Wikimedia CommonsCulture
Korean Shamanic
Location
Jeju Province, South Korea
Key Figures
Seolmundae Halmang, 500 sons, Sansin (mountain spirit), Tamna founders
Images via Wikimedia Commons
The Myth
The story as told by the culture
In the mythology of Jeju Island, Hallasan was created by the giant grandmother goddess Seolmundae Halmang (also called Grandmother Seolmundae). She was so enormous that she used the mountain as a pillow and let her feet dangle in the sea. She scooped up earth to build the mountain, and the holes she left became the 368 parasitic cinder cones (oreum) that dot Jeju's landscape. In one version of the myth, she fell into the crater lake at the summit (Baengnokdam, 'White Deer Lake') while stirring a great cauldron of porridge to feed her 500 sons, and her body became the mountain itself.
When her 500 sons returned and found the porridge, they ate it unknowingly — then discovered it contained their mother's flesh. Grief-stricken, they turned to stone and became the Yeongsil rock pillars on Hallasan's western slope — 500 stone formations that look like mourning figures. This origin myth encodes themes of maternal sacrifice, unknowing consumption of the sacred, and the transformation of grief into landscape.
Hallasan is also the dwelling place of the Sansin (mountain spirit), a figure venerated across Korea. Shamanic rituals (gut) are performed on and around the mountain, and the Tamna Kingdom (the ancient polity of Jeju, absorbed by the Goryeo dynasty in 1105 CE) traced its founding to three demi-gods who emerged from holes in the ground at the foot of the mountain.
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Myth types
The Place
The physical location today
Hallasan is a shield volcano at the center of Jeju Island, South Korea's largest island, rising to 1,950 meters (6,398 feet) — the highest peak in South Korea. The summit crater contains Baengnokdam (White Deer Lake), a seasonal lake. The mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (as part of Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes) and is designated a national park.
Jeju's volcanic landscape includes approximately 368 parasitic cones (oreum), extensive lava tube cave systems (including Manjanggul, one of the longest in the world), and unique subtropical to alpine vegetation zones. The mountain is accessible by several hiking trails; the Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa trails reach the summit. Jeju's remoteness from the Korean mainland gave it a distinct culture.
Visit information
Access
National park — free entry but summit access may be restricted by weather; trail registration required
Nearest city
Jeju City, Jeju Province (within island)
Notes
The Seongpanak trail (9.6 km) is the most popular summit route. Start early — summit access closes by early afternoon. Weather changes rapidly. The Yeongsil trail offers the best views of the '500 Generals' rock formations. Visit Samseonghyeol in Jeju City for the Tamna founding myth site.
The History
What archaeology and scholarship tell us
Hallasan last erupted approximately 5,000 years ago, though the island's volcanic history stretches back roughly 1.8 million years. The Tamna Kingdom, which governed Jeju independently from roughly the 3rd century BCE, maintained its own shamanic traditions distinct from mainland Korea. The founding myth of Tamna describes three progenitors — Go, Yang, and Bu — who emerged from Samseonghyeol (Three Sage Holes) at the mountain's northern foot.
Jeju's shamanic tradition is among the most intact in Korea, partly because the island's geographic isolation preserved practices that were suppressed on the mainland. Jeju mudang (shamans) maintain an extensive repertoire of myths (bonpuri) that are performed as part of gut rituals — narrative chants that tell the origin stories of gods and spirits. These bonpuri constitute one of the richest surviving bodies of Korean oral mythology.
Sources
Hyun, Key-sook. Jeju Mythology and the Bonpuri Tradition (2017). Korea University Press. Study of Jeju shamanic myths including the Seolmundae Halmang narratives
Tier 2Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes — UNESCO World Heritage nomination (2007). UNESCO World Heritage Centre. View source → UNESCO documentation of Hallasan's geological and cultural significance
Tier 3Nearby Sites
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Creation time — the formation of Jeju Island; continuous shamanic tradition
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