Artifacts of Peddlers

These are artifacts used by the bobusang (itinerant peddlers) of the Sangmu Jwasa, the Jeosan Palgu organisation, during the Joseon period. Jeosan Palgu ("Eight Ramie-Producing Districts") refers to the eight towns of Buyeo, Hongsan, Nampo, Biin, Hansan, Seocheon, Imcheon, and Jeongsan, which produced a great deal of ramie cloth, while Sangmu Jwasa refers to an organisation composed solely of deungjim jangsu, peddlers who carried their goods on an A-frame carrier on their backs. The organisation had a Yeongwi as its highest advisor, below whom was a Bansu, and beneath that a Jangmuwon, who handled practical affairs. The artifacts of the Sangmu Jwasa peddlers include four seals they used, two sinpyo (identification tokens issued to peddlers), a mulmijang (chokjakdae, a walking staff), and a wanmun (official document) issued by the Border Defence Council (Bibyeonsa). The mulmijang (chokjakdae) in particular is an artifact symbolising the peddlers' organisation: a staff fitted at its end with a metal tip (mulmi), used to prop up the A-frame carrier of the peddlers. It was modelled on a mulmijang said to have been bestowed by King Taejo of Joseon, and, carved in an octagonal shape with a dragon design, is also known as a "yongjang" (dragon staff). These artifacts are considered important material for the study of the history, organisation, function, and commercial activity of peddlers in the late Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buyeo, Chungnam

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산