Okgwa Village Guardian Shrine Wooden Sin Statue

A pair of wooden statues, one male and one female, preserved inside the Okgwa Village Guardian Shrine. Regarded as deities in folk belief, the male figure stands while the female figure sits, their heights measuring 84 cm and 68 cm respectively. The male figure wears a hat of the kind worn by shamans and a priest-like robe reaching down to the instep, tied with a waist sash whose ends hang down long; it has a round face with large, thick eyebrows and protruding eyes. The female figure wears a conical gokkal cap, with the fingertips of both hands joined and turned downward as if holding something in prayer; her features are more finely carved than the male figure's, and her posture is demure. The male figure is said to be General Jo Tong, a scholar of the reign of King Myeongjong of Goryeo. The female figure is variously said to be the general's wife, or a princess who died harbouring sorrow after falling in love with him, though neither account is certain. Thought to have been made during the Joseon period, these statues deify either a person who died with unresolved grief or a figure deemed worthy of veneration, offering a glimpse into the range of deities worshipped in shamanistic folk belief.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gokseong, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산