hymns addressed or dedicated to the gods. Both are traditionally passed down from shaman to shaman. One of the best-known examples of the former is the Princess Bari narrative. Most versions recount of a Korean princess abandoned by her parents for being the seventh daughter of a son-less king. Many years later, her parents fall ill, and the only cure is medicinal water from the Western Heaven. The abandoned princess is rediscovered and agrees to help her parents when the other daughters will not. She travels to the afterlife, where she marries the guardian of the medicinal water and bears him (often seven) sons. She usually returns at her parents’ funeral, revives them with flowers of resurrection she has picked from the afterlife, and cures them with the water. The narrative commonly concludes with her becoming a deity connecting the living and the dead. The Princess Bari narrative is recited only in funeral ceremonies. The myth is generally understood as subverting the Confucian doctrines of patriarchy and age-ordered hierarchy through the Confucian value of filial piety; it is not the eldest son but the youngest daughter who manages to save her parents. Social folk custom Korean folk customs are a significant part of Korean culture. They include a strong belief in the importance of family, community and society. These beliefs are expressed during social practices such as family reunions and weddings. In some Western cultures, a person's lifelong rites are classified as birth, a coming-of-age ceremony, a wedding ceremony, and a funeral service. However, Korean customs emphasized the role of the family community and members of society, with birth being less important and filial piety after funerals being an important aspect of a persons life. The Four Ceremonial Occasions In East Asian custom following the ancient Chinese Book of Rites, there are four rites of passage which occur throughout an individual's lifetime: the capping ceremony that marks the coming of age, the wedding, the funeral, and the ancestral rites. These events represent changes in an individuals social position throughout his or her life. After being born and supported by parents, they become adults, marry, and take care of family members. When they get old, they are supported as respected elders and die. In East Asia, these four rituals were grouped together as the Four Ceremonial Occasions, emphasizing the significance of changes in life and minimizing the confusion it brings. The