Duduri

Duduri
Wood spirit
Other names
Korean name
Hangul	두두리
RR	duduri
MR	tuduri
Venerated in	Korean shamanism
Major cult center	Gyeongju
Symbol	Wooden statue
Ethnic group	Koreans

Duduri (Korean: 두두리), also known as Dudueul (두두을), was a wood spirit (木神) worshipped in the Gyeongju region of Korea. It was also called Mokrang (木郞). Duduri appears in records from the Goryeo dynasty. A later source says that people had worshipped the spirit since the time of Bihyeongrang in the Silla dynasty.^[1][2] Worship of Duduri later declined. Some scholars consider Duduri an early form of the dokkaebi in Korean folklore.^[3][4]

Origins

The name Duduri is Korean and was written in Chinese characters as 豆豆里 or 豆豆乙. Its original meaning is uncertain. The Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam (新增東國輿地勝覽), published in 1530, records that people in Gyeongju worshipped a spirit called Mokrang (木郞), also known as Duduri. They held rites for this spirit at Wanggasu (王家藪), a forest ten li south of Gyeongju. The book says that Duduri had been widely worshipped since the time of Bihyeongrang in the Silla dynasty.^[5][6][7]

Folklorist Kang Eun-hae describes Duduri as an earlier form of the Dokkaebi in Korean folklore.^[8][9][10]

Historical accounts

Duduri appears in several records from the Goryeo dynasty. The Goryeosa (History of Goryeo) tells of Yi Ŭimin, a military leader who held power from 1183 to 1196. Yi came from Gyeongju and had risen from the slave class. He kept a shrine to Duduri in his home and prayed to the spirit for protection. According to the story, Duduri cried and told Yi that it could no longer protect him. Yi lost power and was killed soon afterwards.^[11][12]

Another account in the Goryeosa dates to 1231, during the first Mongol invasion of Korea. A report from Gyeongju claimed that five spirits called Mokrang had come to fight the Mongols. The spirits asked the Goryeo court to send weapons and horses. Ch'oe U sent an official with pictures of soldiers and horses as an offering to the spirits. The account says that the spirits failed to stop the Mongols.^[13][14]

Historian Yun Seong-jae suggests that Duduri lost much of its importance after the fall of the powerful men who worshipped it.^[15]

In popular culture

In the 2003–2004 KBS historical drama Age of Warriors, a shamanistic character named Dudueul, played by Jeon Moo-song, appears as an advisor to Yi Ŭimin.^[16]

References

1. Yun, Seong-jae (2017). "제자리를 떠난 지역신 – 동경(東京) 두두리(豆豆里)를 중심으로". 역사와 현실 (in Korean) (106): 63–84. doi:10.35865/YWH.2017.12.106.63.
2. "경주 왕가수". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Academy of Korean Studies.
3. Park, Mi-kyung (2020). 한국의 도깨비: 도깨비를 통해 본 한국의 시각문화 (in Korean). 고려대학교출판문화원. ISBN 979-11-90205-20-7.
4. Kang, Eun-hae (2011). "설화 속에서 만난 도깨비" (PDF). 국립중앙박물관회 회지 (in Korean). No. 36. pp. 8–10.
5. 한국요괴도감 (in Korean). WisdomHouse. 21 March 2019. ISBN 979-11-89938-00-0.
6. "경주 왕가수" [Wanggasu of Gyeongju]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Academy of Korean Studies.
7. Yun, Seong-jae (2017). "제자리를 떠난 지역신 – 동경(東京) 두두리(豆豆里)를 중심으로". 역사와 현실 (in Korean) (106): 63–84. doi:10.35865/YWH.2017.12.106.63.
8. Park, Mi-kyung (30 January 2020). 한국의 도깨비: 도깨비를 통해 본 한국의 시각문화 (in Korean). 고려대학교출판문화원. ISBN 979-11-91161-98-4.
9. Kang, Eun-hae (2011). "설화 속에서 만난 도깨비" (PDF). 국립중앙박물관회 회지 (in Korean). No. 36. pp. 8–10.
10. Kang, Eun-hae (2004). "도깨비와 난타". 한국학논집 (in Korean) (31): 141–164.
11. 영남 을 알면 한국 사 가 보인다 (in Korean). 푸른 역사. 2005. ISBN 978-89-91510-14-2.
12. Yun, Seong-jae (2017). "제자리를 떠난 지역신 – 동경(東京) 두두리(豆豆里)를 중심으로". 역사와 현실 (in Korean) (106): 63–84. doi:10.35865/YWH.2017.12.106.63.
13. 한국 문헌 설화 (in Korean). 건국대학교출판부. 1998. ISBN 978-89-7107-198-4.
14. Yun, Seong-jae (2017). "제자리를 떠난 지역신 – 동경(東京) 두두리(豆豆里)를 중심으로". 역사와 현실 (in Korean) (106): 63–84. doi:10.35865/YWH.2017.12.106.63.
15. Yun, Seong-jae (2017). "제자리를 떠난 지역신 – 동경(東京) 두두리(豆豆里)를 중심으로". 역사와 현실 (in Korean) (106): 63–84. doi:10.35865/YWH.2017.12.106.63.
16. "윤대성-전무송 40년 우정이 빚는 "환상호흡" 다시 본다". 한국일보 (in Korean). 2 October 2003.