Stone Horse in Seongma-ri, Goseong

Stone horses are horses carved from stone and erected upright. The stone horses in Seongma-ri, Goseong form a pair and stand on a hillside or at a village shrine ground (dangsan) near the village, believed to be protected by a guardian spirit. Villagers also call them "masin" (horse spirit) or "majanggun" (general horse). They measure 1.5 m and 2.1 m in length, and 45 cm and 50 cm in height, which suggests they may represent a male-and-female pair, though they are not actually distinguished as such. Judging from their faces and overall shape, they resemble sheep more than horses. A story about the stone horses is passed down in the village. Tigers had been appearing frequently in the village, causing harm, when a white-haired old man advised the villagers to carve a pair of stone horses and hold a grand ritual. After making the stone horses and performing the rite as instructed, tigers never appeared in the village again, and the stone horses were from then on regarded as the village's guardian deities. Even today, the village holds dongje, a communal village ritual, before the stone horses between 1 and 2 a.m. on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, praying for the village's peace. While there are some places that include rites honouring a horse within their dongje, it is rare, as in this village, for a horse to be worshipped as the jusin, the principal deity of the dongje. During the ritual, a mal of beans (about 18 litres) is offered before the stone horses and collected again the following day. A prayer text called the "madan yeongchungmun" is also read, telling of a sacred horse (sinma) that appears and wards off all misfortune. The stone horses of Maam-myeon, though modest works of folk art, are valued as folklore material.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goseong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산