Korean folklore

Korean folklore is well established, going back several thousand years. The folklore's basis derives from a variety of belief systems, including Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism and more recently Christianity.[1] Mythical creatures often abound in the tales, including the Korean conception of goblins[Dokkaebi (Korean: 도깨비)]. Korean folklore began to be organized after folklore lectures were started by Cho-Chi hun.[2] It is still deeply embedded in Korean society. It appears deeply in the fields of religion, story, art, custom, etc.

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Types of Folklores

There are many types of folklore in Korean culture, including Imuldam (이물담), focused on supernatural beings such as monsters, goblins and ghosts. The most common of which are the Dokkaebi (도깨비), meaning goblin. However, this term differs from the European concept of 'goblin' in that they do not possess an evil or demonic characteristic. Instead, they are creatures with powers that seek to both bring delight to people and misery. These beings engage either in friendly or annoying behavior with humans. Their interactions with humans represent the belief in the supernatural and their interactions with humanity. The presence of these beings is meant to represent both difficulties and pleasures in life.[3]

Folk Religion
See also: Korean shamanism

Korean folk religion (Korean: 민속신앙) is an ethnic religion of Koreans and is closely related to the lives of modern Koreans. Korean folk religions are based on Korean shamanism and foreign religions such as and Buddhism. Korean folk religions have changed the nature and characteristics of folk beliefs through the cultural process through which foreign religions are introduced, and folk religions have gradually developed as foreign religions and indigenous beliefs are mixed.[4] Korean folk religions are not individual beliefs, but the religions of the living community. Korean folk religions and village beliefs were formed and developed mainly based on local living communities such as homes and villages. A professional shaman of Korean shamanism has emerged and absorbed and develop these gasin faith (Korean: 가신; Hanja: 家神, literally House's God) and village religions.[5]

Gasin faith is a house-centered religion. In Korean folklore, houses were sacred places with the tradition of family members and ancestors. It is believed that there is a guardian deity in every place in the house, and that they bring good fortune to the family. It was believed that there were a god in charge of the house and called in wealth, and a god in the master bedroom to give birth to babies and protect their offspring. And it was believed that there were evil spirits outside the house that gave people anxiety and fear to enter the house. Therefore, there is a custom in the house to restrict the entry of evil spirits by hanging thorn trees on the gate or by setting up ritual strings to prevent evil spirits from entering the house. The gods of the house confronted these evil spirits and acted as guardians of the house.[5]

Village religion is an extension of the gasin faith. The expansion of the family is a place where relatives live, and the village is also a place where non-religious people can live. The gods of the village religions were different depending on the characteristics of the village. Village religions are generally limited to one village, but sometimes they are extended out of the village to perform farming rituals or communal rites as a combination of villages and villages. In most villages, they often served one main god and served Jangseung (Korean: 장승, Korean totem pole) or other small gods as subordinate gods.[5]

Korean shamanism has received much contempt or discrimination from other religions, but has learned how to organize forms from other religions. Korean shamanism imitated the form and organization of foreign religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism, and foreign religions also absorbed the foundation of shamanism and formed a religious form suitable for the private sector. It also had a complementary relationship with Confucianism. Shamanism dealt with abnormal and irregular problems, compared to Confucian beliefs dealing with normal regular problems. Korean shamanism did rituals to release bitter soul rancor or expel bad luck from houses.[5]

Folk Literature

Korean folk literature is closely related to Korean ethnic culture. Most of the materials related to this were passed down verbally and show the lives and customs of Koreans. Korean folk literature consists of shamanic songs, myths, tales and folktales. It implies the sentiments of an independent ethnic group and shows historical variability as it was formed over time. It also has a community cultural character and is closely related to the production culture.[6]

Korean classical novels also borrowed themes from folk tales, and the genre of modern-day novels, Sulhwa (Korean: 설화, traditional story) Literature, developed from biographical narratives about the lives of heroes or women, was handed down in the form of heroic or shamanistic myths. In other words, Korean folk literature has had a huge impact on the development of literary literature.[7]

Seolhwa(Korean: 설화, Hanja: 說花) refers to fictional folk stories with a coherent plot, orally transmitted among the people. They are also called yetiyagi (Korean: 옛이야기, old tales); godam (Korean: 고담, ancient tales); and yadam (Korean: 예담, tales). Although it is difficult to determine when and where Korean folk narratives originated, it is considered that they date back to the time the first men settled on the peninsula. It is difficult to classify, but is generally classified into three categories: the story of God, the story handed down, and the story handed down from the private sector. Seolhwa generally consists of prose that does not involve rhyme, but sometimes have rhymes like folk songs. For the illiterate class who did not have any characters in the past, it would have been much more advantageous for the transmission of the story in the form of rhyme and would have been of great help to arouse the interest of listeners.[7]

Muga(Korean:무가, shamanic songs) is another representative form of Korean folk literature. Unlike other folk literature preserved in the form of prose, Muga was passed down by shamans orally. It conveys the story and draws attention from the listener. Muga generally delivers tales related to shamanistic myths through songs with rituals. One of the representative muga is a tale of Abandoned Princess Bari(Korean: 바리공주). Muga about abandoned princess Bari tells the origins of an underworld deity and is recited as part of shamanic rites appeasing death. [7] Muga has a lot of wishes to God, and by making wishes, he tries to eliminate disasters, prolong life, and promote good fortune and fortune. It was also a song for God, so it was accompanied by dance, song, and story to entertain God. Mugga or very long Mugga, which must be described systematically, has been handed down only in teacher-student relationships. [8]

Social Folk Custom

Korean folk custom accounts for a large part of Korean culture and believes in family, community and society, unlike the Western ideology of individualism.[9] It shows things about social practices such as family and weddings. In Western learning, a person's lifelong rites are classified as birth, coming-of-age ceremony, wedding ceremony, and funeral service. However, Korean customs emphasized the role of the family community and members of society, eliminating birth and emphasizing filial piety after the funeral.[10]

The Four Ceremonial Occasions
Further information: The Four Ceremonial Occasions

In Korean customs, there are four rites of passage: Gwallye(an adult ceremony), Hollye(a wedding), Sangrye(a funeral) and Jerye(a ritual) held by an individual throughout his or her life. Every individual changes his or her social status throughout his or her life. After being born and supported by parents, they become adults, married, and family members according to their physical growth. When they get old, they are supported by the elderly and die. In Korea, these changes in the social status of individuals were traditionally accepted in the order of a single integrated family rite called Gwanhonsangje(Korean: 관혼상제), The Four Ceremonial Occasions, emphasizing the meaning of the change and minimizing the confusion it brings.[10]

Gwallye was the coming-of-age ceremony, which marked the entry of adult from the world of childhood, and people were recognized as members of society after they went through this custom. It was a ceremony to wear a hat with a topknot on.

Hollye meant marriage, and there were rituals for discussing marriage, exchanging gifts and exchanging letters.

Sangrye refers to funerals. People tried to overcome the family order crisis caused by the death of their family members through strict consciousness. There was a system of mourning clothes, and there was a system of funeral for three years.

A traditional Korean table set for Jerye(Jesa)

Jerye refers to rituals in honor of ancestors. According to traditional Korean belief, the spirits of the departed do not leave the earth for several generations; thus, deceased parents and grandparents are still considered part of the family. It is still performed to honor them on death anniversaries and on major holidays.[11]

During these four occasions, family members and village members actively cooperated, so they were able to foster community ties. But today, Gwallye gradually extinguished in Japanese colonial era, traditional family rituals were steadily inherited in rural areas, while it was gradually simplified in urban areas. After Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule, the traditional family system, which values ancestor worship, collapsed, placing more importance on weddings and 60th birthday celebrations for the living than rituals for the deceased ancestors. In the 1960s, as industrialization and urbanization were promoted, professional businesses such as wedding halls and funeral parlors were developed, and rituals were held outside the home. Along with the economic development, especially Sangrye, Wedding, and Hoegapyeon(Party of the 60th birthday) added luxury and luxury, and its abolition became a social problem.[12]

Social Folk Customs in Daily life

A once dominant Confucian culture that emphasizes respect for ancestors, age and seniority has affected South Korea's home, workplace and social life. In addition to other factors such as economic status and status at the business level, age and marriage status are among the determinants of the hierarchy, and these factors, especially age, affect relationships among social acquaintances.[11] Folk customs related to family or farming have changed into other forms or disappeared little by little as industrialization proceeds.[13]

Jerye(Jesa) is still one of the important customs of the Korean people. Koreans perform Jesa on the day of their ancestors' death, Korean new year and Chuseok(Korean: 추석, Autumn eve). The unity of the family community is strengthened because all families must gather together to prepare and hold events together during Jesa.[13]

In terms of food-related customs, there is gimjang. Many Koreans make a large amount of kimchi when the temperature drops in late fall. In spring, each household ferments seafood such as shrimp and anchovies with salt. In summer, buy a thousand-day salt to store for two to three years so that the bitter taste is gone. In late summer, dry red peppers and grind them to powder. In late fall, housewives decide the right date for kimchi in consideration of the weather. Innovative techniques and creative ideas are shared and accumulated through the custom of sharing kimchi at home after making kimchi. This custom also helped foster community ties, as family members and village members gathered to make kimchi.[14]

Folk Arts

Korean folk arts are art forms that have been passed down within the ethnic group. Korean folk art is characterized by many works satirizing the upper class and society.

Minhwa
Further information: Minhwa
Magpie and tiger, Author unknown, Joseon Dynasty

Minhwa is a popular painting produced according to the traditional lifestyle of the common people, unlike the styles of paintings by professional painters.[15] Painting related to the public's desire to chase away bad ghosts and face a happy occasion, paintings to decorate the inside and outside of the house, and paintings directly related to everyday life such as folding screens, scrolls, and murals made up the mainstream of folk paintings.[16]

Minhwa was used to decorate the living and ceremonial spaces of the private sector during the Joseon Dynasty. After securing marketability through economic growth after the late Joseon Dynasty, it was distributed through the market in the early 20th century. Since Minhwa originated from imitating paintings of court and other high-class demand, most of the plants were similarly painted on the subject. Traditional Korean paintings have stories of historical and cultural metaphor and symbols, such as the meaning of defeating evil, landscape painting, and portraits. Minhwa, like these paintings, contains all topics, ranging from themes that repel evil to sentimental topics such as landscape painting, characterization, and botanical painting, as well as old stories and myths.[17]

Painters and painting styles of Minhwa vary depending on the order, the demander and the purpose of the painting. The paintings by orders from the upper middle class were painted by a skilled professional painter using good materials and many of them are large in size. The paintings by private demand were painted by Buddhist monks or wandering painters, using materials readily available from the private sector, and there are many paintings with strong individuality as they can reveal the subject of the painting rather than follow certain forms and forms, or as a popular painting style in the private sector. Minhwa may not have been professionally painted, but stories on the subject were handed down along with the paintings, and the paintings were spread around the theme rather than the shape they were drawn.[17]

Pansori
Further information: Pansori

Pansori is a Korean folk music performed by a singer and a drummer, combining musical stories. Characterized by the repertoire of expressive songs, stylized speeches and narration and gestures, the tradition has gained popularity in both elite and folk culture. [18] Unlike Western musical performances that cannot be applauded during performances, one of the three essential components of pansori is to induce audience participation and to move in response to the singer's passionate singing. [19] Every audience in pansori can get involved in the performance through ad-libs. What a great audience is an audience capable of proper adulation. So some pansori recordings were recorded in an audience-less studio, not in the real world, but some were deliberately added. It is impossible to know in detail when, how, and by whom pansori began to be sung.  Pansori is a form of singing a long story. Therefore, in order for pansori to be made, there must be a tale that pansori is based on first, and there must be a need to sing it and a person to sing it. Most of the stories that pansori originates from were seolhwa(old tales) told within the Korean people.[20]

Folk Dances

Korean folk dances are mostly made up of farmers' exciting dances. There was also a dance performed by Gwangdae (Korean:광대) with a low status at a banquet. Korean folk dances are famous for their satirical goals for corrupt aristocrats and their close ties to rural communities that were the basis of Korean culture and tradition. Most performances take place in a market place or field and include drumming, dancing, and singing.[21]

Talchum
Further information: Talchum
Bongsan Talchum, A Bride and A Monk

Talchum, Korean traditional mask dance, is one of the representative types of Korean folk dances. It is a form of drama featuring wearing masks, singing and dancing.[22] Talchum does not require official stages and can be performed outdoors surrounded by audiences. The audience's reaction is considered part of the performance and interacts actively with the audience. Many Talchum performances are satire that emphasizes the hypocrisy of the ruling class and arrogance and the suffering of the people. Most Talchum performances deal with serious topics, but they also have one element of humor.[23]

Talchum was first associated with nature's imitation, farming, sexual activity, or faith in defeating ghosts, but it has gradually been transformed and developed into symbolic movements that contain the will of the people, such as satirical dances, and artistic expressions that have developed into a popular aesthetic. Also, the structural characteristics or gestures vary depending on the region.[24]

Women in Korean Folklore

In Korean folklore, there are a few legends that touch of the idea of feminism and the role of women in these tales.

Legend of Arang (Chosen Era):

In the Legend of Arang, Arang is portrayed as very vulnerable. She is helpless, weak and innocent and needs to be rescued by a hero to avoid falling into the trap of her maid, who is tempting her. However, Arang's maid is seen as very beautiful but also a very evil temptress. From these two characters, it can be seen that women in the Chosen Era are seen secondary to men as they are always in need of rescue or too weak to fight for themselves. The Korean women were considered not marriageable if they were found of these traits. [25]

Legend of Dangun: In the legend of Dangun, the bear who followed the orders of Hwanung was transformed into a beautiful woman, who eventually became the mother of Dangun. Through this tale, the reader can see that women are perceived as very patient and motherly figures.[26]

Kumiho:

Kumiho is a nine-tailed fox that appears in various Korean folktales. When this fox transforms itself into a human, it becomes a woman. One prominent trait of this fox is its trickster personality which is often used to trick men. This reflects a perception of women as being deceptive.[27]

Contemporary Revival

A revival on internet sites occurred recently, providing inspiration for artists and illustrators. Contemporary creations based on Korean folklore are mostly animations and cartoons.

Recent achievements in keeping Korean folklore alive include the 150-part animated TV series, "Animentary Korean Folklore (Korean: 애니멘터리 한국설화)", telling old tales with a traditional 2-D Korean styled animation. The Animation Korean Folklore is an animation based on Korean folk literature, and was created by faithfully following the narrative structure of the tales. "Eunbi & Kabi's Once Upon a Time" is also one of the representative animations based on Korean folklore. It was also based on Korean folk literature. Unlike Animentary Korean Folklore, it added explanatory characters to help the animation process.[28]

A movie "Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds" was based on Korean folk religion and folk literature. The film shows how a person meets a lawyer in the underworld and goes through seven trials. It depicts the world of the underworld, depicted in Korean shamanism and muga. Since the original cartoon of the film was a huge success, many creators in Korea have shown interest in Korean folklore. [29]

See also

References
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  8. The Academy of Korean Studies (2012). "Muga". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-06-02.
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  11. Yu, Woo Ik (2020-06-04). "South Korea - Daily life and social customs". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
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  14. Cultural Heritage Administration, UNESCO (2012). "Gimjang, The Culture of Making and Sharing Kimchi". UNESCO World Heritage (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  15. Shim, Woo Hyun (2018-07-19). "Minhwa, unsung paintings waiting for reassessment". Korea Herald. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
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  19. Seoul Tourism Organization (2012-12-11). "Traditional Music: Listen to or Learn Pansori, Samulnori". VISITSEOUL.NET. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
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  22. Korean Culture and Information Service, KOCIS (2014-09-16). "Masks & the Mask Dance : Korea.net : The official website of the Republic of Korea". KOREA.net. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
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  25. "The status of women in Confucian ethics and institutions during the mid-Joseon Period". Mahan Baekje Cultural Research Institute - Wonkwang University. Archived from the original on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
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  27. Sim, Woo Jang (2012). "Three-Legged Dog". Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  28. Lim, Yong Sub (2018). Animation Viewed by Cultural Original Form. Communication Books. pp. 142–145. ISBN 9791128810664.
  29. "The Cultural Original Form: An Afterlife Trip Game vs Along with the Gods". CultureContent.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-06-04.
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