Walk up to the main gate of Gyeongbokgung, the great palace at the heart of Seoul, and you will be greeted by a pair of stone beasts. They sit on their haunches with their chests puffed out, their manes curled, their mouths wide open in what looks like a grin, and a single horn rising from the top of each head. These are haetae (해태), also called haechi (해치), and they are among the most recognisable creatures in Korea. You will find them on palace roofs, on government buildings, on the logo of the city of Seoul, and even on the label of a well-known brand of snacks.
Unlike the gumiho or the dokkaebi, the haetae is not a creature of spooky stories. It is a guardian, and a very particular kind of guardian. Its special power is to know who is in the right.
The beast that knows right from wrong
The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes the haetae as an imaginary animal that can tell right from wrong and good from evil. It looks something like a lion, with a single horn in the middle of its head, a thick mane, a wide-open mouth, a lively, bouncing body and a long tuft of hair at the end of its tail.
The idea came to Korea from ancient China. A Chinese text called the Yiwuzhi (異物志), a record of strange things from distant lands, describes a one-horned beast living on the northeastern frontier. When it saw people fighting, it would charge at the one who was in the wrong and butt him with its horn. When it heard people arguing, it would attack the one who was lying. In other words, it was a living lie detector and an incorruptible judge, and no amount of flattery or bribery could change its mind.
That made the haetae the perfect symbol for justice. In old China, judges wore a special hat decorated with the haechi, called the haechigwan. In Joseon-dynasty Korea, the beast appeared on the embroidered rank badge worn on the chest by the head of the Saheonbu, the office that investigated and disciplined government officials. Wearing the haetae was a promise: I will see through lies, and I will not be swayed.
Guardian of the palace
The haetae has another job, too. Korean tradition regards it as a sinsu, a sacred beast that wards off fire and disaster, and that is why it was placed on palace buildings. At Gyeongbokgung, haetae sit in front of Gwanghwamun, the main gate, and on the roof ridges of Geunjeongjeon, the grand throne hall where the king held court.
Fire was a constant danger to Korea’s wooden palaces, and Gyeongbokgung had already burned down once, during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, before it was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. A popular story says that the haetae at Gwanghwamun were placed there to guard against the “fire energy” of Gwanaksan, a jagged mountain to the south of Seoul. The encyclopedia also suggests a second meaning. A creature that judges fairly, set at the entrance to the king’s palace, was a reminder that the king should rule impartially too.
Haetae appear in Buddhist temples as well. At Tongdosa, one of Korea’s most important temples, near Yangsan in South Gyeongsang province, a haetae is painted on the walls of one of the halls.
The haetae today
In 2008 the city of Seoul adopted the haetae, under the name Haechi, as its official symbol. Today a cheerful cartoon Haechi appears on city signs, souvenirs and public campaigns, and stone haetae still guard the palace gate where tourists line up for photos. The creature’s name is also familiar from a long-established Korean snack company, which took the beast as its logo.
It is a nice irony. The haetae began as a fierce, horn-butting judge of wrongdoers, and has ended up as one of the friendliest faces in Korea. But the original idea is still there in every statue. Someone, the haetae says, is always watching, and the truth will out.
Haetae and other guardian beasts
The haetae is sometimes confused with the stone lions that guard Chinese temples, or with the lion-dogs, komainu, that sit at the entrances to Japanese shrines. They all share a family resemblance, and they all stand guard. What makes the haetae different is its single horn and its special talent for judgement. A temple lion protects a sacred place, but a haetae protects justice itself, which is why it ended up on judges’ hats, officials’ badges and the gates of government.
Quick facts
The haetae, or haechi, is a lion-like imaginary beast with one horn on its head. It came to Korea from Chinese tradition, where it was said to butt wrongdoers and liars with its horn. In Joseon Korea it symbolised justice on the badges of officials and was believed to protect buildings from fire, which is why haetae guard Gwanghwamun and the roof of Geunjeongjeon at Gyeongbokgung. It is now the official symbol of the city of Seoul.
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