Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

This paper explores the process of the Buddhicization of the mountain god and seven-star cults, focusing especially on how these indigenous folk traditions were transformed in their encounter with Buddhism and eventually merged into it. In the late Joseon, as the mountain god and the seven-star went through the syncretization with Buddhism, the shrines for these folk deities were constructed by monks and lay followers within the temple precinct. It was from the 19th century that these shrines became widespread. The acceptance of these two folk traditions into Buddhism during this period can also be confirmed in Buddhist invocation manuals and paintings. Although the seven-star cult had its own trend of Buddhism and Taoism, which led to competition and conflict at times, such interactions rather created Buddho-Taoist amalgams of this cult. This phenomenon was in fact an inevitable outcome, considering the socio-cultural situation of the late Joseon in which Confucianism became ever more dominant. However, such amalgams reflect the process toward an eventual merge through coexistence and mutual transformation. Folk religions were marginalized and otherized and, therefore, should rely on Buddhism to expand its own religious space while Buddhism had to find more valid means to attract new followers and, thereby, broaden its social base. The mountain god and seven-star cults that had continued from ancient times encountered Buddhism and Taoism and underwent transformation and syncretization. The final destination for such a process in Korea was found within the temple space that shows the co-existence of the two traditions through the Buddhicization of these cults.