Korea-Busan-Beomeosa Sallyeonggak 6282-07

''Sanshin'' or ''Sansin'' () are local mountain-spirits in

Korean Shamanism Korean shamanism or Mu-ism is a religion from Korea. In the Korean language, alternative terms for the tradition are ''musok'' () and ''mugyo'' (무교, 巫敎). Scholars of religion have classified it as a folk religion. There is no central aut ...

and folk-beliefs. In South Korea, most Buddhist temples and major Shamanic-shrines, and some traditionalist villages have a dedicated shrine called a ''sanshin-gak'' () or an altar called a ''sanshin-dan'' dedicated to the local ''sanshin''. This nature-deity is typically represented in the enshrined icons (paintings and/or statues) as an elder male (in rare cases, mature female) figure in royal-Confucian clothing, always accompanied by at least one

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

and a Korean Red Pine tree. There are many other symbols being held by the Sanshin, offered to him by servants or in the backgrounds of the more elaborate paintings, derived from Oriental

Daoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in ...

, shamanic-folklore and Korean 'spiritual-ethnic nationalism' -- making these multi-religious icons unique in the entire world. The ''Sanshin'' faith is interpreted in the folk scene as a belief devoted to the mountain gods. The mountain's beauty, its mystery, and the perceived shape that soars toward the sky are combined to inspire

mountain worship Mountain worship (sangaku shinko, ) is a faith that regards mountains as sacred and objects of worship. Description Mountain worship is a form of Nature worship that seems to have evolved from the reverence that ethnic groups closely associate ...

on an emotional level. The upper mountain slopes, cliffs and peaks are seen as is the realm of the spirits and the places to communicate with them and attain visions or enlightenment. The faith that the mountain is believed-in as a mystical body that provides abundance and protection is very ancient in all Korea, and continues today in public or private Sanshin-je (mountain-spirit ceremonies) Seonang-gut (tutelary-deity rituals). When the mountain is located between

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...

and the earth where human beings live, and serves as a link between those two worlds, it is believed to be a representation of the universal

world mountain In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the ' ...

, thought by traditional religions like

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

and

Geomancy Geomancy (Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy in ...

to rise at the center of the world. There are particular shamanic-folklore individual Sanshins, such as Eunje-san Seongmo (Hangul: 운제산성모; Hanja: 雲梯山聖母), who is the wife of ''Namhae Yong-wang'' or Dragon King of the South Sea, ''Jiri-san Seongmo Cheonwang'' (Hangul: 지리산성모천왕) or Exquisite-Wisdom Mountain Holy-Mother Heaven-king, and ''Mireuk Sanshin Halmi'' (Hangeul: 미륵산신할미) or Future-Buddha Mountain-spirit Grandma, to name just a few. Some prominent Chinese mountains have shrines to similar deities in the

Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

traditions, called ''Shanshen'' 山神. The Japanese equivalent is the '' Yama-no-Kami'' (山の神; also pronounced as ''yamagami'').

References

Prof.

David A. Mason David Alan Mason (born November 11, 1957) is an American academic usually based in South Korea. He has been a professor of cultural tourism at Sejong University in Seoul since 2014. He has authored about 10 prominent books on Korean culture, spir ...

maintains a gigantic website about Korean Sanshin Mountain-spirits, at He published the landmark book on this topic in 1999, "Spirit Of The Mountains: Korea's San-shin and Traditions of Mountain-Worship" Mountain gods Korean mythology {{Deity-stub

See also

References