The story behind the day
Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut is a shaman rite of Jeju Island, held in the second month of the Korean lunar calendar to ask for quiet waters, good crops and a rich haul of fish. It welcomes the wind goddess Grandmother Yeongdeung, who by belief arrives at the start of the month and leaves at its midpoint. Village shamans lead it, with the support of women divers and boat owners, and UNESCO placed it on its list of intangible heritage in 2009.[1–5]
Origins
Believers hold that Yeongdeung comes to Jeju at the start of the second lunar month and goes back to her home on the fifteenth day. While she is on the island she is said to scatter the seed of seaweed, abalone and conch across the sea, helping them breed for the divers to gather. The rite is held at Chilmeoridang, the guardian shrine of Geonip-dong, and honours the village's own guardian deity alongside Yeongdeung.[3, 8–9]
What it marks
Yeongdeung is believed to provide safety and abundant fish to haenyeo, the women divers, and to fishermen, and the gut is above all a prayer for their livelihood. The haenyeo also have their own shamanic rite, the jamsugut, to pray for safety and an abundant catch; UNESCO's account of the divers' culture speaks of prayers to Jamsugut, goddess of the sea, before a dive. The Yeongdeunggut is, by the account of Korea's heritage authorities, the only gut of the haenyeo in the country.[10–12]
How it came to be
The Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut was designated a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 1980, and it is now carried on by a preservation association. In 2009 UNESCO inscribed it on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as one rite that stands for similar ceremonies across Jeju Island.[5, 13–15]
How it is kept
The dates differ a little by source. The Korean encyclopedias place the welcoming rite on day one of the second lunar month and the farewell rite on day fourteen, UNESCO says the farewell comes two weeks later, and the goddess herself is believed to leave on the fifteenth. The welcome includes a rite of summoning the gods and prayers for a good catch; the farewell brings drinks and rice cakes, the greeting of the Dragon King, divination by seeds, and a straw boat set out onto the water. Village shamans lead the rites at Chilmeoridang in Geonip-dong, Jeju City, and the divers and ship owners who support them prepare food and offer sacrifices.[4, 6–7, 16]
Sources
Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.
- VerifiedUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut; 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.
- VerifiedUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut; 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.
- Verified영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; Jeju Provincial Self-governing Haenyeo Museum via Google Arts & Culture; UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut.
- VerifiedUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut; 제주칠머리당영등굿, Digital Jeju Culture Encyclopedia.
- VerifiedUNESCO, Decision 4.COM 13.66; Korea Heritage Service, Heritage Portal.
- Corrected제주 칠머리당 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut.
- VerifiedUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut; 제주 칠머리당 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; Korea Heritage Service, Heritage Portal.
- Verified영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; 전복; 소라 등 해녀 채취물의 씨를 뿌려 번식시켜준다); Jeju Provincial Self-governing Haenyeo Museum via Google Arts & Culture.
- CorrectedKorea Heritage Service, Heritage Portal; 제주칠머리당영등굿, Digital Jeju Culture Encyclopedia.
- VerifiedJeju Provincial Self-governing Haenyeo Museum via Google Arts & Culture; 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.
- VerifiedJeju Provincial Self-governing Haenyeo Museum via Google Arts & Culture; UNESCO, Culture of Jeju Haenyeo.
- VerifiedKorea Heritage Service, Heritage Portal; 제주칠머리당영등굿, Digital Jeju Culture Encyclopedia.
- Verified제주 칠머리당 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; Korea Heritage Service, designation record.
- Corrected제주 칠머리당 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; Korea Heritage Service, designation record.
- VerifiedUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut; Korea Heritage Service, Heritage Portal.
- VerifiedUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut; 제주 칠머리당 영등굿, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture; 본향듦; 요왕맞이; 마을도액막음; 씨드림; 씨점; 배방송; 도진, i.e. calling the gods, welcoming the Dragon King, seed-giving, seed divination, sending off the boat); Jeju Provincial Self-governing Haenyeo Museum via Google Arts & Culture.