• Title/Summary/Keyword: religious cultural heritage

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A New Challenge to Korean American Religious Identity: Cultural Crisis in Korean American Christianity

  • Ro, Young-Chan
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.18
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    • pp.53-79
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    • 2004
  • This paper explores the relationship between Korean immigrants to the United States and their religious identity from the cultural point of view. Most scholarly studies on Korean immigrants in the United States have been dominated by sociological approach and ethnic studies in examining the social dimension of the Korean immigrant communities while neglecting issues concerning their religious identity and cultural heritage. Most Korean immigrants to America attend Korean churches regardless their religious affiliation before they came to America. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the fact that Korean church has provided a necessary social service for the newly arrived immigrants. Korean churches have been able to play a key role in the life of Korean immigrants. Korean immigrants, however, have shown a unique aspect regarding their religious identity compared to other immigrants communities in the United States. America is a nation of immigrants, coming from different parts of the world. Each immigrant community has brought their unique cultural heritage and religious persuasion. Asian immigrants, for example, brought their own traditional religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism. People from the Middle Eastern countries brought Islamic faith while European Jews brought the Jewish tradition. In these immigrant communities, religious identity and cultural heritage were homo genously harmonized. Jewish people built synagogue and taught Hebrew, Jewish history, culture, and faith. In this case, synagogue was not only the house of worship for Jews but also the center for learning Jewish history, culture, faith, and language. In short, Jewish cultural history was intimately related to Jewish religious history; for Jewish immigrants, learning their social and political history was indeed identical with leaning of their religious history. The same can be said about the relationship between Indian community and Hinduism. Hindu temples serve as the center of Indian immigrantsin providing the social, cultural, and spiritual functions. Buddhist temples, for that matter, serve the same function to the people from the Asian countries. Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetans, and Thais have brought their respective Buddhist traditions to America and practice and maintain both their religious faith and cultural heritage. Middle Eastern people, for example, have brought Islamic faith to the United States, and Mosques have become the center for learning their language, practicing their faith, and maintaining their cultural heritage. Korean immigrants, unlike any other immigrant group, have brought Christianity, which is not a Korean traditional religion but a Western religion they received in 18th and 19th centuries from the West and America, back to the United States, and church has become the center of their lives in America. In this context, Koreans and Korean-Americans have a unique situation in which they practice Christianity as their religion but try to maintain their non-Christian cultural heritage. For the Korean immigrants, their religious identity and cultural identity are not the same. Although Korean church so far has provides the social and religious functions to fill the need of Korean immigrants, but it may not be able to become the most effective institution to provide and maintain Korean cultural heritage. In this respect, Korean churches must be able to open to traditional Korean religions or the religions of Korean origin to cultivate and nurture Korean cultural heritage.

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Recognizing the Value of Religious Cultural Heritage and Establishing a Preemptive Preservation Foundation: A Case Study on Cultural Heritage as Observed at the Headquarters of Daesoon Jinrihoe (종교 문화유산의 가치 인식과 선제적 보전 기반 마련 - 대순진리회 여주본부도장 문화유산을 사례로 -)

  • Ryu Ho-cheol
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.48
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    • pp.337-374
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    • 2024
  • Designating and registering cultural heritages are actions taken to effectively preserve and utilize something's value as a form of cultural heritage. It is the designation and registration of cultural heritage that establishes a legal basis for preservation and utilization. The preservation and utilization of cultural heritage starts with recognizing a given object, entity, or idea's value as a form of cultural heritage. Protecting and utilizing these forms of heritage properly can only occurs after something is recognized as a form of cultural heritage. In light of this, new religions, given their relatively short histories, naturally have fewer sites or objects designated or registered forms of cultural heritage. They tend not to actively recognize the value of the heritage they have inherited. Cultural heritage can be appropriately preserved when we recognize that it has potential value cultural and historical that can be designated and registered in the future. Among the designated and registered forms of cultural heritage, those associated with religious culture account for a large proportion; however, most of these are Buddhist. Since new religions have also been around for over 50 or even 100 years in some cases, they should have a foundation to proactively protect various items, sites, and traditions that may be designated and registered in the future. Selecting and listing forms of cultural heritage to be protected, minimizes further change to instead focus on historical and cultural value. This process also involves preparing internal regulations within the religious community regarding the protection and promotion of research on cultural heritage values, preservation, and management of the selected example of cultural heritage. Furthermore, comprehensive management, including cultural heritage and its surrounding environment, are necessary requirements for this process. Although potentially valuable as forms cultural heritage, many have items and sites end up damaged or go missing before they have a chance to be designated and registered. Establishing a foundation for preserving and managing cultural heritage internally within religious communities is meaningful because it preemptively preserves that value even prior to formal designation and registration. Daesoon Jinrihoe's Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex, houses objects that have obvious value as cultural heritage such as Cheonggye-tap Pagoda. This pagoda and other comparable items at the headquarters should be properly and preemptively preserved in light of their cultural value.

Construction of Metadata Format and Ontology for Religious architecture heritage Information (종교유적 건축물 정보의 메타데이터 구성과 온톨로지 구축)

  • Chung, Heesun;Kim, Heesoon;Song, Hyun-Sook;Lee, Myeong-Hee
    • Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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    • v.44 no.1
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    • pp.5-26
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    • 2013
  • Although organizing standardized metadata is important for effective management of cultural heritage information, current metadata are represented differently according to the properties of the resources or objectives of the organizations in which they are accumulated. This research compared 6 different metadata formats and created 18 data elements for constructing databases. A religious architecture heritage information database was constructed based on 72 historic religious architectures, each composing of three parts. An ontology based on religious architecture heritage information was designed using a revised CIDOC-CRM, and was developed with a semi-automated corpus program.

A Study of the Symbolicity of Natural monument plant the from religious viewpoint plants of temple (종교적 관점에서 본 천연기념물 식물의 상징성에 대한 소고)

  • Kim, hyo-jeong
    • Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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    • 2012.05a
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    • pp.233-234
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    • 2012
  • 천연기념물로 지정된 식물 중 사찰에 분포하는 것의 종교적 상징성과 일반 사찰의 식물과 비교해 본 결과 불교와 관련된 상징성은 크지 않으며, 일반 사찰의 식물과도 상관성은 크지 않은 것으로 분석되었다.

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The Value of Daesoon Jinrihoe's Temple Complexes from the Perspective of UNESCO World Heritage (세계유산 관점에서의 대순진리회 도장의 가치)

  • Kim, Jin-young
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.35
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    • pp.393-426
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    • 2020
  • In the past, holy sites were mainly designated on a basis of archaeological norms and endowed with a specific fixed identity according to historical, religious, and contextual interpretations. However, approaches to these sites are more flexible in recent times. These locations transcend the boundaries of space and time to enable the experience of diverse transformation and reveal multiple religious identities which are embedded in the complex interaction between power and authority. In this regard, the dynamic meanings of the religious symbology of Daesoon Jinrihoe's temple complexes, imagery, and the spatial structures enable us to grant them a new identity by re-establishing these structures as World Heritage sites. Temple complexes (dojang) correspond to the outstanding universal values identified by UNESCO in that the spiritual activities conducted at these holy sites draw the same attention as would be drawn by historical value. In this context, this study aims to explore the potential for Daesoon Jinrihoe's temple complexes to be designated UNESCO world heritage sites. To carry out this study, existing religious heritage sites such as Mount Athos Monasteries in Greece and Lumbini in Nepal are examined as case studies, and the operational plan, conservation, protection of relics, and interaction with its neighboring community and tourists are likewise closely examined in this study.

The meanings of Sacred places and Pilgrimages in Daesoonjinrihoe (대순진리회의 성지와 순례의 의미)

  • Heo, Nam-jin
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.22
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    • pp.539-565
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    • 2014
  • This paper provides the meaning of sacred places and pilgrimages in Daesoonjinrihoe, the most representative of the new religions in Korea. Daesoonjinrihoe stipulates Dojang(道場, it means temple complex) as the sacred places, which presently functions as the center of their religious faith. Also, The Daesoonjinrihoe devotees worship 15 deities at a sacred place, Yeongdae(靈臺). By seeing meanings of sacred places and pilgrimage in Daesoonjinrihoe, This article focuses on the process of the sacrificial rite of Daesoonjinrihoe related to the importance of religious ritual or place of faith and sacred places as pilgrimage sites. At this time, I explain the properties of sacrificial rite of it. The sacrificial rite of Daesoonjinrihoe, one of its major rites, is performed at both regular and irregular intervals. It is performed by either an individual or a group at a fixed time and place. The study of sacred places should focus not only artificial structures such as buildings but also the meanings given to them and the mechanism that created these meanings. Pilgrimage is journey undertaken by person who consider their destination sacred. By seeing meaning of pilgrimage, this paper focus on Daesoonjinrihoe' role in making a place pilgrimage sites and pilgrimage functions. The reason I focus on sacred places and pilgrimage in Daesoonjinrihoe is that these sacred places reflect people's attempt to invent religious memory and identity. Thus, I elucidate the role that Daesoonjinrihoe's sacred places and pilgrimage plays in remembering religious memory. I examine the messages that Daesoonjinrihoe's sacred places intend to convey to the followers through the created sacred places and pilgrimage. Sacred places are significant because it reflect important symbolic features of religion. Sacred places and pilgrimage are vehicles for remembering the religious memory and reinforcing various memories. Finally, Handing down of our valuable Daesoonjinrihoe's cultural heritage is our duty. So it is necessary to make an effort to conserve Daesoonjinrihoe's cultural heritage such as sacred places and concentration upon our interest continuously.

Evaluation on the Possibility for Sustainable Tourism of Cultural Heritage - Based on the Visitors' Perception of Sin-heung-sa - (문화유산의 지속가능한 관광 가능성에 대한 평가 - 신흥사 방문자의 의식을 중심으로 -)

  • Yi, Young-Kyoung
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.19 no.6
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    • pp.633-645
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    • 2010
  • As the globalization increased, cultural heritage has been widely used as tourist destination. Traditional temples which have valuable cultural resources are important cultural heritages. It was found that most traditional temples which were used as famous tourist destinations lost their intrinsic religious values because of the intensive tourist uses. Sustainable tourism was introduced as an alternative tourism to the conventional one which could cause the destruction of the intrinsic values. Sustainable tourism represents and encompasses a set of principles balancing between visitor satisfaction, economic revitalization of the area, and the conservation of the heritage resources. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility for the sustainable tourism of cultural heritage (traditional temple) by investigating visitors' satisfaction, revisit intention, and awareness on conservation. In order to perform this purpose, Sin-heung-sa was selected as a study site and 339 visitors participated in the questionnaire survey. The study results are summarized into three important findings. First, it was found that the possibility for the sustainable tourism of Sin-heung-sa was high. Vistors' awareness on conservation is high, but visiting satisfaction was medium-high. Specifically, the awareness for heritage transmission was the highest and the awareness for other conservational dimensions such as need for education, conservation for surrounding area, and respect for environmental capacity were also high. Second, visitors' overall and separate satisfactions were not high. Therefore, it was recommended that management strategies are needed to increase the visitor satisfaction because both conservation and visitor satisfaction are essential elements of successful sustainable tourism. The results revealed that visitors' satisfaction could be enhanced by improving safety of the area, providing diverse travel activities and information, and creating unique atmosphere. Third, the revisit intention was evaluated higher than the overall satisfaction, which showed that the attractiveness and competitiveness of Sin-heung-sa was relatively high. Important determinant attributes for revisit intention were analyzed to be good nature(landscape, valley, the fauna and flora) and network with surrounding tourist destinations.

Value and Composition of Mt. Jiri's Cultural Landscape as a World Heritage (지리산 문화경관의 세계유산적 가치와 구성)

  • Choi, Won-Suk
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.42-54
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    • 2012
  • Since people have set up their lives in the Jirisan(Mt. Jiri) for a long time, there are various historical remains and religious and livehood landscape left. Jirisan has been a sacred ground and the base of livelihood and culture, with both of which Jirisan provides a new concept of a mountainous cultural landscape. Jirisan has long been resided there while hallowing it as a spiritual mother mountain. Various historical remains including mountain fortresses from the period of the Three States and ancient tombs from the Gaya age are left in Jirisan. Namakje which is a religious ritual for the mountain spirit has been conducted until today. Numerous cultural heritages have been preserved in Buddhist temples. The continuously prevalent Buddhism in Korea has helped maintaining the living cultural tradition of Jirisan. In addition, Jirisan has various extraordinary features including history, religion, culture, livelihood forms its own mosaic landscape.

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UNESCO Mixed Heritage Concept Sustainable Preservation of Gochang Maritime Religious Relics (유네스코 복합유산 개념으로 본 고창 해양신앙유적의 지속가능한 보존)

  • HWANG Jihae;PYUN Sungchul
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.57 no.1
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    • pp.180-195
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    • 2024
  • Community beliefs of the coastal villages in Gochang are cultural activities and rituals manifesting the hopes and spiritual worlds of the locals who live off the sea and tidal mud. Along with their societal functions wishing for peace, maritime safety, and good catches, the values of the Jwajeongdam (How god came to be), Yuraedam (History of worshipping), and Yeongheomdam (Stories of miracles), as living heritage need to be reexamined according to the recent Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The community beliefs of the coastal villages in Gochang, where outstanding universal intangible and tangible values coexist, have been perpetually transmitted in interactions with tidal mud and the ecological environments of the sea. They reinforce the "Outstanding Universal Value" UNESCO mentions and sustainability that connects the past, present, and future. Furthermore, a coastal area is endowed with international accessibility over regionality. Hence the community beliefs are charged with eco-cultural values, which its preservation and promotion should also focus on to provide policies and protection activities. In short, the tidal mud and community beliefs of coastal villages in Gochang, which according to the concept of UNESCO's "mixed heritage," meet the values for natural, cultural, and intangible heritage at the same time, and so must be approached not in the scope of points or lines, but also in surfaces when arranging protection initiatives.

A Study on the Restoration of the Royal Tombs in the Joseon Dynasty - Focused on Ureung.Gunreung - (조선왕릉의 능제복원 연구 - 융릉.건릉을 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Chang-Hwan;Jung, Jong-Soo;Lee, Won-Ho;Choi, Jong-Hee
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.28 no.3
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    • pp.39-52
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    • 2010
  • The royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty are very important cultural heritage with the palaces and Jongmyo. They being promoted as World Heritage of UNESCO and are archaeological sites that need to complex approach. The purpose of this study is to propose the restoration plan of Ureung Gunreung. The results are as follows: First. In the area of Ureung Gunreung, there are many land-use except the royal tombs such as a new town development site and industrial districts, cultural assets districts, They have to be removed and new routes have to be established same as the original form. Second The traditional trees such as a pine tree, a fir tree, a big cone pine and a rhododendron etc. have to be planted In the traditional forest We introduce upper trees and lower trees in the entrance part and religious service part, and pine tree forest in burial mound part and maintain the lawn. Third, The traditional buildings and facilities such as Jaesil, Subokbang have to be restored maintained, and we planed some convinient facilities and rest facilities for visitors.