This paper is an examination of Mudang (Korea Shaman) spirituality and ritual in connection with political aspects. Some self-styled or so-called Living Buddhas (Saengbul, 生佛) have appeared in records of premodern Korea. This paper will analyse these cases where the Mudangs adopted and managed the image of Saengbul for their own religious purposes. The Mudang ritual response to Saengbul often aroused change in the political power of the time and reshape the society, without a violent revolt. I focus on Mudang’s three ritual strategies for dealing with Saengbul according to the historical situation and conditions.
The first case is of a shaman of Hae-ju region who enshrined a statue of a Buddhist monk. The monk was known to have been a Living Buddha while alive, and was executed on charges of treason against the Yi dynasty. She ritualized a statue convict, a dead Saengbul, relevantly such that her rituals could be very well-received by many devotees. The governors considered it as an act of ritual rebellion against the state and thus as a political matter. She was eventually banished to a far-off island.
The second case is of a shaman of Jae-ryeong area who played a leading part in anti-state activities. She performed clandestine rituals to heaven in the mountains waiting for a Living Buddha who was supposed to supersede the then king. Her rituals were treated as improper rites and as an act of political rebellion because they violated the structure and authority of Confucian ritual politics. There was a quid pro quo in this, inevitably. She was punished by beheading.
The third and final case is of numerous shamans in the Whanghae-do province who renounced their own religious practices and ritual specialty in order to follow female Saengbul living at that time. They gave up their shamanic trade and tools (drums and rattles) and become fervent followers of the Saengbul. They were no longer religious practitioners but rather, they became willing religious consumers. Eventually, the female Living Buddhas whom many shamans worshipped, were beheaded by the state or banished to far-off areas.
In summary, some shamans maximized their own ritual resources by making better use of the symbolism of the Living Buddha, whereas others minimized their own ritual function to absolutize their belief in the Living Buddha. Through the above cases of shamans, we can reevaluate shamanic ritual rebellion, Korean shaman religious conversion, and the relationship between Shamanism and Buddhism.