Eunsan Byeolsinje (Village Ritual of Eunsan)

Eunsan Byeolsinje refers to a ritual held at the village shrine, Byeolsindang, in Eunsan-ri, Eunsan-myeon, Buyeo-gun, South Chungcheong Province. Long ago, a great epidemic swept through Eunsan village and many young people died. One night, a general who had died an unjust death defending Baekje appeared in the dream of a village elder and said he would remove the disease if the villagers buried him and his soldiers in a sunny place. When the elder woke and went to the place the general had named, he found old bones scattered about. The villagers carefully buried the bones and held a gut, a shamanic ritual, for their spirits; afterwards, it is said, the disease disappeared and peace returned to the village. Since then, the villagers have held a ritual to console the general and his soldiers, and this is the origin of today's Eunsan Byeolsinje. The Byeolsinje is held once every three years, in the second lunar month, and usually involves about 100 people over some 15 days. Before the ritual, the village elders select officials to prepare it. These officials must be physically and mentally pure and free of impurity, and are given military-style titles such as daejang (commander-in-chief), junggun (deputy commander), paejang and saryeong, reflecting the fact that Eunsan Byeolsinje has the character of a general's ritual (janggunje). The hwaju, who prepares the ritual offerings, takes care to keep them free of impurity; a straw mat is laid over the well to be used in the ritual, a sacred taboo rope is strung around it, and yellow and black earth is scattered nearby to keep impurity away. The villagers perform jindaebegi, cutting a tree to stand beside the village's jangseung guardian posts, and make paper flowers to offer to the spirits; these are carried to the shrine house together with the ritual offerings, with the bearers holding white paper in their mouths to guard against impurity. The ritual begins in the evening and ends at dawn: after a shaman performs the gut, she comes down to the village and holds a street ritual for the village's prosperity, and the event concludes with jangseung guardian posts being erected at the four points of the compass around the village. As befits a large-scale event, a wide variety of costumes, props and equipment are used. Eunsan Byeolsinje is a local festival that consoles the spirits of Baekje soldiers and prays for the prosperity and peace of the village. Eunsan Byeolsinje is divided into a Daeje, or Grand Ritual, and a Soje, or Minor Ritual: the Daeje follows every step and procedure in full, while the Soje omits several steps of the Daeje's procedure, such as "receiving the flowers" and jindaebegi.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buyeo, Chungnam

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산