A Gift-Negotiation Code of the Underworld Journey Myth: Research on Chasabonpuri-Type Narrative Shaman Songs

It is insisted that Chasabonpuri may have been inspired by the story of Kimchi, who served as the Jeju judge in the 17th century, or the story of Heungdeokhyeongam. However, considering that the basic motif of Chasabonpuri, which is the confrontation between this world’s judge and the underworld judge, already existed during the Tang Song Dynasty, and that there was also an oral tradition in which General Gang Gam-chan, not Heungdeokhyeongam, appeared as the solver, the formation of this shamanic myth can be traced back to before Goryeo. To understand Chasabonpuri, one should consider the narrative, and not the Kimchi judge as the motif. It is necessary to pay attention to the long history of an in-depth narrative present in Chasabonpuri, spanning from a hunting society to an agricultural and pastoral society, and from Sumerian to Tamra-Jeju mythology. The in-depth narrative involves a journey to the underworld that originates from the vision of the world of death, and the driving force that makes the protagonist's journey to the underworld possible is the gift-negotiation code. According to this code, Inanna hung herself on a peg as a gift, and consequently, Dumuzi and her sister Geshtinanna negotiated a 6-months-long cycle between this world and the next. Nishan Shaman, who is said to be the ancestor of Manchurian shamans, also enters the underworld to pick up Seorgudai Piyanggu, and using various gifts, he pleads with King Yeomra and his messenger Mongoldai Nakchu to extend Piyanggu's life. In Korean shamanic mythology, which continues from Jimgajegut to Chasabonpuri, a district magistrate in this world negotiates with King Yeomra of the underworld using gifts to save the dead from a short life. Despite detailed differences in cultural conditions and narrative composition, there is a gift-negotiation code deeply integrated in these myths. This gift-negotiation code originated from the ritual gift exchange between humans and animals in early hunting societies. Hunters offered gifts and negotiated with the gods because the animal's owner would not release the game unless gifts are offered. This gift is not a calculated act of exchange but is based on unlimited reciprocity. The gift-negotiation code repeated from the Inanna myth to the Ganglimchasa myth indicates that the rules of a hunting society based on unlimited reciprocity continue in current shaman mythology through narrative transformation.