Dol Hareubang Stone Statues

These stone statues, also known as useokmok, museokmok and beoksumeori, once stood at the gates of the walled towns of Jeju-mok, Jeongui-hyeon and Daejeong-hyeon. Today they are scattered across the Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum, Jeju National University, Jeju City Hall, Jeju International Airport, Samseonghyeol and Gwandeokjeong, with 21 statues in Jeju City, 12 in Seongeup, and 12 more in Inseong, Anseong and Boseong in Daejeong, 45 in all. The statues generally take the form of a figure wearing a conical hat, with large, bulging eyes, a broad, bulbous nose and tightly closed lips, both hands placed solemnly on the lower abdomen. Their average height is 187 cm in Jeju, 141 cm in Seongeup and 134 cm in Daejeong, and they are thought to have been made around 1754, the thirtieth year of King Yeongjo. Standing in front of the town gates, the statues are believed to have served as guardian deities, objects of shamanistic ritual, and markers of a boundary, a function thought to resemble that of the jangseung guardian posts found on the mainland. Today Dol Hareubang are widely known, both in Korea and abroad, as a symbol representing Jeju Island, and they are cherished folk artefacts beloved 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