Maritime Ritual Ruins of Korea
Dublin Core
Title
Maritime Ritual Ruins of Korea
Description
Since ancient times, the sea has been an important transportation route and a place where food can be obtained.
However, there were various dangers, which were personified as a fear of supernatural beings. As supernatural
beings were gradually elevated to gods who ruled over danger, humans relieved their fears and gained comfort for
themselves through the rituals. Rituals include all activities of praying for a wish to a god they are reasonable (Yu
1997, 1-2). The space where the ritual ceremonies took place is the ritual rite site, and the ritual site related to the
sea can be called the maritime ritual ruins. The remains of marine ritual ruins are formed by a tangible space where
sacrifices are held while worshiping gods, and a jejang (a limited site related to sacrifice), an intangible space
around it. So far, studies on the remains of ritual ruins have been conducted, focusing on archaeological sites,
historical records, excavated artifacts, and intangible elements of ritual ruins. However, only the intangible space
was maintained as a heritage of the village community, and the altar and other facilities were changed several
times, so research on them was difficult to conduct. However, the sacred building continued to be maintained
despite the change in appearance. Accordingly, this study focused on the rituals and identified the meaning of the
ritual ruins along with the rituals by dividing them into one-building and two-building types.
However, there were various dangers, which were personified as a fear of supernatural beings. As supernatural
beings were gradually elevated to gods who ruled over danger, humans relieved their fears and gained comfort for
themselves through the rituals. Rituals include all activities of praying for a wish to a god they are reasonable (Yu
1997, 1-2). The space where the ritual ceremonies took place is the ritual rite site, and the ritual site related to the
sea can be called the maritime ritual ruins. The remains of marine ritual ruins are formed by a tangible space where
sacrifices are held while worshiping gods, and a jejang (a limited site related to sacrifice), an intangible space
around it. So far, studies on the remains of ritual ruins have been conducted, focusing on archaeological sites,
historical records, excavated artifacts, and intangible elements of ritual ruins. However, only the intangible space
was maintained as a heritage of the village community, and the altar and other facilities were changed several
times, so research on them was difficult to conduct. However, the sacred building continued to be maintained
despite the change in appearance. Accordingly, this study focused on the rituals and identified the meaning of the
ritual ruins along with the rituals by dividing them into one-building and two-building types.
Creator
Tahk Kyung-Baek
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Kyung-Baek, Tahk . 2023. “Maritime ritual ruins of Korea.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, and Wijerathne Bohingamuwa. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/1953
Files
Citation
Tahk Kyung-Baek, “Maritime Ritual Ruins of Korea,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed January 15, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/1953.