jangseung

{{Short description|Korean totem pole}}

{{Italic title}}

{{redirect|Changsung|the county in South Korea|Jangseong}}

{{more footnotes|date=February 2017}}

{{Infobox Korean name

|img=Korean.Folk.Village-Minsokchon-15.jpg

|caption=Jangseungs at the Korean Folk Village near Seoul.

|hangul=장승

|hanja=長栍

|rr=Jangseung

|mr=Changsŭng

|text=Alternate names:
Beopsu (법수), Beoksu (벅수)

}}

{{Korean shamanism}}

A {{Transliteration|ko|rr|jangseung}} ({{Korean|hangul=장승}}) or village guardian is a Korean totem pole usually made of wood. {{Transliteration|ko|rr|Jangseungs}} were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark village boundaries and frighten away demons. They were also worshipped as village tutelary deities.

In the southern regions of Jeolla, Chungcheong, and Gyeongsang, jangseungs are also referred to as beopsu or beoksu, a variation of boksa ({{Korean|hangul=복사|hanja=卜師|labels=no}}), meaning a male shaman.

In the Jeolla region, {{Transliteration|ko|rr|jangseungs}} are often made of stone bearing some resemblance to the dolhareubangs of Jeju Island.

File:Village devil posts.jpg (1906) by the American Protestant missionary Homer Bezaleel Hulbert.]]

In Seoul, 18th century Joseon Dynasty King Jeongjo ordered {{Transliteration|ko|rr|jangseungs}} erected in the area near Sangdo-dong to ward off evil spirits when he made a royal procession to Suwon, where his father's tomb was located. Since then, the district has been called Jangseungbaegi and has given its name to the Jangseungbaegi Station on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway's Line 7.

{{Transliteration|ko|rr|Jangseungs}} are usually adorned with inscriptions describing the personae of the carved figures along the front of the poles. "Male" {{Transliteration|ko|rr|jangseungs}} usually bear inscriptions in Hanja or Hangul reading "Great General of All Under Heaven," or Cheonha-daejanggun ({{Korean|hangul=천하대장군|hanja=天下大將軍|labels=no}}) and are decorated with headpieces resembling those worn by Korean aristocrats or scholars. "Female" {{Transliteration|ko|rr|jangseungs}}, on the other hand, wear less elaborate headpieces and usually bear inscriptions reading "Female General of the Underworld," or Jiha-yeojanggun ({{Korean|hangul=지하여장군|hanja=地下女將軍|labels=no}}) or "Great General of the Underworld," or Jiha-daejanggun ({{Korean|hangul=지하대장군|hanja=地下大將軍|labels=no}}).