Dongti (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

: 동티), also known as Dongto (

: 동토,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 動土) or Shinbeol (

: 신벌,

: 神罰, literally ''Punishment of the Gods'') is the term for

Divine punishment Divine judgment means the judgment of God or other supreme beings within a religion. Ancient beliefs In ancient Sumerian religion, the sun-god Utu and his twin sister Inanna were believed to be the enforcers of divine justice. Utu, as t ...

Korean mythology Korean mythology ( ) is the group of myths told by historical and modern Koreans. There are two types: the written, literary mythology in traditional histories, mostly about the founding monarchs of various historical kingdoms, and the much l ...

Causes

Dongti are said to be caused by shamanistic deities, including village patrons. For example, in one myth, a man used

Jangseung A ''jangseung'' or village guardian is a Korean totem pole usually made of wood. Jangseungs were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark village boundaries and frighten away demons. They were also worshipped as village tutelary deit ...

, or totem poles, for fuel, foolishly believing that the

would not avenge him. Because the man received the rage of the

, or Dongti, he quickly died from an assortment of deadly diseases. Similar myths tell of how people who toppled the village altars, the

Seonangdang The Seonangdang (Hangul: 서낭당), also known as the Seonghwangdang (Hangul: 성황당, Hanja: 城隍堂) are holy stone cairns or trees that are dedicated to the deity Seonangshin, the patron of villages. The Seonangdang still remain common i ...

, suddenly fell sick and died due to Dongti caused by the village patrons, the Seonangshin. There are also myths about the holy trees, the Shinmok or Dangsu Namu, causing fatal disease. The

Gashin In Korean shamanism, Gasin (, literally ''House's God'') are a branch of deities believed to protect the various objects and rooms of the house, such as jangdok or the kitchen. The Gasin faith is the faith based on worshipping these deities. T ...

, or household deities, can also cause Dongti. When the objects the

embody (such as the Seongju Hangari of the Seongjushin, Cheollyung Hangari of the Cheollyungshin, Jowang Geurut of the

Jowangshin Jowangshin (in Hangul, ''조왕신'', in hanja, 竈王神) is the goddess of fire and the hearth in Korean shamanism. As the goddess of the hearth, the rituals dedicated to her were generally kept alive by housewives. She is no longer the subject o ...

, Jeseok Ogari and Mom Ogari of the ancestor gods) are shattered, when the animals (generally toads, weasels, or rat snakes) that the goddess

Eobshin Eopsin () is the goddess of the storage and wealth in Korean mythology and shamanism. She is one of the Gasin, or deities that protect the house. However, unlike other Gasin, who were believed to embody pots, paper, and other inanimate objects, E ...

embodies are killed, or when someone digs on the earth that Teojushin embodies without an appeasing ritual, the person who is

blasphemous Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...

gets Dongti, mostly by disease and/or great misfortune. The goddess of the pit toilet,

Cheukshin Cheuksin (Hangul: 측신, Hanja: 廁神) is the toilet goddess of Korean mythology. Unlike better-known household deities such as Jowangshin, god of the hearth, her worship forms a minor part of the Gasin cult. She is believed to reside in th ...

, is one of the best-known causers of Dongti; when her long hair touches a human who has not coughed thrice before entering the Outhouse, the human gets an incurable sickness and dies. This is a reference to many pathogens spreading via feces.

Gwishin Gwisin ( ko, 귀신) are a type of spirit or ghost in Korean folklore. They are considered similar to a ''Yogoe'' ( ko, 요괴);, and ''Mamul'' ( ko, 마물); they are people who have died, not monsters or creatures such as Dokkaebi. Accordi ...

, or evil spirits, are also said to cause Dongti when the protection of the village or household patrons falter. Most of the disease described as Dongti were probably just normal disease strengthened by the

Nocebo A nocebo effect is said to occur when negative expectations of the patient regarding a treatment cause the treatment to have a more negative effect than it otherwise would have. For example, when a patient anticipates a side effect of a medicatio ...

effect.

Prevention and cure

To prevent Dongti, Koreans used

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

to avoid encountering Dongti-causing

while making a grave or logging; the location of the

was able to be predicted because they followed the stars in a daily pattern. In important events, such as making a grave, Koreans held rites for the Sanshin, the mountain spirits (as the graves are set in mountains) and Teojushin, the earth deity (as the coffin and the body are set under the earth), as to prevent their anger, likely to result in Dongti. To this day, in important events, many Koreans pray to the Obang Shinjang (directional deities), in part to avoid Dongti. Once a Dongti occurs and has been identified by a shaman as such, there were two solutions, differing on whether the causer was an evil entity (such as

) or powerful deity (such as

or Seonangshin). In the latter, Koreans held large Gut to appease the deity who caused the Dongti. The

Placebo effect A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

caused by the Gut may have had some influence on the condition of the patient, but there were many times when the patient died. Shamans explained this through the image of vengeful deities, such as

. In the former, a blind shaman recited the ''Dongtogyeong'', a spell which was said to kill or drive away the

. In the ''Dongtogyeong'',

that cause Dongti are called 'Dongtoshin', meaning 'God of Dongti'; further information is nonexistent.

References

* Sky-Colored Korean Mythology, Yi Kyeong Deok
신벌

동티

측신

동티

동티

동티
{{Reflist Korean mythology Judgment in religion