‘Legend
of Tangun’ –the ‘legend’ was
originally written in Chinese by Iryon (일연), at the time Korea did
not have its own (*written) language. This myth has since then been translated into
Korean. I have translated the legend written in Korean into English. This
translation is a conjoined version incorporating the translations of David
Chung and James Grayson (1985. Early
Buddhism and Christianity in Korea.
Leiden. E. J.
Brill.) as well as my own readings in Korean and the interpretations in English.
In ancient
times, there was Hwanin the king of the world of heaven. His son Hwanoong, born
of his concubine, would frequently look down upon the human world and wish to
save it. His father, knowing well of his son’s intentions, looked down upon the
top of Taebaek-sana and thought that Hwanoong would do the human
world some good; he gave his son three Chuhnbuinb and allowed him to
go down and rule the human world.
Hwanoong
descended with three thousand spirits upon the peak
of Taebaek-san beneath Shindansooc
this place would be called the city of God
and he would be Hwanoong the king of heaven.
He had command
over the god of wind, the god of rain, and the god of clouds. He attended to
the planting of grain, the regulation of human life, of sickness, of
punishment, and judged between good and evil-he had more than three hundred and
sixty affairs to direct.
At the time, a
bear and a tiger lived together in a cave. They frequently went to Hwanoong’s
altar underneath the sacred tree and prayed to become human. Hwanoong gave them
a bundle of sacred mugworts and twenty cloves of garlic, he told them to eat
these and without the sunlight for a hundred days and then they would become
human. The bear and the tiger ate apprehensively for twenty one days when the
tiger couldn’t endure it anymore and left while the bear took the form of a
woman.
But as the
bear-woman didn’t have anyone to marry her she went to Shindansoo and prayed
for a child. Hwanoong briefly manifested himself to marry her, giving her child
and that child was Tangun Wanggum.
In the fiftieth reigning year of emperor
Yaod, Tangun established a city at Pyongyang
and called the nation Chosen. He later moved
the city to Asadal on Baegak-san which was also known as Goonghol-san or
Geummidal. Here he governed the nation for 1500 years. King Hu of Chou dynasty
in the reign year of Chi-mao, invested in Kija for the state of Chosen. Tangun moved to Jangdangkyung then later to
Asadal where he hid himself and became the Mountain God at 1,908 years of age.e
a.
Mt. Taebaek
b. “Heaven/Sky Talismans”
b. “Heaven/Sky Talismans”
c. The two sacred trees atop Mt. Taebaek
indicating Hwanoong’s Altar (Chuhn-Jae Dan, 천제단)
d. A legendary Chinese ruler
alleged to have reigned during 2358-2258 B.C.
e.
Samguk yusa Part I 1.1 Ko Choson, Wanggum Choson by Iryon
Korea did not have its own 'writing system' or 'alphabet' --Korea DID have its OWN Language.. Korean.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment.
DeleteRight, the Korean alphabet did not fully develop until King Sejong in the 15th century (and since then it has undergone a few changes to become the Korean alphabet it is today). When I said 'language' I was referring to the written language.
However, the spoken language of Korean has also seen an evolution. We can speak about 'Korea' but the history consists of multiple nations and several various dialects at work. It is not entirely safe to say that there was a unified spoken language amongst the people of Silla (신라), Gorguryeo (고구려), or Baekje (백제) that allowed them to understand each other completely. What was common was the use of Chinese characters. How they pronounced them and whether they were all mutually comprehensible is another matter and subject to debate. Stating that they had their "own language" is an ambiguous phrase. Mind you, "Korean" is a category to simplify and homogenize a complex history that has seen many shifts in power and borders. "Korean" is a retroactive label.
Ilyon wrote the samgukyusa in the late 13th century, which means that the spoken language, prior to a formalized written language, was most likely a form of "Middle Korean" or Jungsaegukuh (중세국어), which is assumed to be a dialect of Gaesung (개성). It was not until 15th century Goryeo (고려) was there a conscious attempt at unifying pronunciations so that the illiterate could read and write with a codified language, promoted through the publication of the hunminjeongeum (훈민정음). Not long after this was the Korean written language, hangul (한글), finalized in 1446. SO it is not entirely inaccurate either to say that they did not have their "own language" - in both the written and spoken sense of the word. The 'Korean' we know today (근대국어) refers to the language from the 17th century and onward.
The term 'language' is problematic and how it is understood under the label 'Korean' is also problematic. This would be the case for many other countries as well with a range of dialects throughout their history. What unifies 'Old Korean' (고대국어), 'Middle Korean' (중세국어), and 'Modern Korean' (근대국어) other than the retroactively applied label 'Korean' and that dynamic linguistic things happened within a particular geographic space? There is debate about whether the old form is similar to the middle forms and whether they are similar to the modern form of "Korean". So while it is easy to say that there was a spoken language called "Korean", but without an alphabet, this undermines the various languages and dialects (depending on your definition of 'language') that were active during those times and presumes consistency. Only in a modern context can we retroactively apply the label "Korean" (because... that's how history turned out). Presuming a homogenous consistent 'language' (i.e. Korea's "OWN language") throughout Korea's rich and long history is naive.