Abstract
There are two kinds of spaces in the <Chogong Bonpury>, a traditional shaman epic of Jeju Island. The horizontal axis, the house of Im JinGook, Seogang BepoTang and Seoul are the places where people live their everyday life. Devout prayer for sons and daughters, giving birth and raising, trying the highest-level state examination in Seoul and being a successful person are ordinary course or aim in their lives.
However people do not feel it is enough to lead a everyday life. HwanggeumSan, Seogang BepoTang and Samcheonjeon Jeseokkung make a vertical axis in the <Chogong Bonpury>. Ordinary life would be breakdown by death. Even the most successful life would be meaningless in the face of the death. At the same time we humans long for something full of meaning over the everyday life. So Nogadanpung Agissi and Sammengdoo had to go through up to the high mountain HwanggeumSan.
The dilemma we meet in the ordinary life is the conflicting situation of the death and transcendence. It shows that the <Chogong Bonpury>deal with the dilemma of the life in the face. The fact that we can not escape from death, the fact that we can not live only everyday life. These are the life's dilemma we can not avoid as long as we are human. The <Chogong Bonpury>goes in company with lots of myths and religions in this line.
How the main characters of the <Chogong Bonpury> solve this dilemma? Nogadanpung Agissi went through a painful travel to HwangguemSan and experienced the death and revival. What made her undergo such sufferings? That is because it is the road to the center or core of the life. The center is a sacred space. Walking the road to death to get transcendence is quite a common topic in the myths all around the world.
Those who understand this in their inner self will become the core itself. Through suffering, death, and transcendence in their inner self, they will become the walking temple themselves.
As a well organized myth, I think the <Chogong Bonpury> suggest a good model of life for those who participate in the ritual Jeju Gut.
However people do not feel it is enough to lead a everyday life. HwanggeumSan, Seogang BepoTang and Samcheonjeon Jeseokkung make a vertical axis in the <Chogong Bonpury>. Ordinary life would be breakdown by death. Even the most successful life would be meaningless in the face of the death. At the same time we humans long for something full of meaning over the everyday life. So Nogadanpung Agissi and Sammengdoo had to go through up to the high mountain HwanggeumSan.
The dilemma we meet in the ordinary life is the conflicting situation of the death and transcendence. It shows that the <Chogong Bonpury>deal with the dilemma of the life in the face. The fact that we can not escape from death, the fact that we can not live only everyday life. These are the life's dilemma we can not avoid as long as we are human. The <Chogong Bonpury>goes in company with lots of myths and religions in this line.
How the main characters of the <Chogong Bonpury> solve this dilemma? Nogadanpung Agissi went through a painful travel to HwangguemSan and experienced the death and revival. What made her undergo such sufferings? That is because it is the road to the center or core of the life. The center is a sacred space. Walking the road to death to get transcendence is quite a common topic in the myths all around the world.
Those who understand this in their inner self will become the core itself. Through suffering, death, and transcendence in their inner self, they will become the walking temple themselves.
As a well organized myth, I think the <Chogong Bonpury> suggest a good model of life for those who participate in the ritual Jeju Gut.
| Translated title of the contribution | Transcendental Space and Core Space of The 'Chogong Bonpury' |
|---|---|
| Original language | Korean |
| Pages (from-to) | 85-110 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | 탐라문화 |
| Issue number | 36 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2010 |