Document – A Korean Foundation Myth

Abstract and Keywords

Many foundation myths around the world link a dynasty or nation’s founder to the divine or magical. The foundation myth of Korea is no exception. Korean mythology dates Tangun to the year 2333 B.C.E., when it is said he became the first ruler of Korea, known then as Choson. Chronologically, this was before the peninsula was divided into the “Three Kingdoms” and thus refers to a unified Korean kingdom. Records from Zhou China refer to this state, although Chinese records enable us to date it to only 1000 B.C.E. Because there was at that time (c. 1000 B.C.E.) no written Korean language, historians have to rely on either Korean myths such as this one or on records from neighboring states, particularly China. However, the Chinese sources have inherent problems, as the relationship between China and Korea has often been fraught with tension. The version here is from the thirteenth century.

“Tangun: Founder of Choson,” from Anthology of Korean Literature: From Early Times to the Nineteenth Century, ed. Peter H. Lee. (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1981), 4

Document

Once upon a time, Heavenly God, Hwan-in, noticed that one of his sons, Hwan-woong, always had his heart set on the world of mortals below. God looked down upon it and found the Samwi-Taebaek mountain the most befitting place for human beings to live.

He gave his son three Cheon Bu-In(God-given seals of king) and let him go down to the earth to rule over the human beings. (Here, we can see the same name of "Cheon Bu-In" and "Cheon Bu Gyeong". So some scholars guess, the Cheon Bu-In of the myth might refer to Cheon Bu Gyeong in real history.)

Hwan-woong, with three thousand subordinates, took leave of his father and came down to the human world and held his ground under the Shindan-soo(sandalwood used to make an alter for God) on top of the Taebaek mountain. He named the place Shin-Si(divine city) and he had himself called Hwan-woong Cheon-wang (Divine king Hwan-woong). He gave people their first lessons in right living and ruled over them, taking care of human affairs of as many as three hundred sixty kinds, such as farming, death, disease, punishment and good and evil, with the three goods of Poong-baek(wind), Woo-sa(rain) and Woon-sa(cloud) under his command.

At this time it so happened that a bear and a tiger were living together in a cave. They always prayed to Divine king Hwan-woong that they be made human beings. Taking notice of their admirable wish, the divine king gave them a bundle of sacred mugworts and twenty cloves of garlic and said, "If you eat these and do not see sunlight for one hundred days you will become human beings."

The bear and the tiger immediately began to practice abstinence, living on the mugworts and garlics in cave. After twenty one days the bear became a woman, but the tiger, unable to endure the abstinence, violated the injunction of the divine king, and failed to become a human being.

Now the woman could not find any man to marry her, so she always prayed under the sandalwood to be given a child of her own. Hwan-woong tok notice of her prayer, transformed himself into a man temporarily and married her. She gave birth to a son, who was to be Tangun-Wanggeum(Kin Wanggeum of Sandalwood).

Wanggeum succeeded Hwan-woong as king. He selected Pyongyang as his capital and named the country to Asadal at the Baekak mountain and reigned over the country for a thousand and five hundred years.

Review

  1. 1. By the time this text was transmitted orally, and then later written down, Korea had been under either the authority or the influence of China. What evidence of that domination by China is there is this source?

  2. 2. In Korean tradition, bears represent endurance. Why does Hwanung decide to lie with her to give birth to a son?

  3. 3. What is the significance of the plants mentioned by name in the story?

  4. 4. What do you think the tiger symbolizes?

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