Sumyeong-jangja is the cruel and arrogant rich man of the Cheonji-wang bon-puri, a mortal magnate who oppresses the poor, adulterates the grain he lends, and mistreats even his own household, all while boasting that he fears neither heaven nor the gods. His insolence draws Cheonji-wang down from the sky, who visits fire and lightning upon his estate as a demonstration of divine justice at the very opening of the world. As a punished human wrongdoer rather than a deified being, he stands in the chant as the archetype of impiety against whom the newly established cosmic order is measured.