hankyoreh

As hereditary shamans gradually die off one by one, the designation of Jeolla Province’s ssitgimgut ritual as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization world intangible cultural heritage is being pursued. South Jeolla Province has begun to pursue the listing of the Jindo ssitgimgut, one of Korea’s leading shamanist rites, as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity with UNESCO. Jindo is an island located off the southwestern coast of the Korea Peninsula.

The ssitgimgut is a traditional rite that involves calling forth the spirits of the dead to resolve their earthly rancor, cleansing them and praying for their safe passage into the next world. The Jindo ssitgimgut takes place overnight and is divided into ten stages: andang, chogamangseok, sonnimgut, jeseokgut, gopuri, yeongdonmari, ssitgim, huiseol, gildakkgi and jongcheon. While this occurs, plaintive rhythms and dances are performed to evoke sadness.

The Jindo ssitgimgut was designated as Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 72 in 1980. But the danggol (hereditary shamans) who inherited and carried on the tradition of the gut ritual in each village have been disappearing for reasons such as changes in the social environment, and the transmission of the Jeolla Province ssitgimgut is in danger of dying out. Park Byeong-cheon, who played a major role in the designation of the Jindo ssitgimgut as an important intangible cultural asset, died in November of last year, and Park Byeong-won is carrying on the tradition.

As the first step in having the Jindo ssitgimgut designated a world intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, South Jeolla Province is holding an international conference. At the conference, to be held at the Jindo Folklore and Culture Center at 2:00 p.m. on October 11, a large number of researchers of shamanist rituals such as Hungary’s Mihail Hopal, head of an international shamanism institute, and Italian researcher in shamanist practices Sergio Poggianella will attend to discuss the globalization of shamanism, the value of the Jindo ssitgimgut as a world intangible cultural heritage and directions for its future preservation. Also, an international festival of shamanist rituals to be held at Jindo’s Nokjin Plaza on October 11-13 will feature 11 kinds of shamanist ritual from 5 nations: South Korea, China, Mongolia, Japan and India.

Lee Guong-yup, a professor of Korean literature at Mokpo National University, said that the Jindo ssitgimgut is a religious rite that is an important cultural property from a global standpoint in that it allows the cultural surmounting of the pain of loss resulting from death. He also cautioned that the current practice of hereditary transmission of shamanist practices by region has not yet been fully researched, saying that efforts at preservation and research must be carried out in parallel, such as the issuing of comprehensive reports on shamanist rituals.

UNESCO’s list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity currently includes South Korea’s Jongmyo Shrine royal ancestral ritual and its music (designated in 2001), the pansori epic chant (2003) and the Gangneung Danoje Festival (2005).

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]