[KS] KSR 2000-10: _Spirit of the Mountains: Korea's SAN-SHIN and

Stephen Epstein Stephen.Epstein at vuw.ac.nz
Thu Sep 21 23:41:53 EDT 2000


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_Spirit of the Mountains: Korea's SAN-SHIN and Traditions of Mountain
Worship_, by David A. Mason. Seoul, Hollym Co. 1999. 224 pages. ISBN:
1-56591-107-5.

Reviewed by Henny Savenije
Seoul, Korea

	David Mason has been collecting pictures and information and taking
photos since he became interested in Buddhist temples more than sixteen
years ago. San-shin (Mountain Spirit, Mountain God or Spirit of the
Mountains) is not very well known in the wider world, despite being one of
the most important figures in traditional Korean culture. Its various
cultural roles and manifestations are described, accompanied by photos of
San-shin icons and shrines taken all over South Korea. Other deities and
symbols which share paintings and shrines with San-shin are briefly
introduced in order to shed further light on the identity of this spirit.
One point of criticism which Mason acknowledges is that the photos are not
high quality and sometimes even rather amateurish, but they do give a good
idea of the extent of temples and paintings related to this figure in the
country.

	Chapter One starts with a general introduction as Mason introduces
his own ideas of San-shin and why this figure remains important in Korea,
followed by an explanation for his own interest in San-shin. This
subjective technique pervades the whole book as Mason uses the first person
to underscore his viewpoint, and the text is laden with personal comments,
experiences and anecdotes. In this sense it is not a "scholarly" book,
although it gives tables to show the frequency with which certain
iconographical elements related to San-shin appear in temples and
paintings. In this chapter Mason introduces the concept of six levels of
progression by which an ordinary person is transformed into to a Mountain
God.

	Chapter Two is titled "Iconography of San-shin."  Section One A
discusses the identity and personality traits that lead a person to become
considered a San-shin. A San-shin is always originally a good person and
each one of them comes to be considered the lord of a certain mountain.
Section One B discusses the gender of the San-shin. Though Mason gives some
examples of female San-shin, the majority are male.  Section Two is titled
"Portraits and Symbols of the Mountain Spirit" and is further divided into
eight subsections: A. discusses the most primitive extant stones, cairns
called S™-nang-dang, and paintings dedicated to the Mountain Spirit;  B.
describes the "Origin of the Paintings." The title is somewhat misleading
since Mason cannot provide a satisfying explanation for their origin,
although he ascribes their provenance to the Middle Kingdom, China; C
discusses Pass-spirits (Rang-shin), a variation of San-shin, who are rarely
personified except as tigers; D. treats the production of paintings and
discusses them in their various forms.  The rest of this section is filled
out with a discussion of Basic Iconography, the Shin-s™n-dae (the abode of
San-shin), Hand Held Symbols associated with San-shin, and finally the
San-shin's "Headgear, Halos, Hair and Clothing."

	At this point Mason goes on to discuss the iconic companions of
San-shin (e.g. tigers; servants and the objects they hold or activities
they engage in; the rare appearance of other persons; background animals
and birds; vegetation such as pine and bamboo; and other elements such as
longevity symbols).  Mason follows with an account of San-shin shrines,
describing the locations where the shrines are found and overall shrine
appearance.  He then proceeds to discuss various other spirits enshrined
together with the San-shin such as Dok-s™ng, Chil-s™ng, Je-s™k, Yong-wang,
a shamanic lord of the waters, and miscellaneous figures who share his
shrine such as Tangun and other local spirits.  He concludes with
consideration of another San-shin who appears in altar paintings in The
Spirit Assembly (Shinjungdan) where candles and incense is burned.

	Chapter Three is called "San-shin in Korea's Religious Traditions"
and begins with a discussion of the figure's Korean roots and its
relationship to the Tangun myth and the meaning this myth holds for Korean
nationalism.  Next comes a brief consideration of San-shin in relationship
to shamanism (without references) that focuses on rituals and pilgrimages,
and then we find an account of Korean Taoism together with a brief history
of geomancy and its role in Korean history.   Mason then, with descriptive
subheadings, discusses San-shin in its relation to Confucianism
("Respectful Acknowledgment"), Christianity ("Opposition and Attack) and
Buddhism ("Enfeoffed Landlord").  This latter section provides the most
detail and treats the following topics: Buddhist tolerance for indigenous
shamanism, the mutual absorption of Buddhism and San-shin figures,
ceremonial Buddhist worship of San-shin, and the integration of the
traditional San-shin into modern Buddhism. Mason also describes, however,
Buddhist sects which have opposed the incorporation of the San-shin
tradition.  Finally, Mason deliberates about the possibility of the
San-shin being regarded as a Bodhisattva in the future.

	Chapter Four, entitled "Future Prospect for the Mountain Spirit,"
is divided into three short sections that consider first San-shin's place
in 21st century Korean culture; then "ecopiety" and modern society; and
finally the use of San-shin as a symbol of both ecology and national
re-unification.  The book ends with a glossary of key terms and a
bibliography.

	In the end, however, one is left with the general impression that
the book tries to cover too many subjects in too brief a span. As suggested
above, the book is mainly descriptive in character, and some subsections
are not longer than 120 words. It is also a pity that Mason never sets his
book on a firm scholarly basis, although statistical accounts of San-shin
pictures ("55% of the images have ...") attempt to convey this sense.  And
yet since Mason offers no references, it is hard to say whether his ideas
derive from elsewhere or if they are exclusively his.  The bibliography
suggests that Mason has debts, but he does not footnote his sources through
the text proper. What the book lacks in scholarly terms is in part
compensated for by its numerous pictures, which give a good idea of extant
San-shin relics. Ultimately, though, this book may prove helpful to someone
interested in a statistical account of the remains of the Korean San-shin
along with relevant images, but not to one who is seeking a truly in-depth
understanding of this figure.


Citation:
Savenije, Henny 2000
Review of David A. Mason, _The Spirit of the Mountains: Korea's San-shin
and Traditions of Mountain Worship (2000)
Korean Studies Review 2000, no. 10
Electronic file: http://www.iic.edu/thelist/review/ksr00-10.htm





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