Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/481

 Collectanea. 449

only ascribe to him all the mighty forces and characteristics of which he is actually possessed, but popular superstition attributes to him the powers of flying, of emitting fire and hurling lightning. He is the symbol of strength and ubiquity, the standard of com- parison with all dangers and dreadful forces, and the paragon of human courage In ancient time he was worshipped."-^

Our information about Korean religion is very vague. One writer, who lived for some years in Korea, goes so far as to say, " In religious matters the Koreans are peculiar in that they may be said to be without a religion, properly speaking." ^ If we are to understand this literally, we know the value of such assertions. Indeed his own pages show that the Koreans are not without religion. Buddhism was at one time prevalent. Ancestor- worship is certainly practised. In these and other directions the influence of China may be seen. But beneath these comparatively civilised cults there lies that animism which is at the base of all religions, and which peopled Korea, as it has peopled other lands, with a multitude of gods and spirits. Nor have these gods and spirits passed away ; on the contrary, they are still worshipped. " The god of the hills," says Mr. Griffis, " is, perhaps, the most popular deity. The people make it a point to go out and worship him at least once a year, making their pious trip a picnic, and, as of old, uniting their eating and drinking with their religion. Thus they combine piety and pleasure, very much as Americans unite sea-bathing and sanctification, croquet and camp-meeting holiness, by the ocean or in groves. On mountain tops, which pilgrims climb to make a visit for religious merit, may often be seen a pile of stones, called siong-wang-tang, dedicated to the god of the mountain. The pilgrims carry a pebble from the foot of the mountain to the top. These pilgrims are among those held in reputation for piety." ^

Under what form the god of the hills is conceived, Mr. Grififis does not say. If the tiger was worshipped in ancient times it is probable he is worshipped to-day. The passage I have quoted concerning his powers compels the inference. Whether the shrine on the Charyong Pass is dedicated to the tiger, or to the

' Griffis, Corea : the Hermit Nation, pp. 323 ff.

- Allen, Korean Tales, p. II.

5 Griffis, op. cit., p. 327. VOL. XV. 2 G