Korean Shamanism
Shamanism in Korea
In the
past, Korean shamanistic rituals and ceremonies like prayers were used to help
in hopes of producing abundant harvests. However, now in modern Korea, shamanism
is used for a much different purpose. Korean divination in its essence is now used
to for healing – to help solve human problems by asking for aid from one of the
many spirits in the Korean shaman pantheon.
In fact, regardless of religious
beliefs many will ask a Korean shaman, referred to as mudang, to perform
rituals for many reasons, such as: for marriage, death, moving into a new
house, etc. Similar to other shamanistic practices, Korean shamanism is mixed
with elements of animism and the environment.
Historically, shamans have low
social status, being in the lowest class. Although this is the case,
ironically, shamans are being often consulted with and those with records of
skills and success receive widespread patronage. In addition, unlike other
cultures where shamans are predominantly men, Korean shamans are mostly women.
This is because “it was one of only four professions that women were allowed to
pursue” (Cartwright).
Origins
Korean
shamanism originated in the north-eastern Asia region and in fact, share many
similarities with shamanism in Siberia, Manchuria and Mongolia. Although it is
not a religion, many people still hold on to shamanism as a major belief
system. Many Koreans, while they are believers of Buddhism, Christianity or
Confucianism, will “tend to imbue their faith with Shamanistic beliefs and
practices” (Korean Shamanism).
In the world of shamanism, there
is a great belief in the idea of geomancy – where the placement of buildings
and things are taken into consideration for the best benefit from locations of
spirit dwellings and life forces. Animism plays a big role as well – where
natural features are believed to possess their own spirits. Many mudangs will
travel to where nature is abundant to recharge their spiritual energies,
similarly to what David J. Kim stated in Visions and Stones and how Ms. Park
travels frequently to mountains.
Transmission
From the beginnings of Korean
shamanism, traditions, rituals and ceremonies has been transmitted or passed
down through three distinct means. These three transmission means are: simple transmission of time, syncretism, and
lastly sublimated transmission. The first type of transmission – simple
transmission – can be easily described as passing down these traditions through
personal or village ceremonies. The second type – syncretism – is when
shamanistic practices are incorporated into other religions. And lastly,
sublimated transmission, where “formation of different, new religions [are
created] by the mixing of Shamanism with other established religions”
(Chačatrjan).
Korean Shamanism can be traced all
the way back to three royal dynasties in Korea: Silla, Koryŏ and Yi. In the
Silla dynasty, examples of simple transmission would be mountain, river, and
rain prayer festivals. Syncretic transmission is evident in Harvest/ Lantern
festivals in the Silla dynastic, which continued into the Koryŏ dynastic. These
festivals “[were] held in Buddhist temples but was not really a Buddhist
worship” (Chačatrjan). The final transmission can be seen with a new system set
by King Chinhŭng of Silla which was called Hwarangdo – which was “a
creative combination of Shamanism with higher standard religions” (Chačatrjan). The later dynasties will
also experience similar transmissions of shamanism which will shape modern
Korean shamanism.
Government and
Shamanism
Since Korea’s liberation from
Japan, the Korean government has “attempted to eradicate shamanism, especially
under the rules of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee” (Korean Shamanism). Not
only were there attempted in South Korea, but as well as North Korea. No matter
how hard the government tried, their attempts failed – even in the totalitarian
North Korea shamanism still prevailed.
With the roots of Korean shamanism
being so deeply imbedded into Korean culture, the government “has acknowledged
that the dances, songs, and incantations that compose the kut make up important
aspects” of the culture (Korean Shamanism).
References
-
Cartwright,
Mark. “Shamanism in Ancient Korea.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient
History Encyclopedia, March 27, 2020. https://www.ancient.eu/article/968/shamanism-in-ancient-korea/.
-
-
“Korean
Shamanism.” Korean shamanism - New World Encyclopedia. Accessed March 30, 2020.
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/korean_shamanism#Place_in_society.
This is by Jonamhae.
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