Sansingak
Mountain Spirits Venerated in Korean Temples
David A. Mason | Wrter
 |
| A Sansingak, Mountain Sprit Shrine |
Throughout Korean history, the residents of this mountainous peninsula have believed that the peaks and slopes are spiritually alive and religiously significant, inhabited by or manifesting Sansin, which literally means “mountain-spirit(s).” They have long been the main tutelary spirit of most villages and towns, and collectively, the guardian of the Korean nation as a whole. Since ancient times Korean kings have funded great ceremonies at grand altars as proof of Sansin’s legitimacy, while the common folk prayed for good weather, bountiful crops, healthy children, and protection from ill-fortune at small village or temple shrines.
When I first visited a Korean Buddhist temple almost three decades ago, I was amazed to find a shrine for this spirit prominently located within the temple, behind and above the main Buddha Hall, this location showing the high respect given to this indigenous deity. It was clearly not a Buddhist icon, but rather Shamanic and Daoist in origin and with strong Confucian motifs, and also a few recognizable Buddhist symbols mixed in.
I’ve always loved mountains and have always been fascinated by the great oriental religious traditions, so discovering this figure representing the powerful matrix of mountain-ecology and human life, displaying the iconographic motifs of all the major Eastern spiritual traditions in harmony, was a major revelation. I soon discovered that this deity is especially characteristic of Korean spiritual culture and also functions at the very center of it, and that every one of the thousands of major depictions of it are artistically unique, no two ever quite the same. Finding, photographing, and studying them became my hobby, passion, and then career.
Shrines for this spirit, called a Sansingak or some similar name, are found in most of the temples of most of Korea’s Buddhist orders. Visitors to these monasteries may come to share my fascination with this profound and complex spiritual figure.
Sansin are symbols of the relationship between human beings and the ecology of the mountain they live on. Each mountain has its own particular “character” due to its topography, weather, water sources, fauna, flora, and the people who live at its feet or on its slopes over the centuries have developed a complex interaction with all of that. They recognize, venerate, and manipulate that relationship through the religious symbol of Sansin. The most highly-educated might realize that it is just a symbol, while others really believe that there is a deity in human form inhabiting the mountain, and the local tigers were either his or her manifestation or servant.
Sansin is foremost among all native Korean deities, perhaps only because Korea itself is mostly mountainous, and the grandest mountains generally have the strongest associated traditions. Korea’s mythical founder Dangun is thought to have become a Sansin upon retirement. All of Korea’s religious traditions acknowledge the importance of Sansin, and Koreans have always worshipped them before all other deities in their ceremonial hierarchy. Sansin can well be said to be an axial figure in traditional Korean culture, due to the way in which it connects the various religious traditions to each other, forming the “native center” of the interconnected web of Korean religions.
Sansin also served, and increasingly now serve, as the symbol of a cultural ideal, the desired state of humanity living in balanced harmony with nature, enjoying robust health, longevity, fecundity, and wisdom. These ideals are generally rooted in Daoism but are also shared in Korean Shamanism, Neo-Confucianism, and all types of Buddhism, in addition to the spiritual aspects of Korean nationalism.
Remarkably, all of these differing religious traditions utilize the Sansin image and venerate this earthly deity. They regard him as a sort of “king of the local mountain,” vaguely as a primal ancestor, and as the landlord who really owns the mountain territory, having been there before humans and their religions arrived. Buddhist temples perform regular ceremonies called Sansin-je, giving offerings. Monks find that veneration of this figure gives them stronger health and vitality to utilize on their path toward enlightenment.
Most Korean Buddhist temples have an altar set up with a painting or statue of Sansin, frequently with the statue placed in front of the painting. Two candles, an incense burner, and an uncovered bowl of fresh clean water are on the altar in front of the icons, and possibly other offerings. Many of the Sansin paintings belonging to such temples are now valuable antiques over 100 years old, and represent the best of Korea’s folk-painting traditions.
Sansin is almost always depicted as a seated male (although a few are female) with white hair and beard; elderly but still healthy, strong and authoritative; kindly benevolent but still dignified, like the ideal family-patriarch. His clothing suggests royalty. There may be a halo around his head indicating holiness and mystical powers. He is almost always holding an object in one or both hands which symbolizes health, longevity, scholastic or spiritual attainment, and earthly or spiritual powers. He is often sitting on a flat rocky cliff-top in the high mountains with a grand view, and these sites are called Sinseondae (Terrace for Daoist Immortals), the sort of place most conducive to meditation and yoga, and where enlightenment takes place.
There is a tiger beside the “mountain-king,” his companion, taboo-enforcer, alter-ego, and “king of the mountain-animals.” The tiger is a primary symbol of Korean culture and a favorite motif of traditional folk-paintings. A couple of attendants called dongja usually stand near their master in these paintings, like the servants of an aristocrat in dynastic times; they also hold symbolic sacred objects. Shamanist, Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, and nationalist symbols are used in myriad combinations in various parts of thousands of different such artworks.
Despite their relentless modernization over the past century, Koreans still pay respect to their Sansin in a wide variety of contexts. My decades of research have found that this ancient tradition is not dying away, much to my initial surprise, but is in fact flourishing all around the nation.
The notable evolution these days is for Buddhist temples to build large Samseonggak (Three Sages Shrine) in their compounds, with Sansin (symbol of earthly powers) grouped together with the Chilseong (Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, symbol of heavenly powers), and Dokseong (Lonely Saint, a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha left on earth in human form). This triad therefore symbolizes the fundamental “Oriental Trinity” of heaven, Earth and humanity, increasing its spiritual profundity and providing a separate shrine for these popular Korean folk-deities within the Buddhist religious context.
These multi-faceted Sansin artworks, whether enshrined alone in a Sansingak or in a Samseonggak, are a key factor of Korean Buddhism, being truly “Korean,” a unique characteristic that distinguishes it from similar religions of other nations. Sansin icons should be considered one of the primary symbols of Korean culture in general, and tourism-attraction based upon it.
My own research on and enjoyment of this subject continues, with no prospects of exhaustion. For much more information on and photos of it, refer to my book “Spirit of the Mountains.” (www.san-shin.org)
0 댓글