page_title: Korean shamanism
hierarchical_section_title: Korean shamanism
caption_attribution_description: Main grounds of Samseonggung where the Sages's shrine hall is located. Samseonggung Shrine dedicated to the traditional worship of the three mythical creators of Korea: Whanin, Whanung, and Dangun.
context_page_description: Korean shamanism or Korean folk religion, also known as Shinism or Sinism or Shindo, is the polytheistic and animistic ethnic religion of Korea which dates back to prehistory and consists in the worship of gods and ancestors as well as nature spirits. When referring specifically to the shamanic practice, the term Muism is used.
  The general word for "shaman" in Korean is mu. In contemporary terminology, they are called mudang if female or baksu if male, although other terms are used locally. The Korean word mu is synonymous of the Chinese word wu 巫, which defines both male and female shamans. The role of the mudang is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods and humanity in order to solve hitches in the development of life, through the practice of gut rituals.
  Central to Korean shamanism is the belief in many different gods, supernatural beings and ancestor worship. The mu are described as chosen persons.
  Muism is related to Chinese Wuism, Japanese Shinto and to the Siberian, Mongolian, and Manchurian shamanic traditions. According to some scholars, the Korean ancestral king and later mountain god Dangun is related to the north Asian sky god Tengri.
context_section_description: Korean shamanism or Korean folk religion, also known as Shinism or Sinism  (Korean: 신교, Hanja 神敎; Shingyo or Shinkyo, "religion of the spirits/gods") or Shindo (Korean: 신도; Hanja: 神道, "way of the spirits/gods"), is the polytheistic and animistic ethnic religion of Korea which dates back to prehistory and consists in the worship of gods (신 sʰin) and ancestors (조상 josang) as well as nature spirits. When referring specifically to the shamanic practice (Korean: 무속, Hanja: 巫俗; musog or musok), the term Muism (Hangul:무교, Hanja: 巫敎; Mugyo or Mukyo, "religion of the mu (shamans)") is used.
  The general word for "shaman" in Korean is mu (Hangul: 무, Hanja: 巫). In contemporary terminology, they are called mudang (무당, 巫堂) if female or baksu if male, although other terms are used locally. The Korean word mu is synonymous of the Chinese word wu 巫, which defines both male and female shamans. The role of the mudang is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods and humanity in order to solve hitches in the development of life, through the practice of gut rituals.
  Central to Korean shamanism is the belief in many different gods, supernatural beings and ancestor worship. The mu are described as chosen persons. (see: Korean mythology)
  Muism is related to Chinese Wuism, Japanese Shinto and to the Siberian, Mongolian, and Manchurian shamanic traditions. According to some scholars, the Korean ancestral king and later mountain god Dangun is related to the north Asian sky god Tengri (Tian) ("Heaven"). Hereditary shamans, who are typical of South Korea, are called tangol (당골) or tangur-ari, a word considered related to the Siberian word Tengri (gods or spirits). Mudang are similar to Japanese miko and Ryukyuan yuta. Korean shamanism has influenced some Korean new religions, such as Cheondoism and Jeungsanism, and some Christian churches in Korea make use of practices rooted in shamanism.
  The mythology of Korean shamanism is orally recited during gut rituals. In Jeju, these are called bon-puri.
caption: Gardens of the Samseonggung, a shrine for the worship of Hwanin, Hwanung and Dangun.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Samseonggung - Shrine dedicated to the traditional worship of the three originators of Korea: Whanin, Whanung, and Dangun.", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-H1", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:14 18:59:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2478", "Image XPTitle": "[83, 0, 97, 0, 109, 0, 115, 0, 101, 0, 111, 0, 110, 0, 103, 0, 103, 0, 117, 0, ... ]", "Image XPComment": "[77, 0, 97, 0, 105, 0, 110, 0, 32, 0, 103, 0, 114, 0, 111, 0, 117, 0, 110, 0, ... ]", "Image XPSubject": "[77, 0, 97, 0, 105, 0, 110, 0, 32, 0, 103, 0, 114, 0, 111, 0, 117, 0, 110, 0, ... ]", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6448", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "0", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:10:27 13:30:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:10:27 13:30:23", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "73/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1280", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "851", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5420", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "0"}