Toward the Other Shore: The Soul Boat in World Myth and Art
Toward the Other Shore: The Soul Boat in World Myth and Art Introduction: One Symbol, Many Voyages The use of the "boat" as a vessel to depict the soul's journey after death is an archetype so universal it appears across nearly all human cultures. Yet, this symbol of the "afterlife boat" is by no means a monolithic concept. This report argues that this symbol functions as a precise cultural indicator, reflecting a society's core values regarding individualism and communitarianism, the nature of divinity, the structure of the cosmos, and the economics of salvation. The case of Korea, with its unique overlap of indigenous beliefs, shamanism, and Buddhist traditions, offers a particularly rich perspective for understanding how this powerful metaphor has evolved through syncretism. This study adopts a comparative methodology, first conducting an in-depth analysis of Korean traditions (archaeological, shamanistic, and Buddhist), and then proceeding to a compari...