韓國의 鬼神學 序說

An Intorduction to the study of Gui-shin(鬼神) in Korea

The existence Of Gui-Shin(鬼神) that Korean have believed in form the ancient time is disappearing under the influence of the modernization. Nowadays people negatively think Gui-Shin as a demon. Because Japanese had suggested this conception as a means of rule and what is more, western civilization had changed the original view. Gui-Shin can be devide into the natural Shin(神) and perssonal Shin-a spirit. The former is the original Shin and the latter is the reincarnated Shin of the dead man. As we regard Shin as a devil we often refer a spirit. When a man die, he is subdevided into three sets-Hon(魂), Back (魄) and Nuk(넋). Hon, when a man is alive, can communicate with the sky. Back, when he is dead, can do with the earth and Nuk, with the air. Hon which confucians call as Ki(氣)-a spirit means the immortality of the soul. That is, it the continuous view of world uniting the sky, the earth and the air. And it is a thought for the living man. If a man died normally, Gui-Shin can communicate with the man for a while(namely Back, for three years and Nuk. for four generations) and then disappear after that, But if a man died abnormally, Gui-Shin should be consoled and worshipped. In this repect, it is a thought of the respect for life and the equality. We can say that Gui-Shin is the basic Korean thought.