몽골 샤머니즘 속의 여성민속 고찰

The Research of Women’s Folklore inside Mongolian Shamanism

Mongolian shamanism can be regarded as one of the most distinctive characteristics of Mongolian nomadic culture. In Mongolian shamanism, there is a clear division of male shaman(zairan) and female shaman (udgan). This terminological difference in referring to shamans by gender is also visible in Korean shamanism. For example, in Korea, male shaman is called baksu whereas female shaman is called mudang. In particular, udgan(the term for female shaman) is closely linked to a female god of earth in Mongolian nomadic culture. Also, there are plenty of cultural elements of women in Mongolian folk religion such as mother tree, mother rock, etc. Hence, in this article, I look into women s folklore inside Mongolian shamanism from the viewpoint of folk belief, folktales, shaman songs, literature and shamanic rituals. For further research in the future, historical written documents also can be analysed in relation to women’s folklore and Mongolian shamanism. Some of this research could be e.g. the relationship between female names(Go’a and Beki) and female shamans inside the Secret History of the Mongols.