[Abstract]

The core of Koreanness lies in Mu-gyo. Koreanness lies in making everything into a ‘universal one.’

Korean Shamanic Culture

한국철학 내지 한국정신의 시작을 무엇으로 볼 것인가? 불교는 인도에서 유입되고, 유교와 도교는 중국에서 유입된 것이며, 기독교도 서구에서 들어온 것이다. 그러면 그런 것들을 제외하고 한국적인 것으로 남겨지는 것은 무엇인가? 어떤 한국적 정신이 바탕이 돼서 그런 외래 문명을 받아들이게된 것일까? 유동식은 한국문화의 지층(地層)을 불교 · 유교 · 기독교의 세 층이라고 설명하면서, 그런 지층을 이루는 지핵(地核)을 무교라고 단언한다.

What can be sees as the beginning of Korean philosophy or Korean spirit? Buddhism came from India, Confucianism and Taoism was introduced from China, and Christianity also came from the West. Then, excluding those, what remains as something uniquely Korean? What Korean spirit underpinned the acceptance of these foreign civilizations? Yoo Dong-shik explains the substratum of Korean culture as having three layers (地層): Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. He asserts that the core (地核) forming these layers is Mu-gyo (Shamanism).

trans. ED. 한자경, 『한국철학의 맥』, 이화여자대학교출판문화원, 2008. 35.

무교는 하나의 종교 현상이다. 그런데 한국 무교는 5세기경부터 항상 외래종교들과의 교섭 관계 속에서 전개되어 왔다.

Mu-gyo is a religious phenomenon. However, Korean Shamanism has always developed in interaction with foreign religions since around the 5th century.

trans. ED. 유동식, 『풍류신학 1』, 한들출판사, 2009. 77.

Understanding Koreanness requires understanding Korean religion, thought, and culture, the core of which is Mu-gyo. A shaman (Mu-dang) is a person who connects heaven and earth and achieves the ‘unification of heaven and human.(천인합일, 天人合一)’ And these are the ones who dance.(2008. 36) Finding the soul of Korea must begin with shamanism. Because “the basic spirit of Korean philosophy itself is the pursuit of true universality, the pursuit of absolute unity.”(7) So, why is Mu-gyo understood as the fundamental basis of Koreanness? According to Yoo Dong-shik, Korea’s identity cannot be found in one national religion, but is comprised of one tradition.(2009. 238) How were Koreans able to Koreanize all foreign things?

In Korean Shamanic rituals, there is a process of becoming one with gods, which is called ecstasy(탈혼, 脫魂)(2008. 39) This state of ecstasy points to the harmony and unification of humans and gods. Thus, in other words, this is said to be a whole without boundaries, one of indiscrimination.(40)

[Reference]

• 유동식, 『풍류신학 1』, 한들출판사, 2009.
• 한자경, 『한국철학의 맥』, 이화여자대학교출판문화원, 2008.