Bon-puri | |
Hangul | 본풀이 |
---|---|
Hanja | 本풀이 |
Revised Romanization | Bon-puri |
McCune–Reischauer | Pon-p'uri |
The bon-puri ( Jeju and Korean: 본풀이 bon-puri, lit. 'origin narration') are Korean shamanic narratives recited in the shamanic rituals of Jeju Island, to the south of the Korean Peninsula. Similar shamanic narratives are known in mainland Korea as well, but are only occasionally referred to as bon-puri.
The bon-puri is a formalistic genre of syllabic verse that tells the story of how the deity or deities being invoked came to hold their divine position. Their recitation is believed to please the gods and encourage their participation. There are three primary types of bon-puri. The general bon-puri, of which there are twelve, involve deities who are worshipped throughout the island, such as the goddess of childbirth or Gangnim the psychopomp. The village-shrine bon-puri number more than seventy, and center on patron gods of specific communities. The ancestral bon-puri, which are the least understood, feature the patron gods of specific family lineages or occupations; the god is not necessarily an ancestor. There is a small group of bon-puri narratives which are no longer performed by shamans and which do not clearly belong to one of the three above. These are called special bon-puri.
Part of a series on |
General bon-puri narratives of Jeju Island shamanism |
---|
Presented in order of recitation in the Great Gut |
Bon-puri is a compound of the Sino-Korean noun bon, meaning "origin," and puri, the nominalized form of the verb pulda "to narrate." The fundamental meaning of a bon-puri is thus the story of a deity's origins, i.e. how the deity being invoked came to hold their divine position. In some phrases pulda can also mean "to soothe," and bon-puri may have the additional nuance of being a story that pleases the gods or soothes their dissatisfaction. [1]
The bon-puri is always recited by shamans as part of gut rituals, where the shaman calls the gods into the human world in order to beseech their favor. Many bon-puri works explicitly state that the reason for the performance is to delight the gods and encourage their greater participation in the ritual, as in the following excerpt from the Chogong bon-puri: [2]
귀신은 본을 풀민 신나락하는 법이옵고
생인은 본 풀민 백년원수 지는 법이웨다.
By telling a god's origins, one makes the god giddy with delight
By telling a person's origins, one makes an enemy for a hundred years.
In Jeju shamanism, humans are imperfect beings whose faults become clearer the more about them is known. By contrast, the venerated gods are exemplary beings, and to recount their deeds is to make their excellence known and thereby win their favor in the ritual. [3]
Shamans sing bon-puri while seated before and facing the sacrificial altar, and turn their back to the people. [4] The bon-puri is always sung to the beat of the janggu drum. [5]
The bon-puri is a genre of oral poetry. As no codified text exists, each shaman has their own versions of the bon-puri. However, a certain degree of consistency is expected. The ethnologist Chang Chu Keun cites one example of a Chogong bon-puri performance which was interrupted ten times by more experienced shamans, who repeatedly disputed the details given in the recitation and ultimately demanded that the performing shaman name the man who taught him. In extreme cases, the shaman may be replaced. [6]
Bon-puri performances are initiated by an announcement to the gods that the recitation is about to begin. This is followed by a request for the gods to descend to the ritual place, then by the genealogy of the gods being invoked. The example below is from the bon-puri of the god of the village of Tosan: [7]
일뢰한집 난수생 올립니다. 본산국데레 과광성 신풀어사옵소서... 일뢰또한집 어멍국은 웃손당 백주님, 아바님은 알손당 소천국 하르바님, 하나 두개 시개 늬개 다서 여ᄉᆞ 일고차 아들입니다.
We present the nansusaeng [a] of the Great House of the Seventh Day. May you descend with full vigor to your native land... The mother of the Great House of the Seventh Day's God is Lady Baekju from the Utson shrine, and his father is Lord Grandfather Socheon-guk from the Alson shrine. First, second, third, fourth, five, sixth—he is the seventh son.
The meter of the bon-puri is based on the number of syllables. The basic meter involves a line of two four-syllable feet, but lines where the first foot has three syllables and the second foot has five syllables are also frequent. [5] The genre is also characterized by formulaic phrases often involving parallelism or repetition, which are found identically in many different works. For instance, many village-shrine bon-puri include the following sentence word-to-word in their conclusions, describing how the protagonist became a god that governs the lives of the villagers: [8]
안음 버은 금책에, 좀이 버은 금붓대, 삼천장 베릿돌에 일만장의 먹을 ᄀᆞᆯ려... ᄆᆞ을의 장적 호적 문세를 찾이.
With a godly book more than an armful thick and a godly brush more than a fistful thick, [the god] grinds ink for ten thousand pages in an inkstone for three thousand pages... and takes charge of the town's jangjeok and hojeok documents. [b]
Another stylistic feature of the bon-puri is the use of the emphatic present-tense in key moments of the narrative, marked by the verb-final suffix -go(na). This gives the impression that the story is being reenacted in the present day through the course of the ritual. [9] The impression that the mythical past is being reenacted is strengthened by the use of long stretches of directly quoted dialogue, unbroken by narration. [9] The example below is from the Samgong bon-puri: [10]
"은장아가 은장아가, 너는 누구 덕에 밥을 먹고 은대영에 싯술ᄒᆞ고 놋대영에 시수를 ᄒᆞ느냐?"
"아바님도 덕입네다. 어머님도 덕입네다."
"나 ᄄᆞᆯ애기 착실하다. 네 방으로 들어가라."
"Eunjang-agi! Eunjang-agi! By whose grace do you eat rice and wash your face with silver basins, wash your face with bronze basins?"
"That is by my father's grace, and also by my mother's grace."
"Our daughter knows what's right. Go back to your room."
Many expressions in bon-puri are attested nowhere else in Jeju or Korean. For instance, the bon-puri poems refer to the guardian hounds of the gods as "the naguri of the courtyard, the naguri of the earth." The precise meaning of many such expressions is unclear. [11]
Many bon-puri conclude by explaining the mythical reasons for specific facets of Jeju ritual life. For village-shrine bon-puri, the very last sentence is typically a formulaic invocation such as the following: [12]
어진 한집님전 축하올립니다.
We raise our acclamation before the benevolent Lord of the Great House.
There are three basic types of bon-puri: general, village-shrine, and ancestral.
The twelve general bon-puri ( Korean: 일반신본풀이 ilban-sin bon-puri) must be memorized by all shamans, and narrate the origins of gods who are worshipped throughout the island. The village-shrine bon-puri (당신본풀이 dang-sin bon-puri) feature the patron gods of specific villages. Shamans memorize only the bon-puri of their own village and neighboring villages, sometimes because the gods of adjacent villages are considered to be close relatives. Finally, ancestral bon-puri (조상신본풀이 josang-sin bon-puri) involve deities (sometimes deified historical individuals) that are the patrons of a specific family or occupation. Ancestral bon-puri are memorized only by shamans who belong to the relevant family. [13]
Five bon-puri are commonly classified as special bon-puri (특수신본풀이 teuksu-sin bon-puri) because they do not fit neatly into the categories above and have unclear ritual significance. Shamans no longer recite any of the special bon-puri. [14]
There are twelve general bon-puri works. [15]
There are over three hundred village shrines in Jeju Island. However, as many as ninety separate shrines can worship the same deity, while many shrines have no associated bon-puri. Only between seventy and eighty village-shrine bon-puri therefore exist. [29] Village-shrine bon-puri have six narrative elements, and are categorized into five types depending on how many of these elements appear. [30] The six elements are given below. [31]
The five types are: [32]
Many village-shrine bon-puri posit their gods to be kin of other gods. Songdang shrine, whose two gods have a dedicated complete bon-puri, is crucial to this network because the Songdang gods are thought to have had eighteen sons, twenty-eight daughters, and 378 grandchildren, all of whom became patrons of various villages. [33]
In one extremely unusual village-shrine bon-puri, the patrons of the village are believed to be Daebyeol-wang and Sobyeol-wang, the twin protagonists of the Cheonji-wang bon-puri. This does not fit into any of the categories above. [34]
The ancestral bon-puri are dedicated to the patron gods of families and occupations, who are often not actually perceived as ancestors. For example, the bon-puri of the god Yeongdeung, associated with fishing, is performed only by shamans whose families are fishermen. The identity of the deity that is worshipped varies. Some families worship historical ancestors, while others worship snakes, dokkaebi, crones, or young girls. Because they are traditionally known only by shamans from within the family, they are not well-understood by outsiders. [35]
There are five special bon-puri.
Bon-puri | |
Hangul | 본풀이 |
---|---|
Hanja | 本풀이 |
Revised Romanization | Bon-puri |
McCune–Reischauer | Pon-p'uri |
The bon-puri ( Jeju and Korean: 본풀이 bon-puri, lit. 'origin narration') are Korean shamanic narratives recited in the shamanic rituals of Jeju Island, to the south of the Korean Peninsula. Similar shamanic narratives are known in mainland Korea as well, but are only occasionally referred to as bon-puri.
The bon-puri is a formalistic genre of syllabic verse that tells the story of how the deity or deities being invoked came to hold their divine position. Their recitation is believed to please the gods and encourage their participation. There are three primary types of bon-puri. The general bon-puri, of which there are twelve, involve deities who are worshipped throughout the island, such as the goddess of childbirth or Gangnim the psychopomp. The village-shrine bon-puri number more than seventy, and center on patron gods of specific communities. The ancestral bon-puri, which are the least understood, feature the patron gods of specific family lineages or occupations; the god is not necessarily an ancestor. There is a small group of bon-puri narratives which are no longer performed by shamans and which do not clearly belong to one of the three above. These are called special bon-puri.
Part of a series on |
General bon-puri narratives of Jeju Island shamanism |
---|
Presented in order of recitation in the Great Gut |
Bon-puri is a compound of the Sino-Korean noun bon, meaning "origin," and puri, the nominalized form of the verb pulda "to narrate." The fundamental meaning of a bon-puri is thus the story of a deity's origins, i.e. how the deity being invoked came to hold their divine position. In some phrases pulda can also mean "to soothe," and bon-puri may have the additional nuance of being a story that pleases the gods or soothes their dissatisfaction. [1]
The bon-puri is always recited by shamans as part of gut rituals, where the shaman calls the gods into the human world in order to beseech their favor. Many bon-puri works explicitly state that the reason for the performance is to delight the gods and encourage their greater participation in the ritual, as in the following excerpt from the Chogong bon-puri: [2]
귀신은 본을 풀민 신나락하는 법이옵고
생인은 본 풀민 백년원수 지는 법이웨다.
By telling a god's origins, one makes the god giddy with delight
By telling a person's origins, one makes an enemy for a hundred years.
In Jeju shamanism, humans are imperfect beings whose faults become clearer the more about them is known. By contrast, the venerated gods are exemplary beings, and to recount their deeds is to make their excellence known and thereby win their favor in the ritual. [3]
Shamans sing bon-puri while seated before and facing the sacrificial altar, and turn their back to the people. [4] The bon-puri is always sung to the beat of the janggu drum. [5]
The bon-puri is a genre of oral poetry. As no codified text exists, each shaman has their own versions of the bon-puri. However, a certain degree of consistency is expected. The ethnologist Chang Chu Keun cites one example of a Chogong bon-puri performance which was interrupted ten times by more experienced shamans, who repeatedly disputed the details given in the recitation and ultimately demanded that the performing shaman name the man who taught him. In extreme cases, the shaman may be replaced. [6]
Bon-puri performances are initiated by an announcement to the gods that the recitation is about to begin. This is followed by a request for the gods to descend to the ritual place, then by the genealogy of the gods being invoked. The example below is from the bon-puri of the god of the village of Tosan: [7]
일뢰한집 난수생 올립니다. 본산국데레 과광성 신풀어사옵소서... 일뢰또한집 어멍국은 웃손당 백주님, 아바님은 알손당 소천국 하르바님, 하나 두개 시개 늬개 다서 여ᄉᆞ 일고차 아들입니다.
We present the nansusaeng [a] of the Great House of the Seventh Day. May you descend with full vigor to your native land... The mother of the Great House of the Seventh Day's God is Lady Baekju from the Utson shrine, and his father is Lord Grandfather Socheon-guk from the Alson shrine. First, second, third, fourth, five, sixth—he is the seventh son.
The meter of the bon-puri is based on the number of syllables. The basic meter involves a line of two four-syllable feet, but lines where the first foot has three syllables and the second foot has five syllables are also frequent. [5] The genre is also characterized by formulaic phrases often involving parallelism or repetition, which are found identically in many different works. For instance, many village-shrine bon-puri include the following sentence word-to-word in their conclusions, describing how the protagonist became a god that governs the lives of the villagers: [8]
안음 버은 금책에, 좀이 버은 금붓대, 삼천장 베릿돌에 일만장의 먹을 ᄀᆞᆯ려... ᄆᆞ을의 장적 호적 문세를 찾이.
With a godly book more than an armful thick and a godly brush more than a fistful thick, [the god] grinds ink for ten thousand pages in an inkstone for three thousand pages... and takes charge of the town's jangjeok and hojeok documents. [b]
Another stylistic feature of the bon-puri is the use of the emphatic present-tense in key moments of the narrative, marked by the verb-final suffix -go(na). This gives the impression that the story is being reenacted in the present day through the course of the ritual. [9] The impression that the mythical past is being reenacted is strengthened by the use of long stretches of directly quoted dialogue, unbroken by narration. [9] The example below is from the Samgong bon-puri: [10]
"은장아가 은장아가, 너는 누구 덕에 밥을 먹고 은대영에 싯술ᄒᆞ고 놋대영에 시수를 ᄒᆞ느냐?"
"아바님도 덕입네다. 어머님도 덕입네다."
"나 ᄄᆞᆯ애기 착실하다. 네 방으로 들어가라."
"Eunjang-agi! Eunjang-agi! By whose grace do you eat rice and wash your face with silver basins, wash your face with bronze basins?"
"That is by my father's grace, and also by my mother's grace."
"Our daughter knows what's right. Go back to your room."
Many expressions in bon-puri are attested nowhere else in Jeju or Korean. For instance, the bon-puri poems refer to the guardian hounds of the gods as "the naguri of the courtyard, the naguri of the earth." The precise meaning of many such expressions is unclear. [11]
Many bon-puri conclude by explaining the mythical reasons for specific facets of Jeju ritual life. For village-shrine bon-puri, the very last sentence is typically a formulaic invocation such as the following: [12]
어진 한집님전 축하올립니다.
We raise our acclamation before the benevolent Lord of the Great House.
There are three basic types of bon-puri: general, village-shrine, and ancestral.
The twelve general bon-puri ( Korean: 일반신본풀이 ilban-sin bon-puri) must be memorized by all shamans, and narrate the origins of gods who are worshipped throughout the island. The village-shrine bon-puri (당신본풀이 dang-sin bon-puri) feature the patron gods of specific villages. Shamans memorize only the bon-puri of their own village and neighboring villages, sometimes because the gods of adjacent villages are considered to be close relatives. Finally, ancestral bon-puri (조상신본풀이 josang-sin bon-puri) involve deities (sometimes deified historical individuals) that are the patrons of a specific family or occupation. Ancestral bon-puri are memorized only by shamans who belong to the relevant family. [13]
Five bon-puri are commonly classified as special bon-puri (특수신본풀이 teuksu-sin bon-puri) because they do not fit neatly into the categories above and have unclear ritual significance. Shamans no longer recite any of the special bon-puri. [14]
There are twelve general bon-puri works. [15]
There are over three hundred village shrines in Jeju Island. However, as many as ninety separate shrines can worship the same deity, while many shrines have no associated bon-puri. Only between seventy and eighty village-shrine bon-puri therefore exist. [29] Village-shrine bon-puri have six narrative elements, and are categorized into five types depending on how many of these elements appear. [30] The six elements are given below. [31]
The five types are: [32]
Many village-shrine bon-puri posit their gods to be kin of other gods. Songdang shrine, whose two gods have a dedicated complete bon-puri, is crucial to this network because the Songdang gods are thought to have had eighteen sons, twenty-eight daughters, and 378 grandchildren, all of whom became patrons of various villages. [33]
In one extremely unusual village-shrine bon-puri, the patrons of the village are believed to be Daebyeol-wang and Sobyeol-wang, the twin protagonists of the Cheonji-wang bon-puri. This does not fit into any of the categories above. [34]
The ancestral bon-puri are dedicated to the patron gods of families and occupations, who are often not actually perceived as ancestors. For example, the bon-puri of the god Yeongdeung, associated with fishing, is performed only by shamans whose families are fishermen. The identity of the deity that is worshipped varies. Some families worship historical ancestors, while others worship snakes, dokkaebi, crones, or young girls. Because they are traditionally known only by shamans from within the family, they are not well-understood by outsiders. [35]
There are five special bon-puri.