울릉도 마을신앙의 역사적 전개와 지역적 특수성

Abstract

The documentaries about Uleung-Do assert that it has never been an uninhabited island. Separated from Korean national policies, Uleung-Do has been a living space where unknown Korean agricultural and fishing practices, as well as daily experiences, have accumulated. How did the folk religions first form, how did they change through the early Cho-sun Dynasty and the adversity of Japanese invasion and colonialization, and what aspects do the contemporary folk religions have? The Prosecuting Record in Uleung-Do, the documentary text written by Lee Gyuwon, indicates that there used to be shrines for the mountain god in Hakpo, Taeha, Jeodong and Naridong districts during the time of the king Goh-jong. From the shape and position of the altars, and the fact that they were revered, it is presumed that the residents made their living not by fishing but from their mountains and their fields. Also, the reference The Origin of Taeha Shrine tells us when the shrine was established and what the villagers worshiped there. Another reference, The Mountain God in the Saint Peak, shows the origin of the altar on the Saint Peak, what the being revered there was, and what the villagers did for a living. In spite of the 'Empty-island' policy of the Cho-sun Dynasty, people had constantly immigrated to and settled in Uleung-do. This implies that the mountain god religions and the village shrines had come along with them. The folk religions in Uleung-Do consist of two classes: one is of the mountain god, and the ther is of the sea god. The mountain god religion is the major sect in which most of the residents believe, and the sea god sect is the minor sect in which only the fishermen believe. However, The Presecutiong Record of Uleung-Do suggests that there weren't any rites for the sea god in Uleung-Do at that time. Even though the villagers made their living by fishing, they prayed not to the sea god, but to the mountain god for the plentiful fishing harvests and safety from storms. In short, the sea god religion is one of the Japanese religions which had been formed by the Japanese since the beginning of their colonialization of the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese invasion of traditional Korean fishing places and their colonial policies caused the folk religions in Uleung-Do to transmute from the age-old Mountain God worship to a belief in the newer Sea-God. I hope further incisive works in both the diachronic and synchronic ways will yield explicit proof to explain the fact that Uleung-Do is a Korean territory and part of its sphere of life and culture. It’s necessary to carry out more active research on the folk religions in Uleung-Do for the preservation and succession of the sea and island religions believed in the residents of Uleung-Do.