Dol hareubang

Dol hareubang
A dol hareubang from Jeju Island on display outside the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul
Korean name
Hangul	돌 하르방
Revised Romanization	Dol hareubang
McCune–Reischauer	Tol harŭbang

A dol hareubang (Jejuan: 돌 하르방; lit. stone grandfather), alternatively tol harubang, hareubang or harubang, is a type of traditional volcanic rock statue from Jeju Island, Korea.

It is not known when the statues first began to be made; various theories exist for their origin. They possibly began to be made at latest 500 years ago, since the early Joseon period. There are either 47^[1] or 48^[2] original pre-modern statues that are known to exist; most of them are located on Jeju Island.

The statues are traditionally placed in front of gates, as symbolic projections of power and as guardians against evil spirits. They were also symbols and ritual objects for fertility. The statues have been compared to jangseung, traditional wooden totem poles around Korea whose function was similarly to ward off bad spirits.^[3] They are now considered symbols of Jeju Island. Recreations of them in miniature and in full size have since been created.