, long life. One widely known type is the samjae talisman. In Korean fortune-telling, everyone passes through a three-year stretch of “three calamities” (삼재) once every twelve years, depending on their zodiac animal, and a talisman showing a three-headed hawk is said to fend them off.
How they were made
Traditional bujeok were drawn on yellow paper with ink made from cinnabar, a bright red mineral. The person drawing them would often choose an auspicious day, purify themselves first, and work in a single concentrated sitting. The finished talisman was folded and carried, pasted up, or — for some wishes — burned, with the ashes taken as part of a ritual. Why yellow and red? →
Bujeok today
Talismans are still part of Korean life, though often in a lighter way. Students preparing for the college entrance exam may carry one from a parent; new shop owners may keep one by the register; travelers may tuck one into a wallet. Museums such as the National Folk Museum of Korea hold historic talismans, and designers have turned their bold red forms into stickers, prints and phone cases. Many people who keep one would not call themselves superstitious — it’s closer to carrying a lucky coin.
Why we don’t copy real talismans
For some people, traditional talismans are part of a living religious practice. So the talismans made on this site are original designs: they borrow the shape, colors and spirit of a bujeok, but instead of a sacred formula they carry your own wish, written in Yeongbumun (영부문), a decorative script invented for this site.
Learn more
- Yellow paper, red ink: colors and symbolsWhy talismans are yellow and red, and what the sun, moon, clouds, knots and coins stand for.
- The Korean zodiac and Lunar New YearThe twelve animals, how your animal is counted, and a table of years to find your own.
- Seasonal wishes in KoreaSeollal, Ipchun, Daeboreum, Dano and Chuseok — the days Koreans traditionally make wishes.
- How people keep, give and retire a bujeokWhere to keep a talisman, giving one as a gift, and what to do with it when its time is up.