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Dangun
Dangun (; ) or Dangun Wanggeom (; ) was the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven" and "son of a bear", and to have founded the kingdom in 2333 BC. The earliest recorded version of the Dangun legend appears in the 13th-century ''Samguk Yusa'', which cites China's ''Book of Wei'' and Korea's lost historical record ''Gogi (lit. 'Ancient Record')'' (고기, ). However, it has been confirmed that there is no relevant record in the China's'' Book of Wei''. There are around seventeen religious groups that focus on the worship of Dangun. Koreans regard the day when Dangun founded Gojoseon, Korea's first dynasty, as a national holiday and call it Gaecheonjeol (개천절; 開天節). The Gaecheonjeol is 3 October. It is a religious anniversary started by Daejonggyo (대종교; 大倧教) worshipping Dangun. Gae ...
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Gojoseon
Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean Peninsula at the time and was an important marker in the progression towards the more centralized states of later periods. The addition of ''Go'' (, ), meaning "ancient", is used in historiography to distinguish the kingdom from the Joseon dynasty founded in 1392 CE. According to the ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'', Gojoseon was established in 2333 BCE by Dangun, who was said to be born between a heavenly prince Hwanung and a bear-woman Ungnyeo. While Dangun is a mythological figure from the legends for whom no concrete evidences have been found so far, some interpret the legend of Dangun as the reflections of the sociocultural situations involving the kingdom's early developments. Regardless, the account of Dangun has played an i ...
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Dangun Joseon
Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean Peninsula at the time and was an important marker in the progression towards the more centralized states of later periods. The addition of ''Go'' (, ), meaning "ancient", is used in historiography to distinguish the kingdom from the Joseon dynasty founded in 1392 CE. According to the ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'', Gojoseon was established in 2333 BCE by Dangun, who was said to be born between a heavenly prince Hwanung and a bear-woman Ungnyeo. While Dangun is a mythological figure from the legends for whom no concrete evidences have been found so far, some interpret the legend of Dangun as the reflections of the sociocultural situations involving the kingdom's early developments. Regardless, the account of Dangun has played an impor ...
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Daejongism
Daejongism ( ko, 대종교, 大倧敎 ''Daejonggyo'' or ''Taejongkyo'', "religion of the Divine Progenitor" or "great ancestral religion") or Dangunism ( ko, 단군교, 檀君敎 ''Dangungyo'' or ''Tangunkyo'', "religion of Dangun") is the name of a number of religious movements within the framework of Korean shamanism, focused on the worship of Dangun (or Tangun). There are around seventeen of these groups, the main one of which was founded in Seoul in 1909 by Na Cheol ( 나철, 1864-1916). Dangunists believe their mythos to be the authentic Korean native religion, that was already around as ''Gosindo'' (古神道, "way of the Ancestral God" or "ancient way of God") at the time of the first Mongol invasions of Korea, and that was revived as "Daejongism" (''Daejonggyo'') just at the start of the Japanese occupation. The religion was suppressed during the Japanese rule.Lee Chi-ran, p. 12 The religion believes in one God manifested in three persons,Baker (2007a), p. 464. whose e ...
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Hwanin
Haneullim or Haneulnim (하늘님 "Heavenly Lord"/"Lord of Heaven") is the sky God of Cheondoism and Jeungsanism. In the more Buddhist-aligned parts of these religions, he is identified with Indra. In the more Taoist-aligned parts of these religions, he is also known as Okhwang Sangje (Hangul: 옥황상제 / Hanja: 玉皇上帝, "Highest Deity the Jade Emperor"). Dangun myth Dangun is traditionally considered to be the grandson of ''Hwanin'', the "Heavenly King", and founder of the Korean nation. Myths similar to that of Dangun are found in Ainu and Siberian cultures. The myth starts with prince '' Hwanung'' ("Heavenly Prince"), son of ''Hwanin''. The prince asked his father to grant him governance over Korea. Hwanin accepted, and Hwanung was sent to Earth bearing three Heavenly Seals and accompanied by three thousand followers. The prince arrived under the ''Sindansu/ Shindansu'' (신단수/ Hanja: 神檀樹, " Holy Tree of Sandalwood") on the holy mountain, where he founded hi ...
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Hwanung
Hwanung (Korean for the "Supreme Divine Regent") is an important figure in the mythological origins of Korea. He plays a central role in the story of Dangun Wanggeom (단군왕검/), the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first kingdom of Korea. Hwanung is the son of Hwanin (환인; ), the "Lord of Heaven". Along with his ministers of clouds, rain, and wind, he instituted laws and moral codes and taught the humans various arts, medicine, and agriculture. Creation myth According to the Dangun creation myth, Hwanung yearned to live on the earth among the valleys and the mountains. Hwanin permitted Hwanung and 3000 followers to depart and they descended from heaven to a sandalwood tree on Baekdu Mountain, then called Taebaek Mountain (태백산/). There Hwanung founded Sinsi (신시/, "City of God") and gave himself the title Heaven King. In a cave near the sandalwood tree lived a bear and a tiger who came to the tree every day to pray to Hwanung. One day Hwanung gave the bear an ...
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Ungnyeo
Ungnyeo (, lit. 'bear woman') was a bear that became a woman according to the creation myth of the Korean nation. Story In the tale, a tiger and a bear lived together in a cave and prayed to the divine king Hwanung (the Son of Heaven and son to Hwanin) to be made human. Hwanung heard their prayers and gave them 20 cloves of garlic, a bundle of mugwort and ordered them to stay out of the sunlight and eat only this food for 100 days. Due to hunger, the tiger left the cave after roughly 20 days, but the bear remained inside. After 21 days, she was transformed into a woman, and came to be known as the bear woman Ungnyeo. Ungnyeo was grateful and made offerings to Hwanung. Her lack of a husband drove her to depression, and she began to pray beneath a sacred betula tree () to be blessed with a child. Hwanung heard her prayers and was deeply moved. He took Ungnyeo as his wife and soon after, she gave birth to a son, Dangun, who would go on to found the nation of Korea. Interpre ...
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Gaecheonjeol
Gaecheonjeol () is a public holiday in South and North Korea on 3 October. Also known by the English name National Foundation Day, this holiday celebrates the legendary formation of the first Korean state of Gojoseon in 2333 BC. This date has traditionally been regarded as the date for the founding of the Korean people. Gaecheonjeol is also recognized in North Korea, although not as a public holiday, with an annual ceremony at the Mausoleum of Tangun, the founder of Gojoseon. Origin ''Gae-cheon'' ("Opening of Heaven") refers to 3 October 2457 BCE, the date when Hwanung (환웅) descended from heaven to live with mankind. The harvest ceremony was celebrated in the Korean realms; Yeonggo (영고,迎鼓 ) of Buyeo; Mucheon (무천,舞天) of Yemaek; Gyeeum (계음,契飮) of Mahan and Byeonhan; Dongmaeng (동맹,東盟) of Goguryeo; and Palgwanhoe (팔관회,八關會) of Silla. In 1909, Gaecheonjeol was established as a national holiday. At first, the holiday was observed ...
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Samgungnyusa
''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, during and after the Three Kingdoms period. "Samguk yusa is a historical record compiled by the Buddhist monk Il Yeon in 1281 (the 7th year of King Chungnyeol of Goryeo) in the late Goryeo Dynasty." It is the earliest extant record of the Dangun legend, which records the founding of Gojoseon as the first Korean nation. The ''Samguk yusa'' is National Treasure No. 306. Samguk yusa is a history book which is composed of five volumes in total and is divided into nine parts within the five volumes. The samguk yusa can be described to the documentation of tales and legends, which are categorised by the two parts such as extraordinary historical events and diverse Buddhist narratives. This book deals with various historical sources such as tales of ...
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24th Century BC
The 24th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 2400 BC to 2301 BC. Events *c. 2900 BC–2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period continue. *c. 2400 BC–2000 BC: large painted jar with birds in the border made in the Indus River Valley civilization and is now at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston * 2400 BC–There is archaeological evidence that the site of Assur was occupied at around this time. *c. 2360 BC: Hekla-4 eruption. *c. 2350 BC: The 2350 BC Middle East Anomaly (apparent comet or asteroid impact) happened. *c. 2350 BC: End of the Early Dynastic III period in Mesopotamia. *c. 2350 BC: First destruction of the city of Mari. *c. 2345 BC: End of Fifth Dynasty. Pharaoh Unas died. *c. 2345 BC: Sixth Dynasty of Egypt starts (other date is 2460 BC). *c. 2340 BC– 2180 BC: Akkadian Empire. *c. 2334 BC–2279 BC: Semitic chieftain Sargon of Akkad's conquest of Sumer and Mesopotamia. *2333 BC: Dangun establishes Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom ...
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Asadal
In Korean mythology and history, Asadal () was the capital city of the kingdom of Gojoseon (, meaning "Older Joseon"), the first Korean kingdom and notably founded by the legendary god-king Dangun. It is thought that Asadal was located in Manchuria, or in the northeastern Hwanghae Province in North Korea, or in the Pyongyang Province (, ''hanja'' , with no relation to the modern-day capital of North Korea). Etymology The etymology of "Asadal" is uncertain. One hypothesis is that the word is a compound composed of two elements, ''asa'' + ''dal''; this hypothesis is primarily motivated by an assumption of equivalence between the Chinese phonetic transcription ''Asīdá'' and the word ''Joseon'' (, ''Cháoxiǎn'' or ''Cháoxiān'', in Chinese), another name for Korea. However, the etymology of ''Joseon'' is ultimately unknown, with opinions differing as to whether the word was created as a phonetic transcription or as a semantic calque (presumably of a foreign word). Furth ...
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Dongguk Tonggam
The Dongguk Tonggam (''Comprehensive Mirror of the eastern state'') is a chronicle of the early history of Korea compiled by Seo Geo-jeong (1420–1488) and other scholars in the 15th century. Originally commissioned by King Sejo in 1446, it was completed under the reign of Seongjong of Joseon, in 1485. The official Choe Bu was one of the scholars who helped compile and edit the work. The earlier works on which it may have been based have not survived. The ''Dongguk Tonggam'' is the earliest extant record to list the names of the rulers of Gojoseon after Dangun. Content ''Dongguk Tonggam'' uses an annal form. ''Dongguk Tonggam'' is organised into 382 passages, of which 178 were selected from existing documents. The rest was written by the authors. In particular, Choi Bu authored 118 of them. Dongguk Tonggam is a valuable source of historical information and descriptions from Tangun to the later years of the Joseon Dynasty. Feature In this book, the historical position ...
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Korean Peninsula
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of Korea) comprising its southern half. Korea consists of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and several minor islands near the peninsula. The peninsula is bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea). During the first half of the 1st millennium, Korea was divided between three states, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, together known as the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In the second half of the 1st millennium, Silla defeated and conquered Baekje and Goguryeo, leading to the "Unified Silla" period. Meanwhile, Balhae formed in the north, superseding former Goguryeo. Unified Silla eventually collapsed into three separate states due to civi ...
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