원시 수퇘지신앙을 통해 본 도깨비의 기원 연구

Abstract

The Tokebi is a traditional Korean folk creature of fancy. it is usually regarded resemblance of goblin. In Korea, the Tokebi is an very well known word. It is within bounds to say that every Korean knows meaning of the word, and has an arbitrary understanding about the alien substances, from children, who have ability of communication, to their seniors. It is interesting that no one can depict the creature completely, though it is known to all Korean. And also there is no exact definition of it yet. Tokebi is not created by a single person or a group, the character of it has been changed frequently by the people in the passage of time. Therefore, it is hard to grasp the origin of Tokebi for us, who live in 21st century. But still there is need of academic efforts to examine the origin and clear definition of Tokebi, because it is one of very important elements of the traditional Korean culture. Fortunately there are many hypotheses about the origin of Tokebi, but each of them also has a clear limitation. The purpose of this paper is to explain the origin of Tokebi from a new point of view, which is based on folk tales, shaman songs and folkloric beliefs. There are a few folk tales about the Golden Boar, and those could be considered as the original form of all Tokebi tales. There are many points of resemblance between them, especially the core elements of the stories. The ancient boar religion was created, when cultivation culture was established. Then it lost the sanctity as the medieval times came, and it became an alien creature of fear. I will try to explain that process, and present basis of this new hypothesis, which presume that the Tokebi primarily meant Boar man in ancient Korea.