A History of Korea (6 page)

The Kogury
kingdom (first century BCE to seventh century CE), the earliest political entity on the Korean peninsula supported by substantial
and reliable historical records, ruled territory extending from the middle of the peninsula to Manchuria at the height of its powers in the late sixth century. This geographical dominion, together with historical evidence of its military prowess, its cultural achievements, and its forms of political and religious authority, has led to the widespread and official perception of this kingdom (in both North and, interestingly, South Korea) as the great representative of early Korean civilization. This identification of Korea with Kogury
(from which the name “Korea” itself is derived) has grown even more acute recently as a backlash against recent Chinese efforts to insert this kingdom into China’s own historical trajectory. Such an uneasy relationship with China, which undergirds a panoply of issues regarding Korean history and identity, has characterized Korea’s existence since the very beginning, a beginning that Koreans believe even pre-dated Kogury
. The earliest years of Korean civilization are shrouded in sacred myths that invoke familiar themes (progenitor from heavenly descent, early trials and tribulations, etc.) but also speak to distinctive features of Korean identity, especially in relation to the dominant civilization on the continent, China.

ANCIENT KOREA AND KOGURY

Kogury
as a coherent political entity appears to have materialized out of the consolidation of proto-states and statelets in the first century BCE, long after the purported foundation of Korean civilization itself, according to official and conventional histories. Indeed the Korean people supposedly began with the mythical progenitor, Tan’gun, born through the mating of the son of the presiding god over the universe who had taken human form, and a bear transformed into a woman. This legend, the earliest extant version of which dates to the thirteenth century, relates that Tan’gun established the state of “Chos
n” in the northern reaches of the peninsula and extending well into Manchuria. The curious precision of the date of this founding, 2333 BCE (Tan’gun is credited with a reign over Chos
n lasting over 1500 years), has given license to round up the age of Korean civilization in today’s common parlance to 5000 years. Chos
n, or “Old Chos
n” as it is
referred to today, supposedly gave way to smaller states that developed more features of higher civilization on the peninsula. Needless to say, there is very little historical documentation confirming these early states except for the occasional mention in ancient Chinese histories, which, with a few exceptions, acknowledged these polities as little more than barbarian tribes. The faint historical support for these legends should lead us to doubt their accuracy, but they should not lead us to dismiss the value of these foundation myths themselves.

For one, these stories tell us much about the folk religion on the peninsula and its place in the formation of these societies. The most common element to the foundation myths of all of these early states on the peninsula, including that of Kogury
, is the birth of the founder from an animalistic element, such as a bear or an egg. Mythologists detect in such features the power of the native religion of Shamanism, which perceives the natural world as infused with spirits that affect human life and can be appeased only through a priestly
shaman
, the liaison to the spirit world. As in many other early civilizations, the priest who claimed access to the spirits (or gods) enjoyed political power as well, and this appears to be reflected in the mythologies of these early states. Tan’gun, with his parentage in the spirit world, can be considered the embodiment of the first Great Shaman, and the same could be said for Chumong, the mythical progenitor of Kogury
, who is said to have hatched from an egg.