Корей халық мәдениетінің дәстүрлері мен аңыздары

Aspect of Korean culture

Stories and practices that are considered part of Korean folklore go back several thousand years. These tales derive from a variety of origins, including Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and more recently Christianity. Many folk traditions developed in rural areas such as villages. They often relate to households and farming, and reinforce family and communal bonds. The performance of folk tales reflects this, with performers often encouraging and eliciting audience involvement. Traditions and stories were passed down orally, although written examples appear beginning in the 5th century. While many traditions have become less practiced or modernized, folklore remains deeply embedded in Korean society, continuing to influence fields such as religion, stories, art, and customs.

There are many types of folklore in Korean culture, including Imuldam (이물담), focused on supernatural beings such as monsters, goblins and ghosts. The most common beings are the Dokkaebi (도깨비), which are considered Korean versions of goblins. However, this term differs from the European concept in that they do not possess an evil or demonic characteristic. Instead, they are creatures with powers that seek to bring people both delight and misery. These beings engage either in friendly or annoying behavior with humans. The presence of these beings is considered related to both difficulties and pleasures in life. Today stories are derived from a variety of origins, including Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism and more recently Christianity. Korean folklore began to be organized after folklore lectures were started by Cho Chi hun.

Korean folk religion (hangul=민속신앙) remains a part of the lives of modern Koreans. Korean folk religions are based on Korean shamanism and foreign religions such as Buddhism. Korean folk religions changed in nature and characteristics due to cultural infusion as foreign religions were introduced to Korea, and folk religions gradually developed as a mixture of foreign religions and indigenous beliefs. Korean folk religions are not individual beliefs, but are expressed through a community, having developed within local villages and homes. Korean shamans are involved in both the worship of household deities and rituals dedicated to village patron gods.

Folk literature is closely related to Korean culture. Most literature was passed down verbally, and revolves around the lives and customs of the Korean people. Such literature includes shamanic songs, myths, tales and folktales. There is variation in these stories, reflecting the periods of history in which they were formed. Many also have a community cultural character and are closely related to the production culture. Some literature is in metrical verse, while others are in prose form. Fragmentary written evidence of Korean folk literature can be found as far back as the 5th century, while complete stories preserved in writing exist from the 12th and 13th centuries in the Buddhist priest Iryeon's compendium Samguk yusa. One of the best known examples of the former is the Princess Bari narrative. Most versions recount of a Korean princess abandoned by her parents for being the seventh daughter of a son less king. Many years later, her parents fall ill, and the only cure is medicinal water from the Western Heaven. The abandoned princess is rediscovered and agrees to help her parents when the other daughters will not. She travels to the afterlife, where she marries the guardian of the medicinal water and bears him (often seven) sons. She usually returns at her parents’ funeral, revives them with flowers of resurrection she has picked from the afterlife, and cures them with the water. The narrative commonly concludes with her becoming a deity connecting the living and the dead. The Princess Bari narrative is recited only in funeral ceremonies. The myth is generally understood as subverting the Confucian doctrines of patriarchy and age ordered hierarchy through the Confucian value of filial piety; it is not the eldest son but the youngest daughter who manages to save her parents.

Korean folk customs are a significant part of Korean culture. They include a strong belief in the importance of family, community and society. These beliefs are expressed during social practices such as family reunions and weddings. In some Western cultures, a person's lifelong rites are classified as birth, a coming of age ceremony, a wedding ceremony, and a funeral service. However, Korean customs emphasized the role of the family community and members of society, with birth being less important and filial piety after funerals being an important aspect of a person's life. The capping ceremony was the coming of age ceremony, which marked the entry of adult from the world of childhood. People were recognized as full members of society after they went through this custom. It was traditional to wear a cap with a topknot on during this event. The second important occasion was the marriage. There were rituals for discussing marriage, exchanging gifts and exchanging letters. Marriages were arranged by families rather than made out of love. Funerals involved a strict system of mourning robes, and there was a system of wearing mourning robes and residing next to the parent's grave for three years, again based on Chinese precedent. Confucian style burial and Buddhist style cremation coexisted and continue to coexist. Following Confucian protocol, the ancestral rites—performed to commemorate the deceased on death anniversaries and on major holidays—were held for the great great grandparents, who were the oldest generation of ancestors that someone could plausibly have known personally. In East Asian custom, the definition of unmarrigeable kin extends to those who share the same great great grandparent. During these four occasions, family members and village members actively cooperated, so they were able to foster community ties. However, the capping ceremony was gradually extinguished while Korea was under Japanese rule. Traditional family rituals were steadily restricted to rural areas, while in urban areas the events became simplified. After Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule, the traditional family system, which values ancestor worship, collapsed, placing more importance on weddings and sixtieth birthday celebrations for the living than on rituals for deceased ancestors. In the 1960s, as industrialization and urbanization were promoted, professional businesses such as wedding halls and funeral parlors were developed, and rituals were held outside the home. Along with the economic development, weddings, sixtieth birthdays, and funerals in particular became very luxurious and costly, which many Koreans consider a societal issue.

A once dominant Confucian culture that emphasizes respect for ancestors, age and seniority has affected South Korea's home and workplace practices, and its social life. In addition to other factors such as economic status and status at the business level, age and marriage status play a role in determining social status. These factors, especially age, affect relationships between social acquaintances. Folk customs related to family or farming have changed into other forms or disappeared little by little as industrialization proceeds. Jerye (Jesa) remains an important custom for Korean people. Koreans perform Jesa on the day of their ancestors' death, on Korean new year, and on Chuseok (hangul=추석, Autumn eve). The unity of the family community is strengthened because all families must gather together to prepare and hold events together during Jesa.

Korean folk arts have often been passed down within Korean society. Korean folk art is characterized by many works satirizing the upper class and high society.

Minhwa, or folk paintings, is a popular painting genre, noted for lacking consistent perspective and being fluid in their style. They are contrasted with the styles of paintings created by professional painters. Painting related to the public's desire to chase away bad ghosts and face a happy occasion, paintings to decorate the inside and outside of the house, and paintings directly related to everyday life such as folding screens, scrolls, and murals made up the mainstream of folk paintings. Minhwa was used to decorate the living and ceremonial spaces of the private sector during the Joseon dynasty. After securing marketability through economic growth after the late Joseon dynasty, it was distributed through the market in the early 20th century. Since Minhwa originated from imitating paintings of court and other high class demand, most of the plants were similarly painted on the subject. Traditional Korean paintings depict stories or events of historical and cultural significance, conveying popular metaphors and symbols. Common topics include overcoming evil, landscape paintings, and portraits. Minhwa have also been known to cover these topics, with subjects ranging from themes that repel evil to sentimental topics such as landscape painting, characterization, and botanical painting, as well as old stories and myths.

Pansori (pan meaning "a place where people gather", and sori meaning "sound") is a form of storytelling through music, which originated in south west Korea. Characteristics include expressive singing, stylized speech, and gesture. Alongside the singer there is a drummer. Over time the stories told through this form have diversified, leading to the format expanding in popularity to high class social groups. Traditionally spontaneous, it has become increasingly rigid as oral storytelling is replaced by written literature. During these performances, the audience is encouraged to themselves become participants in the music. The tendency for improvisation enables the audience to become involved in the performance, with one factor in successful performance being good audience participation. Audience participation is so important that it is sometimes deliberately added to pansori performances that had been recorded in studios after the fact. The origins of individual pansori stories is unknown, although it is suspected that they adapted existing tales into song.

A variety of folk dances exist. As is common with Korean cultural traditions, many are associated with rural areas. Traditionally these rural performances take place either in the marketplace or in farmers' fields. Some satirize the upper class and elite sectors of historical society. Other origins include shamanic ritual dances, and dances associated with particular objects.

The talchum is a drama which involves dancing and singing while wearing traditional masks. The dances consist of several acts, although these acts may represent different disconnected stories. Satire is a common form of storytelling, and is used to criticise the nobility, flawed religious individuals, and the patriarchy. While the term was originally regional, it has become associated with masked dancing throughout Korea. Outside of Hwanghae Province, where the term originated, other regions have their own names for similar dance forms. Instrumental accompaniments vary per region. Performances do not require a stage, and are thus often performed outdoors. Audience participation is a common and encouraged part of the performance, and dancers actively seek to interact with the audience throughout the performance. Despite the serious themes running through many performances, they are interspersed with humor and usually end positively. Twelve different forms of the dance have been designated "Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Korea", including dances that originated in both of what is now North and South Korea.