essay
The system of belief in Korean rural communities
Asian peoples and their cultures : continuity and change • (8) • Published In 1986 • Pages: 185-199
By: Cho, Oak-La.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Cho examines village-level religious beliefs and practices, in which he includes folk religion, ancestor worship, and shamanism. According to Cho, 'Religious activity is at the very center of the life of the villagers; it is the single most important element in their lives and it controls and influences their behavior and hopes at every turn (185).' Villagers believe that ancestral and animisitic spirits influence their well-being and destiny. The village's patron deity, who is responsible for the general prosperity of the village, resides in a shrine located near a big tree, or on top of a nearby mountain, and is worshipped by villagers once, or twice a year. The household also has its spirits who can cause sickness and misfortune if not properly cared for. Victims of accidental deaths are usually not worshipped and become wandering ghosts. They are potentially harmful and can cause sickness, family disharmony, or economic problems. To alter such a fate, a shaman must dispel the anger of such spirits in a special ceremony called a KUT. According to Cho, the religion of rural Korea has survived to the present (1978), because it continues to provide the basis for community.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Magical and mental therapy
- Cult of the dead
- General character of religion
- Spirits and gods
- Eschatology
- Luck and chance
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Korea
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- East Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Indigenous Person
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1997
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1977-1978
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1948-1978
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- North Kyongsang Province, Republic of Korea
- NotesAdditional notes
- Oak-La Cho
- Papers submitted before the First International Conference on 'Asian Peoples and Their Cultures: Continuity and Change,' held Dec. 8-10, 1980, in Seoul, Korea
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-199)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 91107873
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Koreans