The subject of this week’s Jeju: A to Z, is a type of stone statue which you can find nearly everywhere on the island -- the Dolhareubang, or stone grandfathers. As Todd Thacker now explains, these cultural icons have a wide historical and modern significance.

Travel around Jeju for any amount of time -- indeed even just leaving Jeju International Airport -- and you’ll spot stone statues with sometimes stern, sometimes smiling faces. They have a stubby nose, a conical hat, and arms wrapped around their ample bellies.

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Commonly placed at building entrances, roads, bridges

Pairs of Jeju’s venerable stone grandfathers, or Dolhareubang (돌하르방) are ever-present and ever-vigilant on either side of building entrances, roads, and bridges all over the island.

They are of various shapes and sizes -- ranging from under a meter in height to 1.8 meters tall -- but their essential design is the same. They are also distinctive in that they are always cut from Jeju’s black basalt volcanic rock.

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Protect communities, individuals against misfortune

For centuries islanders have believed they served as guardians for the welfare and prosperity of individuals and communities. They also served as boundary markers and entry control signposts. A third function was shamanistic in nature.

It was a Jeju Governor by the name of Kim Mong-gyu (김몽규) who in 1754 ordered that stone grandfathers be carved and distributed around the island.

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Officially named ‘Dolhareubang’ in 1971

Since then, these statues have been known by many different names, but in 1971 the Jeju Cultural Properties Committee selected “Dolhareubang” as its official name.

Now, these volcanic stone statues have become a well-recognized symbol of Jeju, its people, and stone culture. It’s estimated that there was a total of 48 original statues from Governor Kim Mong-gyu’s time, but many thousands more have subsequently been carved and sold.

They have also been incorporated into the branding of Jeju agricultural and tourist products and services, as well as becoming a best-selling tourist souvenir.

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Todd Thacker

Even though modern commercialism may have taken hold of the statue, it still has an important place in Jeju culture and with islanders, especially those many thousands who live off the island and recall their hometown with warm nostalgia.

Todd Thacker KCTV