Dol Hareubang Stone Statues

These stone statues, also known as useokmok, museokmok or beoksumeori, were originally erected at the gates of the walled towns of Jeju-mok, Jeongui-hyeon and Daejeong-hyeon. They are now scattered among the Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum, Jeju University, Jeju City Hall, Jeju International Airport, Samseonghyeol and Gwandeokjeong Pavilion, among other sites: 21 statues stand within Jeju city, 12 in Seongeup, and 12 more across the Daejeong villages of Inseong, Anseong and Boseong, making 45 in all. In form, the statues generally wear a dome-shaped hat, have large bulging eyes, a prominent bulbous nose and tightly closed lips, with both hands placed solemnly on the stomach. The average height of the Dol Hareubang is 187 cm in Jeju, 141 cm in Seongeup and 134 cm in Daejeong, and they are thought to have been made around the 30th year of King Yeongjo's reign (1754). Standing before the town gates, the statues are thought to have served as guardian deities with shamanistic and religious functions and as markers of territorial boundaries, a role comparable to that of the jangseung guardian posts found on the mainland. Today Dol Hareubang are widely known, in Korea and abroad, as a symbol representing Jeju Island, and they are cherished as weighty folk artefacts admired by people the world over. The name "Dol Hareubang" is a relatively recent coinage; the original names were "useokmok", "museokmok" and "beoksumeori".

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Where it is

Region

Seogwipo, Jeju

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산