한국 서남해안의 ‘갯제’와 중화권의 ‘송왕선 (送王船)’에 나타나는 의례적 구조 = ‘Gaetje’ on the Southwestern Coast of Korea and ‘Songwangseon’ in the China Region : Sending Off Plagues and Hungry Ghosts

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper investigates maritime folk customs that promote community well-being, offer prayers for personal fortune and the afterlife of the deceased, and strengthen social solidarity. Focusing on the Songwangseon ritual of China and the Gaetje ritual of Korea, the study seeks to identify the structural similarities in how coastal communities ritually address death at sea.
The Songwangseon (送王船) ritual of the Greater China region was jointly inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by China and Malaysia in 2020. Similarly, Korea’s Gaetje (foreshore ritual), rooted in the southwestern coastal region, was designated a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021 under the category of ‘Gaetbul-eoro (foreshore fishery).
At the center of the Songwangseon ritual is WangYa (王爺), a deity responsible for ‘Songon (送瘟)’—the act of removing contagious diseases and misfortunes from human society by being ceremonially carried away on a King-boat. The ritual developed during periods marked by frequent maritime disasters and infectious disease outbreaks and later spread to overseas Chinese communities in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Nagasaki, where it evolved in localized forms.
The Korean Gaetje, on the other hand, encompasses production-based rituals, beliefs, and festive practices related to tidal flat fishing. It stands as a representative coastal community ritual, primarily aimed at praying for a bountiful harvest. Although regionally and economically adapted over time, its core symbolic structure remains intact.
A key component of the Gaetje ritual in ‘Heonseok,’ a symbolic act of offering food to hungry ghosts and then ritually expelling them from the village. This gesture reflects both the community’s respect for those who perished at sea and its collective desire to protect itself from spiritual and natural disasters. In certain coastal areas, active beliefs in ‘Dokkebi (goblins)’ is also integrated into the Gaetje, further aligning it with the symbolic structures found in Songwangseon.
In summary, the study suggests that the ritual structures of Songwangseon and Gaetje exhibit meaningful parallels. These shared elements reflect the common existential challenges faced by coastal communities and the ritual strategies developed to navigate life—and death—by the sea.