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Location14, Daebeol-gil Gyehwa-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryCultural Heritage / Tangible Cultural Heritage
- Korean쌍조석간
- Chinese審固亭
- FieldLifestyle & Folklore / Folklore
- Contents TypeHistoric Site / Folk Religious Site
- Current Location14, Daebeol-gil Gyehwa-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Definition
- A religious structure where prayers are offered for the peace and prosperity of the village of Daebeol in Daebeol-ri, Gyehwa-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do.
- Summary
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Ssangjo seokgan or two-bird stone pole refers to a stone pole (jimdae) topped by two stone ducks erected at the entrance to the village of Daebeol.
Generally speaking, a jimdae is a type of sotdae, i.e. a tall wooden pole or stone pillar that serves as a village guardian, with a carved bird or two placed on its top. Sotdae are usually erected at the entrance to a village or in a sacred spot to ward off evil and protect the village. Jimdae are also known as as jindae, geoogi, susalmagidae, kkamagwi, cheoltong, sotdae, soldae, byeolsindae, yeongdongdae, hwajutdae, georitdae, oritdae, and byeotgaritdae. As an object of folk belief associated with geomantic theory, a jimdae was usually erected to prevent misfortune in a village (i.e. to protect a village, prevent fire, bring a good harvest, and promote prosperity and fertility), to improve a village’s weak topography (the shape of a sailing ship), or to celebrate a villager’s success in the state examination.
- Location
- The ssangjo seokgan is located opposite 14, Daebeol-gil, in the very center of the village. A small park was built at the site, and there is a pine tree to the left of the stone pole that is worshiped as Grandpa Dangsan (village guardian). It is said that the villagers once cut down a pine on Gujisan Mountain and brought it to the village to worship it as Grandpa Dangsan.
- Forms
- The stone pole, which is slightly inclined, is topped with two roughly carved granite ducks that face the sea in the northwest direction. The stone pole measures 360 centimeters in height, 10 centimeters in width, and has a circumference of 240 centimeters at the bottom, while one stone duck is 90 centimeters long and 30 cm tall, and the other is 75 centimeters long and 25 cm tall. Villagers call the two ducks “Meori nangja.” These ducks differ in size, like a mother and child, and are roughly carved, although they clearly look like ducks. Currently fixed to the pole with concrete, these are the only artifacts of their kind in the whole country.
- Ritual
- The stone pole of Daebeol represents Grandpa Dangsan, the main village guardian, while the pine tree from Gujjisan Mountain represents Grandpa Dangsan. The Dangsanje Ritual is performed on the third day of January on the lunar calendar, with a respected man known for his integrity serving as the head officiant. The ritual begins with jisin-bapgi (treading on the god of the earth) and the offering of ritual food. Although in Buan such rituals usually begin with a juldarigi (tug-of-war) tournament followed by “the dressing of Dangsan”, in which a “dragon rope” is wound around the stone pole,the Dangsan Ritual performed at the stone pole in Daebeol consists of bedarigi, a type of a tug-of-war using cotton cloth instead of rope, in which victory means a good harvest for the year; meori-eongi, which is similar to “the dressing of Dangsan” in that a cotton cloth is wound around the two stone ducks. It appears that the village’s ritual events, such as bedarigi and meori-eongi, are modified versions of the general events of juldarigi (tug-of-war) and “dressing Dangsan”.
- Current Status
- Unfortunately, the villagers of Daebeol no longer perform the Dangsanje Ritual at the stone pole, although they have recently begun talking about its restoration. Although similar stone poles can be seen all over the country, this stone pole topped with two stone ducks is an extremely rare artifact. In addition, unlike general jimdae events, this ritual consists of modified versions of the events, i.e. cotton cloth rather than straws of rice was used because Daebeol is near the coast, where no rice was cultivated.
- Historical Significance
- This stone pole is an important relic of the local folk religion whose exact date of construction is known, along with that of the stone pole in Buan-eup. It bears the following inscription about its construction on its right-hand side:
“This stone pole was erected in the middle of the night on the ninth day of January on the lunar calendar in 1749 (the 25th year of the reign of King Yeongjo).” Thus the ritual is believed to have been held at that time. The Seomunan Dangsan in Buan, which bears an inscription about its construction (1689, the 15th year of the reign of King Sukjong), and the Seooe-ri Danggan in Buan, which bears a similar inscription (1671, the 12th year of the reign of King Hyeonjong), are regarded as valuable materials for studies on the history of stone poles in Buan, along with stone pole of Daebeol. In particular, the village record of the Daebeol Dangsanje Ritual, which consists of 60 pages describing the performance of the ritual since 1897, is regarded as a valuable folklore material. The two-bird stone pole in the village of Daebeol was designated as Jeollabuk-do Folklore Heritage No. 17 on August 24, 1983.