조류숭배(鳥類崇拜)의 기원연구를 통해본 한국과 일본의 남방계 문화 인식

Abstract

It is safe to say that culture which originated from Southeast Asia has been underestimated as a component of Korean ethnic culture after WWⅡ. There are reasons for a contempt of culture from Southeast Asian origin, such as the differentiation with the Japanese culture and the affinity to ideas like the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, etc. This study aimed to consider the recognition of culture from Southeast Asian origin in the academic world of South Korea and Japan by examining theories about the origin of bird worship. Theories of bird worship in Korea can be classified roughly into two categories. One is the cultural anthropologist view that bird worship has been diffused from Northern Asia. The other one is the archeologist view that takes bird worship as a universal idea which can be seen anywhere in the world and that it was an autochthonous development in Korea. In Japann, theories of bird worship are also classified into two categories. One is the view that considers the origin of bird worship in a mix of the North Asian origin theory and the Southeast Asian origin theory. The other one is the monistic view that the North Asian origin theory can be reduced to the Southeast Asian origin theory. Thus, there is a considerable difference in the understanding of the Southeast Asian origin theory of bird worship between Korea and Japan. It seems that there was no opportunity for the Southeast Asian origin theory to be established in the South Korean academic world. However, this is not because there was any proof that the theory is incorrect, but rather because there was no try nor will to study bird worship of Southeast Asian origin. We have to recognize the need to consider ancient cultural diffusion and migration under the broad category of East Asia, exceeding nationalisms.