Panel 1-1 Permit Pork to the Goddess!: Layers of Meaning in the Pork Taboo of Jeju Island Rituals /Kim Seonja

Kim Seonja
Director, Mythology Research Center of Yonsei Institute for Sinology, Republic of Korea
　　 
　　 Across global mythologies, the association between the pig and female deities is a recurring motif. Jeju Island mythology, however, presents a unique twist: the narratives frequently feature a direct conflict between goddesses who attempt to consume pork and the male deities who oppose them, often resulting in the goddesses’ expulsion. This paper uses a mythological framework about the pig, tracing its symbolic significance from ancient Manchuria (滿洲) to Jeju Island, to analyze this specific local phenomenon. We will investigate the multiple layers of meaning surrounding the pork taboo (豬肉禁忌) in Jeju myths, specifically focusing on how the ensuing gender conflict between the male and female deities reflects and reinforces social values, prohibitions, and the hierarchical ordering of the pantheon. The study aims to demonstrate that this mythological tension surrounding the consumption of pork serves as a powerful narrative device for codifying and expressing fundamental tensions related to gender, power, and ritual purity within the religious landscape of Jeju Island.

Keywords: Goddess, Pork, Taboo, Gender Coflict, Jeju Island


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