Encyclopedia of Korean Folklore and Traditional Culture Vol.

II

Encyclopedia
of Korean
Folk Beliefs
II
Executive Editor
Compiled and Edited by
Chung Myung-sub (Director, Folk Research Division)
The Encydopedia Planning Team Foreword
Kim Tae-woo (Research Fellow)
Ahn Hye-kyeong (Research Fellow)
Cho Hyun-sook (Researcher)
Kim Seung-yu (Researcher)

English Translation Jung Ha-yun (Professor, Ewha Womans Univ.)

Editorial Assistants Cho Youn-kyung
Hwang Eun-hee
Koh Hyo-jin
Reviewers (Korean) Lee Yong-beom (Professor, Andong Univ.)
(English) Charles Montgomery (Professor, Dongguk Univ.)

Publishing Date November 9, 2013

Today more than ever we are seeing an increasing interest in the intangible cultural properties of humanity from around the
Publisher Cheon Jin-gi (Director, The National Folk Museum of Korea)
Published by The National Folk Museum of Korea world. UNESCO has been compiling its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage aiming at preserving and protecting the invaluable
37, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea legacies of each traditional ethnic culture. It was within this exciting environment of renewed awareness of humanitys cultural
http://www.nfm.go.kr/
treasures that the National Folk Museum of Korea completed 2011, the publication of its six-volume Korean-language edition
Tel +82-2-3704-3230 of the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs in a vast compilation of the legacy that makes up the roots of the Korean spirit.
Fax +82-2-3704-3239
The museum had embarked on a comprehensive project to compile a massive Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture,
Production Minsokwon beginning in 2004, with the rst volume of the Encyclopedia of Korean Seasonal Customs dedicated to the rst lunar month of
Designer Jeong Choon-kyong the year. The inaugural publication was soon followed by ve additional volumes, on spring, summer, fall and winter customs,
and index, respectively. The publication project for the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs began in 2009, divided into three
individual sets, on shamanism (2009), village gods worship (2010) and household gods worship (2011), respectively. The Korean-
language publications were followed by ambitious English-language editions, of the Encyclopedia of Korean Seasonal Customs
in 2010 and now of the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs.
The museum will continue its efforts toward compiling the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture with the scheduled
publications: the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Literature; the Encyclopedia of Korean Rites of Passage; the Encyclopedia of
Korean Folk Arts; the Encyclopedia of Food, Clothing and Housing in Korea; the Encyclopedia of Occupations and Skills in
Korea; and the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Society. The English editions will continue as well with the completion of each
publication in the series. We anticipate that the project will culminate in a complete and far-reaching survey of Koreas folk
heritage, a rich legacy that has been passed down over thousands of years.
Lastly, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the editorial staff at the museum and many others who
contributed to the publication of this English-language edition of the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs, for their dedication
and insight, including the writers, advisors, editors, the reviewers, and the translation team at Ewha Womans University
Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation.

Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs

Copyright 2013 by the National Folk Museum of Korea. All rights reserved.
Printed in the Republic of Korea
No part of the text or images in this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.
For information address The National Folk Museum of Korea, 37, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea.

An on-line version of this encyclopedia is available at http://folkency.nfm.go.kr/eng/

Government Publication
Registration Number: 11-1371036-000143-14 October 2013
ISBN: 978-89-289-0057-2 91380
Cheon Jin-gi
You can use the Cataloging In Publication (CIP) of the Natioanl Library of Korea for this book at the homepage of e-CIP (http://seoji.nl.go.kr/) or
Korean Library Information System Network (http://www.nl.go.kr/kolisnet). (CIP Number: CIP2013021865)
Director, National Folk Museum of Korea
 Contents

Foreword 3

Concepts 7

Rites and Officiants 17

Divinities and Sacred Entities 141

Ritual Venues 193

Ritual Props 209

Ritual Offerings 249

References 267

List of Photographs 275

GUIDE
1. E
 ntries are presented in the Romanized form of the Korean terminology, accompanied by the original Hangeul version and its English Index 321
translation.

2. E
 ntries are categorized into seven sections, and arranged in alphabetical order within each section.
Entries that appear with in the text or under other entries are marked in bold.

3. Th
 e transliteration of Korean terms and names in this book follows the Revised Romanization of Korean system, with the exception of some
administrative units, geographical features and artificial structures, which in some cases have been transliterated in alternate forms to enhance
the readability of the text. For example, the province has been rendered as Southern Gyeongsang Province within the main text and
as Gyeongsangnam-do in photo credits.

The transliteration of Chinese and Japanese terms and names follows the pinyin system and the Revised Hepburn system, respectively.

4. Th
 e following is a chronology of Korean dynasties as referred to in the encyclopedia:
Gojoseon (2333 108 BCE); Buyeo (18 BCE 660); Goguryeo (37 BCE 668); Baekje (18 BCE 660);
Silla (57 BCE 935); Balhae (698 926); Goryeo (918 1392); Joseon (1392 1910)

5. C
 redits have been given to all photographs copyrighted by institutions and individuals other than the National Folk Museum of Korea.

6. The index includes terminologies both in their transliterated form and in English translation.