The general word for "shaman" in Korean is "mu" (Hangul: 무, Hanja: 巫). In contemporary terminology, they are called "mudang" (무당, 巫堂) if female or "baksu" if male, although other terms are used locally. The Korean word "mu" is synonymous of the Chinese word "wu" 巫, which defines both male and female shamans. The role of the "mudang" is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods and humanity in order to solve hitches in the development of life, through the practice of "gut" rituals.