South Korea’s intangible cultural heritage system resemble a towering tree. This systematic framework is the very sturdy trunk that supports the tradition of Korea. ICH, intangible cultural heritage, is intrinsically linked to the cultural tradition and ethnicity. Today, in East Asia, intangible cultural heritage serves as a representation of national identity. In East Asian countries, including South Korea, listing, and preserving intangible heritage is rightly regarded as a national level project. Since east Asia has undergone rapid modernization and westernization (albeit with different processes and results), and this means they had to bid farewell to tradition abruptly in common. Therefore, it is not only important tasks for East-Asian countries to preserve their ICH today, but it’s also an act of recovering lost memories due to ethnic amnesia. In 1962, South Korea enacted Cultural Properties Protection Law. The Act characterized intangible cultural properties as ‘living human treasures’ and established a transmission system centered on the holder who possesses the function. And this shows a unique way of Korea to safeguard enacted Cultural Properties.

The holder is required to pass on the exact original form, the ‘archetype’, to pass on the function of the intangible to the next generation. Therefore, the most important thing for intangible cultural properties is to maintain the ‘archetype’. This is the point that irony occurs: how can an “intangible” heritage be transmitted in a certain “tangible” form. Therefore, the concept of archetype has been praised for preserving a national tradition intact, but at the same time, it has an irreconcilable dichotomy of stuffed intangible cultural properties like hardened fossils. This shows the controversy of the ‘archetype’ of ICH. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to inquire into the concept of archetype. Furthermore, it analyzes the process through which this “controversial” archetype had emerged.

For this, I analyze ‘Taepyeongmu(Great Peace Dance)’, one of the representative intangible cultural heritages in Korea. This Taepyeongmu dance (also music) is very interesting. Unlike ‘Jongmyo Jeryeak(Royal Ancestral Ritual Music in the Jongmyo Shrine)’1) or ‘Cheoyongmu (Mask Dance)’2) which have their own long histories, Taepyeongmu was created by a single Dancer in 20^th Century. Originating from the shamanistic ritual ‘Gut’, an ethnic religion in Korea, this dance and music have evolved into a completely new form of Korean Tradition. My ultimate question in this research is how the ‘archetype’ of Taepyeongmu, one of the most representative heritages, is born and transmitted. In other word, this study shows how to define oneself in an ethnic category and how this category is performed and represented as an ethnicity.

As the title suggests, the focus of this article is the concept of ‘prototype’. For the past 50 years, the preservation and management of ICH has been guided by the principle of ‘Archetype’, but in 2016, the ICH law was revised. It is then necessary to explain why this article focused on the concept of ‘Archetype’ rather than ‘Prototype’. In 2016, the Cultural Heritage Administration amended the law to use the term ‘prototype’ to improve the problems with ‘Archetype. The introduction of the concept of ‘prototype’ instead of ‘Archetype’ is an attempt to recognize the limitations of the intangible cultural property preservation policy and reform it from the ground up.

However, I have considerable skepticism and doubts about the enactment of this new law. The new law of ICH says that ‘Prototype’ allows for ‘change’ and ‘openness’, as opposed to sticking to one form from a specific period. In other words, the concept of prototype recognizes the differences in form that occur when the same principle occurs repeatedly and does not deny internal change. But still, like archetypes, the concept of prototype itself is vague and lacks concrete substance. Also, many experts point out whether this new concept can be applied in the field. We must reconsider about the adhesion between the ‘Archetype’ and ICH system for over 50 years. Can the concept of ‘Archetype’ be exfoliated and replaced with the new concept of ‘Prototype’? This abrupt enactment of the law denotes that the concept of archetype is clearly problematic and reveal an underlying aporia: no one has a clear answer to this problem. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the concept of ‘Archetype’ because, despite the change in the law in 2016, it is the concept of ‘Archetype’ that is closely related to the protection of intangible cultural property.

Also, the main thing I address in this study is this: how did national ICH come about? In other words, how are ‘archetypes’ born? In this thesis, I trace the creation of representative archetype. “How are archetypes created?”. This is the biggest question of my thesis.

Ⅰ. Gut, Korean Shamanism : The Origins of Korea’s Intangible Heritage

Before delving into the analysis of Taepyeongmu and its archetype, it is essential for us to understand the ethnic-cultural aspect of Korea. Shamanism influenced the formation of court, folk, and religious music in Korea. Many dances and music in Korea have their roots in shamanic music, highlighting the close association between Korea’s intangible cultural heritage and folk art with the ethnic religion of shamanism.

Homer B. Hulbert, American missionary, who wrote <The passing of Korea (1906)>, said in his book. “As a general thing, we may say that the all-round Korean will be a Confucianist when in society, a Buddhist when he philosophizes and a spirit- worshipper when he is in trouble.”3)

This sentence illustrates how pre-modern Koreans thought mentally. Shamanism was highly significant in Korea. Korean shamanism, known as ‘musok’ had a significant influence on shaping Korean culture as a religion mediated by intermediaries called mudang who communicate between spirits(heaven) and humans. These mudang, or shamans, directly communicate with gods and perform shamanic rituals called “gut” to pray for the peace of the community and clan, to heal illnesses, and to exorcise evil spirits. It was particularly important in people’s lives. The major categories of rites are the ‘Naerim-gut’, the ‘Dodang-gut’ and the ‘Ssitgim-gut.’

In particular, the music used in gut rituals from region to region, with diverse types of present. Moreover, throughout the entirety of the gut ritual—beginning, middle, and end—the music and dance are improvised and varied to entertain the spirits and provide artistic and playful enjoyment to the audience watching the ritual.

These rituals involve dance and music, and these artistic performances with religious purposes form the backbone of gut. Much of Korea’s folk music and traditional dances, including Taepyeongmu, were largely influenced by these gut rituals.

Shamanism was intimately intertwined with the actual lives of Koreans during the Joseon Dynasty and beyond, forming the foundation of various folk arts in Korea. However, the situation took a turn for the worse in the 1900s. Shamanism came under oppression by the Japanese colonial government during the period of Japanese rule in Korea. Nevertheless, there were also opposing movements: The colonial oppression of the Koreans by the Japanese stimulated some intellectuals to think about their national identity and to take a new look at their own history and culture. In this process, shamanism began to appear in a different light.4)

Korea was culturally suppressed under Japanese colonial rule, and shamanism was no exception. However, amidst this, another movement emerged. In 1920, several publications testify to a new interest in shamanism. The first generation of Korean folklorists were influenced by folklorists such as Murayama Chijun ((村山智順) and Takashi Akiba(秋葉隆), who were active during the Japanese occupation. The Korean governor general and Japanese folklorists investigated Korean shamanism. They thought that it was shamanism that governed the psyche of the Korean people, so they thought it was necessary to study shamanism to understand the Korean archetype. Son Jin Tae(孫晉泰) was the first scholar to pay serious attention to shaman songs, which he started to collect and eventually published in his ‘Collection of Remnants of the Divine Songs of Korea’, while Choi Nam sun(崔南善) and Lee Neung Hwa(李能和) published studies on shamanism in the periodical in 1927.

The early Korean folklorists, Influenced by Japanese folklorists, attempted to find the roots and origins of ‘Koreaness’, known as the ‘Archetype,’ through shamanism in common. It was during this time that the concept of the archetype, as discussed in today’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Law and system, began to take shape, initiated by the early folklorists. It was in reaction to the Japanese occupation that in this period a more positive attitude toward shamanism began to emerge.

Ⅱ. Modernization in 1900 period

In the 1900s, Korea began to modernize, introduce Western culture, and change its social system and ideology. As a result, various Western dances were introduced into Korean dance world. This “new dance” was a completely new form that was different from traditional dance and introduced Western techniques for the theater and proscenium-style stage. Dancers like Choi seung hee(崔承喜) were representative of this new dance, especially after studying in Japan, where she combined traditional Korean dance with Western technique and style to create new dances. From this point on, Korean dance was divided into two main categories: ‘traditional dance’ and ‘creative dance’. The emergence of new dance in the modern era was a major change in the Korean art scene.

The situation became increasingly complex in the mid-1900s. In addition, after liberation from Japan’s forced invasion, Korea experienced the Korean War, the Cold War, and rapid modernization, and from the 1950s onward, the country sought to reclaim its identity as “Korean.” This social atmosphere, coupled with the nationalistic policies of the government at the time, led to the enactment of the Intangible Cultural Property Act. In 1962, Park Chung-hee’s military regime passed the Cultural Property Protection Act, which was strongly influenced by Japan. He viewed Japan, especially Japan’s modernization (Meiji Restoration), positively, and thought that Korea should also seal its internal divisions and become a modern nation through national absolutism.

In response to colonialism and the influence of nationalism, folklorists intensified their efforts to find the ‘archetype’ of Korea. Following independence, the nationalism fervor escalated even further. During this time, efforts, and interest in finding the ‘pure essence’ of the Korean people, or the archetype of the ‘Koreannes’, coincided with the nationalistic policies of Park Chung-hee’s dictatorship regimes, leading to the birth of the Cultural Heritage Act. Additionally, under the influence of Japanese colonialism, both folklorists and the Park Chung-hee government were greatly influenced by Japanese folklore studies and cultural heritage laws.

Ⅲ. Making Archtype : Birth and Trasmition of ICH, Taepyeongmu

Taepyeongmu, National Intangible Heritage No.92, the origin of this dance can be traced back to a man who, much like the early folklorists of the modern era, sought to find ethnic identity through dance and music. Han Sung Jun (1874-1942). He was a musician and a dancer during the modern period. It should be impossible to know the Korean Dance today without understanding Han Song Jun’s achievement.5) Han Standing at the gap between tradition and modernity, He devoted his efforts to creating and preserving Korean folk and traditional dances. He learned music, dance, and tightrope walking skills from his grandfather, who was proficient in folk arts and music. He drew inspiration from shamanistic rituals, particularly the village-level “gut” ceremonies, to create Taepyeongmu for the first time. His dance was then passed down to his granddaughter and disciples, eventually being designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 1988.

It became an ICH from a shamanistic ritual. We need to pay attention to this point. As mentioned earlier, gut, the shamanistic ritual is transmitted in no fixed form and varied flexibly. Starting from such gut performances, it is important to explore how it became an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

For effective analysis, I classify the history of Taepyeongmu into four periods from its inception to the present day. This chronological division shows the process of how an intangible cultural heritage is created and eventually becomes a national cultural asset.

The first period (1895-1941) is the “Period of creation”. Taepyeongmu was initially created during this period by Han Sung Jun, a master of traditional dance and music. Han Sung Jun aimed to revitalize disappearing traditional arts under the modernization of the Japanese colonial rule era and to restore the identity of Korea. He did not adhere solely to old style or traditional elements; rather, he stood between tradition and modernity, reinterpreting and adapting folk arts. Learning dance, music, rhythm, and tightrope walking skills from his artistic grandfather since childhood, he traveled throughout the Korean peninsula in his twenties, broadening his knowledge of folk arts. At the age of 22, he participated in the gut ritual, a folk ceremony performed in villages (Gyeonggi Province), where he gained significant inspiration from the dance and music of the gut ritual, leading to the creation of the early style of Taepyeongmu, characterized by the theme of “the king dances.” The dance and music in the gut ritual, particularly in the ceremonies held in Gyeonggi Province, exhibited a more artistic form compared to other regions, serving as a significant source of inspiration for him.

Music and dance have a very close relationship in Korean folklore, especially in gut. Dance and music are important elements in gut, shamanic rituals that serve a ritualistic function in inviting, entertaining, and comforting the spirit and God. Dance and music as practical simulations and representation form a distinctive feature of each region and have had a profound influence on Korean performing art. Many Korean traditional performing arts originate from the music and movement of this shamanism ritual.

Figure 1

Picture of Han Sung Jun

Han selected two parts, which typically consists of an average of 16 detailed parts, specifically from the Gyeonggi-do gut ritual. These two parts are called ‘Jin-soi’ and ‘eobeollim.’ This also the names of rhythms. They share common characteristics, emphasizing court dance-like, theatrical, and playful elements over shamanistic character.

Frist, ‘Teobeollim’, with its 10-beats and deep, expansive tones, exudes a sense of weightiness and grandeur. Its significance lies in purify the site where ritual is performed and showcasing the skills and talents of the performers (not just for entertainment purposes).

Second, ‘Jin-soi’, meaning ‘iron’ in Korean, holds significance from shamanistic rituals where shamans use iron rods to call upon spirits and ward off evil forces. It consists of fast-paced 3-beat and 2-beat rhythms and is the only gut ritual dance associated with the royal court. The movements of Jin-soi are graceful, flexible, and dignified. In the early stages, Han created a version that combined these two parts. According to his disciple Ji Yeong-hee, the early Taepyeongmu resembled a dance drama with a plot. There is an interesting aspect here. Han Seong-jun drew inspiration from shamanistic rituals, but instead of emphasizing the connection with shamanism, he highlighted the association with the ‘royal court’. His selective editing showcased a process of choosing specific elements from established traditions and recreated them in a new context.

The second period (1941-1970) can be characterized as a period of “dormancy.” After Han Sun Jun’s death in 1941, his disciples Kang Seon-yeong and Han Yeong-suk ceased their artistic activities and did not continue their master’s dance for 30 years. However, external changes occurred during this period. The 1950s and 1960s saw the peak of nationalism and state ideology in South Korea, leading to a revival of folklore and tradition. The Cultural Heritage Protection Law, which had been under discussion since 1961 under Park Chung-hee’s government, was introduced in 1962. Traditional dances began to function as symbols representing the identity of the nation. The perception which had long been considered part of folk culture, were now recognized as noble cultural heritage approved by the state, brought significant changes in the artistic community. New institutions emerged, and new possibilities were latent: In this context, this period can be seen as a time when folk performances and traditional dances received new impetus externally, and a period when new possibilities for creation and variation were latent.

The third period (1970-1988) marks the era of “period of variations.” It was a period when Han Seong-jun’s disciples, after a long dormancy, began reconstructing their master’s Taepyeongmu in their own styles, leading it to be designated as an intangible cultural heritage. While Han Seong-jun created the early version combining two styles, ‘Teobeollim’ and ‘Jin-Soi’, his disciple Kang Seon-yeong experimented with various variations to further develop her master’s version. There were both similarities and differences between them. While the master structured the dance like a drama with the dance of a king, Kang focused on musical and choreographic elements rather than drama. She added introductory sections and completed a repertoire of rhyming couplets consisting of “Nakgung-Tobeollim-Ollimchae-Dosalphooli-Tobeollim.” Although she clearly adopted a more advanced form than her master, like him, she emphasized the association with the royal court through costumes and accessories.

This period is noteworthy because Kang Seon yeong’s Taepyeongmu was designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Korea in 1988. The process of Kang Seon yeong’s Taepyeongmu being designated as an intangible cultural heritage involved a series of steps, including application, investigation, review by experts, and deliberation, ultimately receiving official approval from the government. Folklorists played a crucial role in this process, particularly during the investigation and deliberation stages, where they conducted documentation and recording of the intangible heritage. This was considered a preliminary step to secure the “original form” and the “archetype” of the intangible heritage for preservation and transmission.

Folklorists typified the characteristics of Taepyeongmu and its musical and choreographic aspects in authorized reports, materializing them as fixed form. This was crucial to ensure the preservation of the predetermined archetype. Through this process, the intangible heritage was encapsulated within the clean room of the archetype. Folklore studies originated from essentialist thinking, which believed in extracting specific cultural forms and preserving their primordial essence, as advocated during the Japanese colonial period and by early Korean folklorists.

The fourth period (1988-2016) marks the era of “transmission.” In the previous period, Taepyeongmu was officially documented and secured as an “archetype” for stable transmission within the system of government and cultural heritage authorities (folklorists). However, upon entering the intangible cultural heritage system, the original forms of Taepyeongmu, such as gut (shaman rituals), which were subject to free transformation and improvisation without fixed forms, became confined to specific formats once recorded and materialized by folklorists according to the principles and guidelines of the documentation process. Consequently, within the realm of the intangible cultural heritage system, these art forms exist only within the confines of the document and principles.

This is reminiscent of the process of canonization, where Taepyeongmu, upon being designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Heritage in 1988 and securing a specific form, becomes rigid like a scripture. Just as in canonization, specific elements are formalized into a standardized form. Once completed, the possessor of the canon becomes the sole authority capable of reproducing its original form. Additionally, like canonization, once formally established, no alterations or additions are permitted. Also, Intangible cultural heritage, as once documented and standardized, it becomes difficult to innovate or create anew.

Similarly, although not intangible cultural heritage, Samulnori(Four things play) serve as a representative example. Samulnori dramas serve as a prime example of both “creation based on tradition” and “invented tradition.”6) Similarly, Taepyeongmu and Samulnori share significant similarities in that they both break away from the traditional character of ‘Gyeonggi-do Danggut (a shamanistic ritual)’ and ‘Pungmulgut ‘(a percussive folk performance), introducing new contextual elements.7) Both of these traditional arts are similar in that they start from the folklore of ‘Nongak’ and ‘gut’ and create something new, but they also have their differences: ‘Samulnori’ was not designated as ICH, but gained great popularity and prestige among the masses; it was voluntarily preserved and passed down as “representative” of Korean ethnicity and tradition within a marketable, capitalist logic. They exemplify both tradition-based creation and invented tradition. For example, ‘Nongak’, a percussion music genre, was selected and edited to create repertoire. These establish specific repertoires that, over time, become standardized and resist further variation, akin to canonical texts.

In conclusion, the processes from the 1st to the 4th period shows how the “archetype” of intangible cultural heritage was created. Folklore of Korea, which were once connected to local life and diverse potential for change within regions and communities, become fossilized once they enter the clean room of intangible cultural heritage

Ⅳ. ICH and discourse of Archetype

Criticisms abound that the Cultural Properties Protection Law in Korea, due to its emphasis on preserving only the archetypes of intangible heritage, and the law has been preserving folk arts, which should be “alive,” have become fossilized, disconnected from actual life and locality. But in other hand, we cannot deny that the institution of intangible and folk cultural properties has contributed to excavating and assigning a meaning to local cultures.

Unlike tangible cultural heritage, which consists of physical objects displayed in museums, intangible cultural heritage is not a static entity but rather a “living tradition” rooted in real life communities. As it is passed down through generations, it undergoes changes, may naturally fade away, and sometimes gets recreated anew. Intangible cultural heritage is characterized by its fluidity, blurred boundaries, and non-structured attributes. However, when we attempt to fit this formless aspect into the fixed concept of an “archetype” for preservation and transmission, we encounter complex issues.

Korean Act for Cultural Property Preservation the backbone of ICH safeguarding framework, was developed into highly effective and unique instrument focused on holders, which are in case of ICH of national-level importance designated as in-ganmunhwajae (lit. ‘Living human treasure’) or ‘National Living Treasures’. The system became globally recognized following UNESCO’s 1993 forum International Consultation on New Perspectives for UNESCO’s Programmed: The Intangible Cultural Heritage, within which ROK proposed an international project entitled List of the World’s Living Human Treasures.8)

The recognition of numerous folk arts, including Taepyeongmu, as intangible cultural heritage in the 1900s coincided with a period of political and social upheaval in Korea due to colonization, rapid modernization, and military dictatorship. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider Korea’s traditions within the context of imperialism, anti-colonialism, division, dictatorship, and modernization. Particularly, it is crucial to acknowledge that many of the traditions believed to be ancient or promoted as such today were invented and selected by the modern state to serve its needs. Moreover, it’s important to consider where the roots of South Korea’s intangible cultural heritage protection law lie. South Korea’s law on intangible cultural heritage has been heavily influenced by Japan. Protection of Cultural Property of Korea enacted in 1962 is like modern Japanese Acts such as Law for Maintenance of Old Temples and Shrines (1897), The Order for Preservation of Treasures and Historic Sites in Colonial Korea (1933), and Law for Protection of Cultural Property of Japan enacted in 1950.

In Japanese entertainment and culture, there is a fundamental concept of preserving its form, exemplified by the Iemoto(家元) system. This system is very similar to the ICH system in South Korea. The Iemoto system resembles a towering tree. The Iemoto system has been considered a characteristic of Japanese society and has greatly contributed to the succession of traditional arts. It originates from the idea of masters transmitting their skills or secrets to their disciples. The highest authority is placed on acquiring and transmitting them without distortion. Therefore, Japan’s intangible cultural heritage system, including Nihon-Buyo (Japanese classical dance), was established on the concept of preserving this form. However, Korea, having a different cultural context from Japan, needs to move away from simply imitating Japan’s intangible cultural heritage system. Instead, it should rediscover the characteristics of Korean folk performance, such as gut (shamanistic ritual), which has been operated within the framework of village communities and has not been confined to predetermined forms or structures for transmission. Also the fact that in the 1960s, the government enacted the Cultural Heritage Protection Act under the pretext of preserving and developing national culture, leading to the rapid designation of numerous intangible cultural heritage items with the support of folklorists and the government, signifies a great deal.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

When I went on a fieldwork trip to investigate the Korean folklore of gut, it had a very different structure. If the intangible cultural heritage system were likened to a towering tree, the original folk arts would be its intricate roots and rhizomes9): Korea’s intangible cultural heritage evokes the imagery of a towering tree. Like a tree firmly rooted in the ground, it sustains lush branches and leaves. The roots and trunk of a tree are the absolute foundation. In the context of intangible cultural heritage, the former can be likened to the archetype and the holders (The living human treasure), while the latter can be seen as the successors who continue the heritage for future generations. This resembles the trunk of a tree, and just as a tree operates within a systematically established order, intangible cultural heritage is preserved within the framework of laws and institutions established by the government. Due to this, Korean Traditional arts have been preserved as intangible cultural heritage in a stable form. This is understood as branches extending from the central stem, with the concept of the archetype as the central stem and the holders as the roots spreading out from it, forming branches.

Despite the principle of the archetype norms, intangible cultural heritage, like a tree, exhibits diversity as branches and roots spread out. However, this diversity is merely pseudo-diversity as it always reverts to the central stem, analogous to how various branches ultimately converge into one trunk. The significance of individual branches or side roots is contextualized within the relationship with the central stem, and they can only be meaningful through that central axis. This hierarchical organization from the center results in peripheral branches and side roots being assimilated into the central axis. Ultimately, all this diversity is subsumed into a single line, hindering the emergence of something truly new. However, art itself, and Korean traditional dance, should not be subject to this homogenous repetition but rather should secure diversity and creativity.