西海의 신령이 된 田橫

Abstract

Tian Heng, the general and emperor of Qi(齊) State who lived through the turmoils of the Warring States Period of China, is worshiped as a divine spirit at a village shrine in the westernmost islands of the Korean Peninsula such as Eocheong(於靑島), Oiyeon(外烟島), and Nok Island(鹿島). He chose death over the order to serve two kings and thus attracted ongoing attention from the end of Goryeo to the beginning of Joseon, ultimately becoming the symbol of integrity and patriotism emphasized in Sung Confucianism. Going through two invasions from Manchuria and Japan and the transitional period from Ming to Qing Dynasty, Joseon was overwhelmed by an atmosphere of returning its boon to Ming Dynasty and witnessed the rising worship of Ming Dynasty and Chinese heroes. It was in the period that attention to Tian Heng was highlighted once again. While Confucian scholars tried to build a shrine for him, common people established him as the divine spirit of their villages. The islands closer to the Shandong Peninsula than the Korean Peninsula were called Oho or Tian Heng Islands after middle Joseon. While Oho Islands were in a Chinese term, Tian Heng Islands were in a Korean term. In the former half of Joseon, the vacant island policy prohibited people from residing in the islands. Once signal fires were built to protect the westernmost parts of the Yellow Sea, however, Bongguns were gathered around from the neighboring areas and moved to the islands. After middle Joseon, people started to move in islands to avoid forced labor or punishment, and the islands must have been no exception. The islands lacked in farming land and could not develop agriculture. The biggest problem with living in the islands was the shortage of food. It was Tian Heng that emerged as a figure to solve the problem since he pulled ships carrying grain for tax to his territory and distributed the grain to the residents of his islands. Even 500 subjects of his faced death in order to prolong his life one day more. Those tales well reflect the difficulties the residents of the islands had to endure through a severe food crisis. They are clearly different from the historical assessment of Tian Heng and contain the religious aspiration of common people. As the villagers worshiped Tian Heng as the divine spirit of their villages for his good administration, their religious service became structured in a system of Sanshin-Tian Heng-Hadang Service. Since Tian Heng was worshiped for a new religious purpose along with Sanshin, the divine spirit of agriculture, the Sangdang(上堂) Service was divided into Sanshin and Tian Heng Service. Meeting a new religious aspiration, Tian Heng was also worshiped as a divine spirit for fishing in relation to the continuously growing fishing industry. The ship owners and whale hunters were the central figures in the service for Tian Heng. Thus Tian Heng established himself as the god of fishery in the newly emerging Dangje(堂祭).