David Alan Mason (born November 11, 1957) is an American academic usually based in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He has been a professor of

cultural tourism Cultural tourism is a type of tourism in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the cultural attractions and products offered by a tourist destination. These attractions and products relate to the ...

Sejong University Sejong University (SJU; ) is a private research university located in Seoul, South Korea, known for its standing in hospitality and tourism management, dancing, animation and rhythmic gymnastics. Founded as the Kyung Sung Humanities Institute, it ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

since 2014. He has authored about 10 prominent books on

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea before the division of Korea in 1945. Since the mid-20th century, Korea has been split between the North Korean and South Korean sovereign state, stat ...

, spirituality, travel and mountains, and serves as a scholar, author, public speaker and tour guide. He remains a well-known authority on Korean spiritual traditions of all kinds, especially about his core topic the

Sansin Mountain Gods () are Asian tutelary deities associated with mountains. They are related to landlord deities and tudigongs and City Gods. They are well-known in Korea and some prominent Chinese mountains have shrines to similar deities in the D ...

(산신, 山神, Sanshin) deity and their shrines found throughout Korea called Sansin-gak (산신각, 山神閣), integral parts of

Korean Buddhist temples Buddhist temples are an important part of the Korean landscape. Most Korean temples have names ending in ''-sa'' (), which means "monastery" in Sino-Korean. Many temples participate in the Templestay program, where visitors can experience Buddhi ...

Korean Shamanism Korean shamanism, also known as () is a religion from Korea. Religious studies, Scholars of religion classify it as a folk religion and sometimes regard it as one facet of a broader Korean vernacular religion distinct from Buddhism, Taoism, Dao ...

and village life. He is also an expert on the

Baekdu-daegan Baekdu-daegan () is a traditional Korean conception of the mountains and consequently the watersheds of the Korean Peninsula. The mountain range stretches the length of the Korean Peninsula, around 1,500 km, from Baekdu Mountain in the nor ...

mountain range and Korea's national parks, having visited all 20 as of 2011.

Personal life and education

Mason was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, and raised in its suburb

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor (M-1 (Michigan highway), M-1). As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 censu ...

. He earned his B.A. degree from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

in 1981, studying Oriental Philosophy, Environmental Biology,

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

Macrobiotics A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is an unconventional restrictive diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobio ...

. He first visited Korea in July 1982, staying for a year as an English teacher and growing increasingly interested in the traditional culture found in its mountains, ultimately turning it into a career. He moved to Korea permanently in January 1986. He received his M.A. in

Korean Studies Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes South Korea, North Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Korean history, Korean culture, Korea ...

from

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

of Seoul in 1997, majoring in the history of Korean traditional religions.

Career and appearances

Mason worked for

Kangwon National University Kangwon National University (KNU, ) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities in Gangwon, South Korea. History Initially established as an agricultural college, Kangwon National University has steadily expanded to the comprehensive ...

1988–97,

Wonju Campus 1999–2000, Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 2001–05, and the Tourism College of

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (KHU; ) is a Private university, private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. It was founded in 1949. Kyung Hee University is part of the Kyung Hee University System, which offers comprehensive ...

2005–13. He has been featured many times in Korean media, including print, television and radio programs, such as the

Arirang TV Arirang TV () is a South Korean international broadcaster owned and operated by Korea International Broadcasting Foundation. It broadcasts current news and programs offering political, economic, and cultural content from a Korean perspective t ...

interview-show "Heart to Heart" hour-long episode on May 21, 2013 entitled "David A. Mason, an established Korean mountain spirit expert". He also appeared in the half-hour episode 8 of Arirang TV's "K-Phile" (Korea-Lover) series entitled "Sanshin, a Symbol of Korea's Nature and Culture" on Dec 14 2016, and in a section of the Chosun Mountain-TV program entitled "산의 부활 Rejuvenescence of Mountain", about the "K-Mountain" promotional effort launched that autumn by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Mason's research activities, in January 2017. He has contributed to The Korea Times several times over the years, starting in 1983 with an article on

Jikjisa Jikjisa () is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Seon Buddhism. It is located on the slopes of Hwangaksan in Daehang-myeon, Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It may be one of the oldest temples in South Korea. History Jikji ...

. To promote cultural tourism in Korea, he created a database of his top 40 sites in Korea for the World Pilgrimage Guide. He assisted Tony MacGregor and cohorts in designing and trekking the

Wonhyo Wŏnhyo (; ; 617 – 686, meaning: "Dawnbreak") was one of the most important philosophers and commentators in East Asian Buddhism and the most prolific scholar in Korean Buddhism.Muller, Charles元曉 Wonhyo, ''Digital Dictionary of Buddhism'' ...

Trail pilgrimage-tourism project in 2011. He assisted in the creation of Korea's

Temple Stay Templestay () is a cultural program offered in numerous Korean Buddhist temples, South Korean Buddhist temples. Templestay allows participants to experience the life of Buddhist practitioners and learn the various aspects of Korean Buddhist cultur ...

program in 2002. He has been an English editor and writer the

Jogye Order The Jogye Order, officially known as the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗), is the leading order of traditional Korean Buddhism, with roots dating back 1,200 years to the late Silla period. Around ...

of Korean Buddhism, and an adjunct professor of international tourism for the

Hanyang University Hanyang University (HYU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul and Ansan (ERICA campus), South Korea. ''Hanyang'' () derives from the Names of Seoul, former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon period. The u ...

Graduate School of Tourism, and taught courses on the history of Korean culture and Northeast Asian Relations for Hanyang's International Summer School Intensive Program. He has served on the managing boards of and been a frequent lecturer for

Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RAS-KB; ) is a learned society based in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1900 as the world's first Korean studies organization, it was founded to provide a platform for scholarly research on the history, ...

(RAS) in Seoul and contributed to the society's journal Transactions, writing on "Sacred Aspects and Assets of Taebaek-san", "Jirisan: Sacred Aspects and Assets", "Mountain Tourism and Religious Heritage Sites: A Fresh Paradigm" and "Go-un Choi Chi-won’s Pungryu". Mason was an invited speaker on Korea's

Religious Tourism Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch o ...

features at the

UNWTO The United Nations World Tourism Organization or UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which promotes responsible, sustainable and universally-accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. Othe ...

's "International Conference on Tourism, Religions and Dialogue of Cultures" in

Córdoba, Spain Córdoba ( ; ), or sometimes Cordova ( ), is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the Province of Córdoba (Spain), province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated Municipalities in Spain, municipality in Andalusia. The city prim ...

in October 2007 and "International Congress on Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage" in Fatima, Portugal in November 2017. In addition, his research paper "The Baekdu-daegan Region as Korea's Fresh & Green Multi-faith Pilgrimage-Tourism Destination" was published by the "Religious Tourism in Asia and the Pacific" Report of UNWTO in April 2011.

Pioneering globalization of the Baekdu-daegan mountains

Before 2005 the Baekdu-daegan mountain system, a connected web of all Korea's mountains that defines the geography of the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

, remained entirely unknown to the world outside Korea, but in that year professor Mason began to promote it to the global audience in English by establishing the website san-shin.org and publishing articles highlighting the spiritual and cultural traditions of the mountain range. He served as the contributing editor to the first Edition of the "Baekdu-daegan Trail Guidebook" authored by Roger Shepherd and Andrew Douch, which garnered wide attention from international travel-hikers. He was appointed as the Republic of Korea's Honorary Ambassador of the Baekdu-daegan mountain-system in January 2011. He gave a talk at a seminar and publicity event about Baekdu-daegan held by the Korea Forest Research Institute at the

Mungyeong Saejae Mungyeong Saejae () is a mountain pass in central South Korea. It lies on Joryeong Mountain between the main peak (1017 m) and Sinseon Peak (967 m). The pass itself rises to above sea level. Mungyeong Saejae connects Mungyeong City ...

Pass on June 10, 2010, which also featured Director-General Shin Jun-hwan and the famous Korean poet

Ko Un Ko Un (; born 1 August 1933) is a South Korean poet whose works have been translated and published in more than fifteen countries. He had been imprisoned many times due to his role in the campaign for Korean democracy and was later mentioned in ...

Publications

* 987'Modern Hotel English' ( Hollym) * 987'POSCO Business English' ( Pohang Steel Company) *

993 Year 993 ( CMXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian (also known as the Sword of Essen) as ...

'Korea: A Sensory Journey' (Woojin Publishers) with photography by Marc Vérin *

997 Year 997 ( CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first child of the emperor, but because of the power stru ...

'Korea: A Travel Survival Kit' (

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

) *

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

'Spirit Of The Mountains: Korea's San-shin and Traditions of Mountain-Worship' ( Hollym) (Korean edition 2002) *

005 ''005'' (pronounced "''double-o five''") is a 1981 arcade video game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings. ...

'Passage to Korea' ( Hollym) with photography by Marc Vérin *

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest ...

'The Colors of Korean Buddhism: 30 Icons and their Stories' overall editor and co-author (Korean Buddhism Promotion Foundation) published for the

2010 G20 Seoul summit The 2010 G20 Seoul Summit was the fifth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state, to discuss the global financial system and the world economy,Cho Jin-seo "Seoul unveils G20 summit's symbol," ''Korea Times'' (ROK). July 8, 2010; r ...

in November 2010 *

'Baekdu Daegan Trail: Hiking Korea's Mountain Spine' contributing editor (Seoul Selection) *

'The Korean Forest Culture of the Baekdu-daegan: Spiritual and Folk Heritages along Korea’s Grand Tiger's Spine Mountain-System' (Forest Recreation and Culture Division of the

Korea Forest Service The Korea Forest Service (KFS; ) is a central administrative agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFR), responsible for protecting and nurturing forests, increasing forest resources, developing forest products, con ...

for the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification 2011) with photography by Roger Shepherd *

013 013 is a music venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The venue opened in 1998 and replaced the ''Noorderligt'', the ''Bat Cave'' and the ''MuziekKantenWinkel''. 013 is the largest popular music venue in the southern Netherlands. There are two concer ...

'An Encyclopedia of Korean Buddhism' (Unjusa) cowritten with Ven. Hyewon *

016 The Home Guard Special Division 016 (; abbreviated as HV-016) is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's abili ...

'Solitary Sage: the Profound Life, Wisdom and Legacy of "Go-un" Choi Chi-won' *

017 017 may refer to: * DOL-017, GameCube console * '' Global Underground 017'', DJ mix album * Road FC 017, 2014 Mixed Martial Arts event * Swift 017.n, racing car * Tyrrell 017, Formula One racing car See also * 17 (disambiguation) Seventeen o ...

'Sports, Leisure and Games in Korea: A Sourcebook' contributing editor of English version (

Academy of Korean Studies The Academy of Korean Studies (AKS; ) is a South Korean research and educational institute focusing on Korean studies. It was established on June 22, 1978, by the Ministry of Education & Science Technology. Works Journals *'' Korea Journal'' ...

Press)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, David A. American expatriate academics American expatriates in South Korea American Koreanists Academic staff of Sejong University 1957 births Yonsei University alumni Living people