| Sobaek-san Sanshin-je held by a Ginseng-Hunter's Association April 23rd, 2011 / 21st Day of the Third Moon, 4344 |
| at the Seonbi-chon Scholar's Village Yeongju City, Punggi Town |
Those who hunt for extremely precious
wild ginseng roots [sansam] are called
"Shim-mani", and often work alone or
with only a spouse or friend. This was
an annual meeting of an Association of
them, held at a meeting/dorm building in
the rear of the Seonbi-chon, near
Sobaek-san in the Punggi-myeon area,
which has long been famous for ginseng.
This Confucian-style Sanshin-je ritual
was the key event in their overnight
meeting. The close association between
ginseng-hunters and the Sanshins was
detailed in my 1999 book; see also these
pages. I was invited by them to be an
officiant in their 2011 ceremony, due to
their leaders having read the Korean
Edition of my book, a surprising honor I
humbly accepted. A crew from MBC-TV
led by Production Director Choi (blue
jacket) filmed the proceedings...
wild ginseng roots [sansam] are called
"Shim-mani", and often work alone or
with only a spouse or friend. This was
an annual meeting of an Association of
them, held at a meeting/dorm building in
the rear of the Seonbi-chon, near
Sobaek-san in the Punggi-myeon area,
which has long been famous for ginseng.
This Confucian-style Sanshin-je ritual
was the key event in their overnight
meeting. The close association between
ginseng-hunters and the Sanshins was
detailed in my 1999 book; see also these
pages. I was invited by them to be an
officiant in their 2011 ceremony, due to
their leaders having read the Korean
Edition of my book, a surprising honor I
humbly accepted. A crew from MBC-TV
led by Production Director Choi (blue
jacket) filmed the proceedings...
| being shown a large wild ginseng root said to be worth w100,000,000 (US$90,000) |
| drinking wild ginseng liquor, and being given the root used to make it, to eat |
| the object of our veneration -- Sobaek-san -- as seen from that area that morning |
speaking to the crowd about Sanshin's
identity and significance in traditional
and modern Korean culture.
identity and significance in traditional
and modern Korean culture.
| discussion with them on our personal conceptions of Sanshin |
| fruits of their forest-searching labors |
