Mountain spirit (Sansin)

For another painting of the same subject see Robert J. Moes, Korean Art from the Brooklyn Museum Collection (New York: Universe Books, 1987), no. 30. The catalogue entry remarks that Sansin (Mountain Spirit) is the only Korean shamanistic deity not an adaptation from Chinese Taoist or Buddhist traditions. The Mountain Spirit is usually shown as here as a bearded old man accompanied by a tiger and two young attendants. His power was believed to grant male progeny essential in Choson-period families. See also Ho-Am Art Museum, Qumga Sarang Maehokeui: Wooriminwha/Auspicious Dreams: Decorative Paintings of Korea (Seoul: Samsung Cultural Foundation, 1998), pls. 78-79.