Abstract
Mountain worship and sanshin (mountain gods) legends are intrinsic to Korean culture. Central
for narratives of anti-colonial struggle and contemporary policy of North Korea, Mt. Paektu also
became a symbol of Korean national identity in South Korean popular culture. This paper engages
two legends sited there, suggesting that their main protagonists represent contemporary sanshin.
Firstly we consider the image of Kim ChÅng-suk of North Korea, and those narratives addressing
her husband, Kim Il-sÅng’s guerrilla resistance in terrains surrounding Paektu. As a bodyguard of
Kim Il-sÅng and a champion of revolutionary struggle, Kim ChÅng-suk transcends her human
nature, and embodies female presence on Mt. Paektu. Secondly the paper investigates narrative
from contemporary South Korean practice GiCheon (氣天 Kich’Ån), intended for physical and moral
cultivation of a person, reinvented in modernity on the basis of ancient East-Asian traditions. It
recounts a mythic meeting of Bodhidharma with the Immortal Woman of Heaven (天仙女
Ch’ÅnsÅnyÅ) dwelling at Mt. Paektu. The Woman of Heaven overpowers Bodhidharma in battle,
challenging patriarchal gender conceptions and contesting Chinese cultural superiority. Examined
together, these two narratives demonstrate common cultural background. Ancient tradition, passed
down from past to present, continuously accumulates and transforms, acquiring new forms in South
and North Korean contexts.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 151-179 |
Journal | S/N Korean Humanities |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |