It is sometimes accompanied by servants holding symbolic items, animals, plants, or, very rarely, its wife, said the folklorist, who has observed more than six hundred paintings of the kind. Mason said that each sanshin painting has its own style and atmosphere, since they are all drawn by different craftsmen, whether they be active shamans, or secular or Buddhist artists. They are a uniquely Korean form, although they are depicted with Chinese artistic motifs, said the author. The respect for mountains and the firm belief in sanshin are derived from Korea's natural and historical folklore, Mason said. Constituting more than 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula, inhabitable mountains have always inspired gratitude, fear, respect, admiration, awe and worship in the Koreans.
Many old legends feature benign mountain spirits.
Mason said that the legend of the Koreans' primordial father, Tangun, may have contributed to the flourishing of mountain myths. According to the legend, Tangun founded Korea's first nation, Kojoson, in 2333 B.C. and ruled Korea for 1,500 years before disappearing into a mountain and becoming a mountain spirit. Throughout Korea's long history, the sanshin have looked over individual villages and towns, as well as the Korean nation as a whole. Despite their relentless modernization in the past century, Koreans still pay respect to, or at least acknowledge, their sanshin in a wide variety of contexts. According to him, Korea's mountain spirit will find new and important socio-cultural roles to play in the 21st century in the areas of national identity, ecological protection, and reunification.