Tangun Foundation Myth Kc

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Korean Culture Foundation Myth p

MYTH, MEMORY AND REINVENTION IN KOREA:

THE CASE OF TANGUN

MICHAEL J. SETH - JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

Myths of origin are important in shaping a sense ofethnic and national history. An especially interestingtype is the foundation myth. Koreas mostsignificant foundation myth is the Myth of Tangun, theprogenitor of the Korean people. Son of a bear and acelestial deity, by tradition he established the firstKorean state in 2333 B.C.E. This myth, first fullyrecorded in the thirteenth century, was used by Korean

nationalist writers in the early twentieth century toestablish the uniqueness of the Korean people and theautonomy of Korean culture. After 1945 both North andSouth Koreans have made use of Tangun to help shapenational identity, but interpretations of the myth havevaried. Some have sought to find a historical basis forTangun and have sought to have the story accepted asliterally true; others have simply dismissed the myth asa medieval fabrication. These various interpretationsand the controversies they have aroused reflect the

larger issues of defining Korean national identity, anissue compounded by the need for each state, Northand South Korea, to be viewed as the true embodimentof the Korean nation and its tradition.Tangun was the mythical founder of Chosen, theearliest known Korean state which was conquered bythe Chinese emperor Han Wudi in 108 B.C.E. Little isknown for certain about this shadowy early state. Itappears to have existed as early as 300 B.C.E. and tohave been centered in northwestern Korea, but at the

present there is no clear archaeological evidence thatcould firmly established the place and dates of thiskingdom.This myth was first recorded in 1279 by theBuddhist monk Iryn in his Samguk Yusa(Memorabiliaof the Three Kingdoms). The myth goes as follows:

The Old Record notes that in olden times Hwanin'sstepson, Hwanung, wished to descend from heaven andlive in the world of man. Guessing his son's desire,Hwanin surveyed the three highest mountains andfound Mount T'aebaek the most suitable place for hisson to settle to help mankind. Therefore he gaveHwanung three heavenly seals and allowed him to ruleover the people. Hwanung descended with threethousand followers to a spot under a sandalwood treeatop Mount T'aebaek, and he called this place the City

of God. He was the Heavenly King Hwanung. Leadingthe Earl of Wind, the Master of Rain, and the Master ofClouds, he took charge of some three hundred andsixty areas of responsibility, including agriculture,allotted life spans, illness, punishments, and good andevil, and he brought culture to his people. At that timea bear and a tiger who were living in the same caveprayed to Hwanung to transform them into humanbeings. The king gave them a bundle of sacredmugwort and twenty cloves of garlic and said, "If you

eat these and shun the sunlight for one hundreddays,you will assume human forms." Both animals atethe herbs and avoided the sun. After twenty-one daysthe bear became a woman, but the tiger, unable toobserve the taboo, remained a tiger. Unable to find ahusband, the bear-woman prayed under thesandalwood tree for a child. Hwanung metamorphosedhimself, lay with her, and begot a son called TangunWanggom [Tan'gun Wanggm].
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In the fiftieth year of the reign of Emperor Yao, Tangunmade P'yngyang the capital of his country, calledChosn, or Bright Morning, and then moved to Asadalon Mount Paegak, where he ruled for 1,500years. When King Wu of Chou enfeoffed Ch'i Tzu toChosn, Tangun moved to Changdanggyng, then backto Asadal, where he became a mountain god at the ageof 1,908.

Set in the fiftieth year of the legendary Chineseemperor Yao, the founding of Chosn would thus havetaken place on 3 October 2333 B.C.E., a date that hasbecome a national holiday in South Korea. Koreanstoday often refer to the "five thousand years of Koreanhistory" a phrase which is based on this legendarydate. Although no doubt elements of the legend are

very ancient, there is no indisputable reference to anypart of this legend before 1279. The second earliestversion, which differs in only minor details, is in theepic poem Chewang Un'gi, written a few years later byYi Sng-hyu.Significantly the legend of Tan'gunmakes its appearance during the period of Mongoldomination of Korea in the late thirteenth century whenalien rule may have increased national consciousnessand resulted in both an interest in indigenous traditionsand a need for a unifying myth.

In the fifteenth century, a time of great culturalachievement and of military strength and politicalconsolidation, the myth of Tan'gun played an important,albeit not central, role in Korea's historicalconsciousness. The Sejong Sillok Chiriji (GeographicalAppendix to the Sejong Chronicle), the ngje Siju ofKwn Nam, and the Tongguk Yjingnam (AugmentedSurvey of the Geography of Korea) all published in thesecond half of the fifteenth century repeat the legends,and in 1485 the Tongguk t'onggam (Comprehensive

Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom) gives Tan'gun as thestarting point of its chronological history of Korea to theestablishment of the Yi dynasty 1392. At this time anational shrine honoring Tan'gun as the progenitor ofthe Korean race was constructed at P'yngyang.Yidynasty kings offered sacrifice to Tangun at its shrinebut as only as one of a number of shrines dedicated tothe founders of various Korean dynasties.Nonetheless, the Tan'gun myth never was very centralto premodern Korean identity. In fact, the myth of Kijaloomed larger in literature, and history. This legend isalso associated with the founding of Chosn.Accordingto the Chinese accounts, Kija (Chinese: Qizi) was aShang China notable, and scholar who in 1122 B.C.E.either fled to Chosn or was enfeoffed as the Duke ofChosn by the king of the newly founded Zhou

dynasty. Some Chinese sources state that heestablished a line of kings that ruled Chosn for fortygenerations to 195 B.C.The Kija founding mythprovided the Koreans with a link with early China givingtheir kingdom and culture and ancient and respectablepedigree as well as rationalizing the adoption ofChinese culture. The 1122 B.C.E. date of Kija was oftenpresented in Korean histories as the beginning ofKorean history for it was the Chinese Kija who broughtliteracy, agriculture, laws and government to the

ancestors of the Koreans and began a three (or four)thousand year cultural tradition. The antiquity this gavetheir sinified society was a source of greatpride. William Elliot Griffis, one of the first Westernwriters on Korea in the nineteenth century, pointed outthat Koreans took considerable pride in citing Kija inorder to assert their cultural antiquity. "It is certain thatthe natives plume themselves upon their antiquity, andthat [in this respect] Corean arrogance and contemptfor the Western civilization is kindred to that of the
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was not only the progenitor of the Korean people andthe founder of the first Korean state but a great teacherwhose thought was a guide for the nation'sdevelopment.In 1948, the government of SyngmanRhee (Yi Sng-man) created an official Tan'gicalendardating years from the time of the founding of firstKorean state by Tan'gun in 2333 B.C.E. At the sametime, the third of October, the traditional date for thefounding of Chosn in that year, became a nationalholiday, kaech'n-chl, usually translated as NationalFoundation Day but more literally the "Opening ofHeaven Festival."This cult of Tan'gun was not universallyaccepted. Some educators and politicians objected tothe idea of basing the goals and objectives of Koreaneducation on the teaching of Tan'gun, arguing that it

was nothing more than adopting the Imperial Japaneseidea of mythical/mystical nationalism as the basis ofeducation. Education, critics stated, should be based ondemocratic and progressive ideas not on "unscientific"myths.The obvious modeling of the new holiday afterJapan's National Foundation Day which commemoratesthe mythical establishment of the Japanese nation byJimmu Tenno in 660 B.C.E. was also subject tocriticism; and others found the entire cult of Tan'gun inconflict with the aims of establishing a modern,

democratic state.Aside from the Tan'gun cult, policies on national historyduring the Rhee regime, 1948-1960, were inconsistentand unsystematic. No well developed ideology emergedduring this period, rather a sometimes incongruousmixture of ideas was taught in the schools andpromoted by the state that combined Confucian-traditionalist with anti-Confucian "progressive" values,extreme mystical and racially based nationalism withan ideologically vague internationalism, and

authoritarian-anti-Communism with liberal democraticconcepts.All textbooks employed by the centralizededucational system were either issued by the Ministryof Education or approved by its Textbook CompilationBureau. Guidelines, however, were not always clear,and although a detailed national curriculum wasdeveloped, it was not implemented until 1957. As aresult interpretations of Korean history variedsomewhat. All national histories began with Tan'gun,but some treated him as a legend or myth and othersas a fully historical person. Nor was there anyconsistency in the way in which the Kija legend wastreated. All agreed that the modern Korean state was adirect lineal descendent of the ancient Chosn statethat fell to the Chinese in 108 BC but how it wasconnected with the later Three Kingdoms period of (57

BC to 676), to the unified Silla state (676-935), to theKory state (35-2), and to the later Chosn state(1392-1910) was not clear. History texts also lacked aconsistent treatment of the geographical boundaries ofthe ancestral Korean state of Old Chosn founded byTan'gun, although most agreed that its political corewas in the P'yngyang area.The military government headed by General ParkChung Hee (Pak Chng-hi) that came to power in1961, abolished the Tan'gi calendar and proposed

changes in the teaching of national history. In 1963,the Ministry of Education set up a committee to "unify"the various theories and interpretations of nationalhistory. The committee set up guidelines that statedthat all stories of how some Chinese had emigrated toKorea and introduced civilization or organized state"will be ignored in the textbooks."There was to be nomention of Kija. Significantly, Tan'gun was to betreated as legend and the evolution of early Koreanhistory and society was stated in terms of
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archaeological evidence. This reflected the attitude ofthe new leadership and of many professional historianswho wanted to make Korean history "scientific" while atthe same time stress in the ancient and autonomousdevelopment of the Korean race and culture.Tan'gun remained an ambivalent figure, part quaintmyth and part symbol of the Korean nation. Althoughhe did no longer played a major role in the nationalhistory texts or in the official rhetoric of nationalidentity, from time to time his spirit was still conjuredup in support of various national causes or to defineKoreannessin whatever way the regime foundsuitable. President Park, for example, at one addresstold his audience in 1963 that "we should abide by thespirit of Tan'gun and do our best for the unification ofthe divided country, for freeing our brethren from the

Communists and for the eternal prosperity ofKorea."2Schoolchildren were taught that the spirit ofTan'gun signified service to others and the third ofOctober was maintained as a state holiday.But both within and outside the government a smalllobby of Korean nationalist historians, scholars, andwriters, and members of the religious cults such as theTaejonggyo and the Hanl-gyo (Sect of the KoreanSpirit) agitated for the promotion of a national cult ofTan'gun and a revision of Korean history giving duerecognition to the nation's glorious and uniquehistorical heritage. Such people were often representedin the Cultural Properties Bureau of the Ministry ofEducation, and in the historical compilation bureaus. Indeference to such groups the government announced in1966, that it would erect a statue to Tan'gun on top ofNamsan, a mountain overlooking central Seoul in orderto "infuse the national spirit into the mind of thepeople." This would be financed from funds raised in athree-year campaign. The plan drew fire from several

sectors of society. Christian leaders complained that "ifforced by the government" it would be "identical tomaking the people worship an idol."The presscomplained that the money would be better spent onacademic research or other purposes; and somescholars repeated earlier complaints that "discreditedpractices of the past [Imperial Japan] were beingrevived."The project was dropped, but a privategroup did raise the funds to build a modest shrine toTan'gun in Seoul's Sajik Park.Korean historians remained divided on the significanceof the Tan'gun legend. Convinced it had a historicalbasis, some archaeologists such as Kim Chng-bae andKim Chong-hak dedicated years of effort to provideevidence for an ancient Korean state. Other historians,however, felt that the history of Korea was in need of

reform. Seoul National University professor Pyn T'ae-sp at a conference in , argued that the entireidea of national history (kuksa) was in need ofreconsideration. "The term national history indicatesthat its content is influenced by stubborn ultra-nationalism, mysticism, beautification and governmentcontrol." National history should, he felt, simply becalled "history." Pyn called upon the government tocease standardization and control of history texts andstop teaching a history that was characterized by "blindover-estimation," of national achievements, uniquenessor antiquity. Professor Chn Hae-jong of SogangUniversity suggested that narrowly focusing on Korea'sautonomous development must be revised and duetreatment for the impact of China on Korea introducedin national history texts in order "to understand thecivilization within which the nation has development itstraditions." Professor No Myng-sik of Kyunghee(Kynghi) University criticized the fragmentary
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knowledge of Western history that resulted in a narrownationalist focus on Korean history.For many others Tangun represented an authenticindigenous tradition that differed from the importedtraditions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and morerecently Christianity. They argued that the essence of

Tanguns teaching was kyngchn aien (worshipingHeaven, loving humanity), and hongik ingan (broadbenefit for humanity) represented what was termedknguk inym (the ideology of the nationalfoundation). This was a special Korean brand ofhumanism that valued human relations, and wasconcerned with the collective welfare of the peoplerather than indvidual self-assertiveness of Westernculture, or the cold rationalism of the ChineseConfucianist system. This was combined with a strong

sense of racial/ethnic unity- reminiscent of prewarJapanese mystical racial -nationalism. The Koreanpeople were sometimes referred to by these writers asthe Paedal Minjok, a reference to the paedaltree thatunder which Tangun was born.Nor were these ideasperipheral, rather they were supported by scholars atthe official government research center to study Koreannationalism, the Korean Academy (Chngsin MunhwaYnguwn) established in the 1970s.

The Tangun Revival and Its Controversy

Spurred on by the demands of nationalist elements inthe Korean historical profession, and by a host ofpopular writers and of various patriotic organizations, arenewed attempt to reinstall Tan'gun as thefountainhead of Korean history began in the mid1980s. In 1985, the Seoul City government which wasnot an autonomous local unit of government but part of

the powerful Home Ministry, announced theconstruction of a large scale memorial complex toTan'gun that would replace the modest shrine built withprivate funds in 1968. Christians again rose up in alarmand pressured the city to back down the following yearbut a private organization the Hynjong-hoe (RevereAncestor Society) agreed to raise the money for a fourbuilding complex to be constructed in Sajik Park indowntown Seoul.Meanwhile, ultra-nationalists pushed for a revision ofthe textbooks. One scholar, Hwang Sang-gi of theHan'guk Historical Society, went so far as to file suitagainst the Ministry of Education for erroneouscoverage of early Korean history in textbooks, includingthe denying of the historical authenticity ofTan'gun.2This strident nationalist sentiment made

itself felt during the preliminary process of revising thenational primary and secondary curriculum that was tobe carried out in 1990. On 6 June 1987, the EducationDeliberation Committee on Textbooks of NationalHistory delivered a draft of guidelines for the revision oftextbooks to the Ministry of Education.2According tothe guidelines Tan'gun, "the national founder will betreated as reliable historical fact." "Old Chosn [thestate founded by Tan'gun] will be dealt with as Korea'sfirst national state featuring a highly developed bronzeculture."22The Committee stated emphatically thatTan'gun was an historic person even though "orthodoxpersons treat him as a myth." Kija on the other hand,who does not appear in "orthodox Chinese historicalbooks" is to be dismissed as myth. The kingdomfounded by Tan'gun, Old Chosn "will be expanded toinclude part of the Liaoning in Manchuria." 2ThusManchuria or at least parts of it would be included aspart of the cultural hearth of Korea. To emphasize thislatter point the state of the southwestern Korean state
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of Paekche (14 B.C.E.-660 C.E.) would include a portionof Liaoning.In the same nationalist vein, the new history guidelineswere to down play the role of China or outside powersin Korean affairs to the extreme. Even the generallyaccepted and crucially important Chinese colony of

Lelang (Korean: Nangnang, 108 B.C.E.-313 C.E.) innorthern Korea was to be reduced to a footnote that it"supposedly existed."2The role of Tang China in theseventh century unification of Korea was to beexcluded. And the guidelines stated that Korea's"historic resistance against foreign invasion will bedescribed in greater detail including resistance duringMongol and Japanese invasions."2The implications ofthis were clear. Korea's autonomous development wasagain being proclaimed along with emphasis on

Tan'gun as the national founder. The tribal-nationaliststreak in Korean history was to again prevail. Kija withhis connotations of Korea as a cultural offshoot ofChinese civilization is to be dismissed from the nationalhistory. Furthermore, the Yalu is not to be the historicalborder of Korea, but the nation's cultural hearth was toextended deep into Manchuria and perhaps beyond.2Textbooks authors and Ministry of Education officialswho approved of texts were, however, reluctant toadopt these extreme nationalist guidelines. So despitethe emphatic statements by the revisionists about the

historicity of Tangun, South Korean textbookspublished after the guidelines went into effect in 1990showed an ambivalence in their attitude towardTan'gun. Sometimes both mythical and "scientific"views in conformity with prevailing non-Koreanscholarly opinion were presented in the same textleaving it up to the teacher to decide whichinterpretation to emphasize. The Korean language richin convoluted, ambiguous sentences aided textbook

writers in the task of adhering to the guidelines withoutrejecting alternative theories if history. Governmentissued teacher guidebooks reflected this lack ofenthusiasm for the new historical treatment. Thestandard middle school teachers guidebook simplydiscussed the Tangun myth and related it to thearchaeological remains of early state formation inKorea.2The standard high school teachers guidebookambivalently stated that Tangun and his state havebeen associated with archaeological remains found innorthern Korea, and then gave the traditional date ofthe founding of Tanguns state as 2 B.C.E. withoutasserting this as an historical fact.2Nonetheless, despite the skepticism over his historicitythat prevailed, a modest revival of interest in Tangunoccurred in among the South Korean public. This was

apparent in the press. In October 1993, the KoreaHeraldeditorialized that "There is no denying that theaccount of Tan'gun is interspersed with concepts thatcontradict modern-day scientific reasoning, but thengreat histories of the world are laced with mythicalaccounts.It went on to argue for the relevance ofTan'gun's teaching for Korea as it entered a new era ofcivilian, democratically elected government:Aside from the controversy over the mythical nature ofTan'gun, we must not be remiss in attachingsignificance due to his teaching of love for the nation,affection for fellow men and faithfulness to oneself.Today's national passion to cultivate democracy andpromote reform and common prosperity seemsespecially meaningful as the efforts are in fullconsonance with Tan'gun's proud ideals in founding thenation.2The popularity of Tan'gun was seen in the expandingscope and variety of the annual celebration of NationalFoundation Day. In 1993, a Korean Gallup poll revealed
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that 75 percent of those surveyed believed thatTan'gun should be revered as the nation's foundingfather"

North Korea Enters the Tangun Controversy

Nor was the revival of interest in Tan'gun confined toSouth Korea. Tangun emerged as a symbol ofKoreaness in North Korea as well. In its efforts toconstruct a national history North Korea had the addedburden of fitting national history into the Marxistframework. To emphasize the nation's antiquity and theP'yngyang regime's own legitimacy, North Koreantextbooks created a materialist framework ofnationalists histories as falling into successive stages of

development; they then pushed back the dates of thesestages with each revision. By 1977, the Chosn T'ongsa(Comprehensive History of Korea) connected thebeginning of national history with the introduction ofbronze culture in the second millennium B.C.E. whichdeveloped independently of bronze age culture inChina. Old Chosn was stated to have existed in theeighth century.Tan'gun, however, regarded byMarxist historians as a feudal myth, was ignored.It therefore came as a surprise when North Korea,announced on the eve of National Foundation Day 1993that its archaeologists had excavated remains believedto be those of Tan'gun from a mausoleum nearP'yngyang.According to a North Korean radiobroadcast, eighty-six bones had been dug out of theancient royal tomb together with a gilded bronze crownand some ornaments and that they believed these tobelong to Tan'gun and his wife. The bones were furtherstated to be 5,011 years old; Tan'gun was estimated tohave been about 170 cm tall. South Korean

archaeologists voiced suspicions about the authenticityof the claim agreeing among themselves that somefacts might have been fabricated. The existence ofbronze ornaments found in the tomb shed doubt on thedates since no bronze work more than three thousandyears old had been found on the peninsula. The dates

were too early for even Tan'gun believers in the Southto accept, preceding even the mythical dates by sevencenturies.2 Furthermore, these claims by North Koreawere also linked to the claim that early human remainssuggested that Tangun and the Korean nation haddescended from a distinct line of humans.Scientificevidence therefore supports the claim that there is adistinctive Korean race and that the foundation of thefirst state of the Korean nation by Tangun was ahistoric event, which laid the groundwork for the

formation of the Korean nation.

By 1998, thePyngyang regime became more emphatic in thisclaim.Tangun is now a historical figure who foundedthe first Korean state about 3000 B.C.E. which centeredaround Pyngyan.The basin of the river Taedong,they declared was the cradle of mankind since theremains of Pithecanthropus were found about onemillion years ago.North Korea has long claimed that the son andsuccessor to long term leader Kim Il Sung (Kim Il-sng),Kim Chong-il (Kim Chng-il), was born in Paektusanabout on the China -North Korea border, long held as asacred spot and often linked to Tangun as his birthplace. Thus, in a very indirect way the regime and theruling dynasty was linked with the ancient progenitor ofthe Korean people. Now this connection was mademore explicit. P'yngyangin establishing this link mostprobably sought to bolster its legitimacy over thepeninsula by showing that Tan'gun was born nearP'yngyang and built a state there.The regime implied
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9/11


it was a successor to the founder of the Korean nationand upholder national spirit. By the late 1990sTanguns name was frequently asserted by thenominally communist regime as a symbol of the Koreannation. The third of October, long celebrated in SouthKorea as National Foundation Day, became the

nations day with memorial services to King Tangun.Official statements from Pyngyang often termedKorea as the Tangun nation.For example, whenNorth Korea launched the medium-range Taepo-dong 1ballistic missile on 31 August 1998, North Koreaannounced the launch as a great pride of the Tangunnation.Kim Jong Il (Kim Chong-il) in publicstatements urged the Korean people to follow thespirit of Tangun. Kim Jong Il, who succeeded hisfather in , was called a great sage of Tanguns

nation born of heaven and sun of a reunified country.

North Koreas rediscovery of Tangun encouraged hissupporters in the South. In the late 1990s, a group oftwenty civic, religious and academic figures headed bythe noted poet Kim Chi-ha formed the Federation of theCivic Movement of the National Spirit. This groupsought to promote was they called Koreatude derivedfrom the concept of Negritude.This was a racial-cultural spirit that was uniquely Korean and wassymbolized by Tangun.Some South Koreans soughtto seek in Tangun their common Koreaness with theNorth. Archaeolgist Kim Jung-bae head of the TangunAcademy made a trip to North Korea in November 1999and announced that his organization would participatewith the North Korean Academy of Social Sciences in anacademic seminar on Tangun on October 2.The use of Tangun as a national symbol, and all thecontroversies and contradictions that this has resultedin came to the fore in 1999 when several statues ofTangun were smashed, beheaded and splashed with

red paint at some schools in a city outside Seoul. TheHanmunhwa (Korean Culture) Movement Federation ofKorea, a conservative cultural group that sought torevive the founding values of Korean society and whichwas critical of the philosophical chaos of modernsociety, began to distribute hundreds of plastic statues

of Tangun in schools and parks.The association arguedthat the so-called scientific ideas disproving Tangunshistorical basis were created by the Japaneseimperialists in an effort to destroy Koreanspirituality.The associations project, met with strongopposition from Christian groups and many Koreanhistorians as had similar efforts in the past. Christiangroups have asked for the removal of these statuesfrom public areas branding them idolatry.SeoulNational University historian No Tae-don has criticized

the glorification of Tangun-which he stated was a mythcreated during the Mongol invasions to assert acommon identity and then resurrected in the earlytwentieth century in face of Japanese aggression. Itwas used to create a common link among the Koreanpeople in times of oppression.But today, he argued,the myth serves only to distort history and will donothing to advance society.Other South Koreanargued that such mystical nationalism is counterproductive to Korean national interests in an age ofglobalization.North Korea jumped in to condemn the

desecration blaming it on elements under thepatronage of the South Korean authorities, and as adastardly treacherous act shielding the past crime ofthe Japanese imperialists who describe him as afabulous [unhistorical] person.Pyngyang hadasserted itself in the decades long controversy in SouthKorea over the role of Tangun in Korean history andnational identity. Meanwhile, while North Koreacontinued to commemorate Tanguns birth during on
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his October 3rd birthday with ceremonies at his tomboutside the capital.

Conclusion

The Tangun controversy, for all the puzzlement orbemusement it may bring to non-Koreans, provides aninstructive case study in the process by which nationalmyths are used to construct national histories andnational identities. Tangun remained a powerfulemotional symbol for some Koreans, but mainstreamacademics would not accept the historicity of Tangunand many rejected the mystical, racial nationalism thathe represented. Tangun thus provides an example ofhow myths and traditions are remembered,

reinterpreted, and/or ignored to serve prevailingintellectual and political currents and the concerns ofvarious groups. The myth of Tangun has undergoneconstant reexamination and reinterpretation as Koreans,in both North and South Korea, seek to extract fromtheir past a meaningful history. While never central toKorean national identity, Tangun remains importantenough as a symbol of Koreanness to continue toarouse controversy and discussion. For all of SouthKoreas impressive economic achievement, Korearemains a divided nation, and the South is still trying toreformulate a distinctive national identity amidst a veryrapid social and cultural transformation. Under thesecircumstances it is not likely that a universally agreedupon consensus on the meaning and use of the Tangunmyth will emerged in the near future.

Some of the views on Chosn are summarized in Gina L. Barnes,"Early Korean States: A Review of Historical Interpretation," inBibliographical Review of Far Eastern Archaeology 1990: Hoabinhian,Jomon, Yayoi, Early Korean States, ed. Gina L. Barnes, (Oxford:Oxbow Books, 1990),122.2Peter H. Lee, compiler and editor, Anthology of Korean Literature:

From Earliest Times to the Nineteenth Century(Honolulu: University

of Hawaii Press, 1981), 4.The myth and its various versions are analyzed in James H.Grayson, The Myth of Tangun: A Dramatic Structural analysis of aKorean Foundation Myth, Korea Journal. (Spring 1997): 35-2.4. Yi Ki-baek,A New History of Korea, translated by Edward Wagnerand Edward Shultz, (Seoul: Ilchogak Publishers, 1984), 194.The Shiji, a Chinese history written at the beginning of the first

century by Sima Qian, is the key historical sources for this legendalthough Kija (Chinese: Qizi) is referred to in earlierworks. According to this sources Kija introduced rice to Korea beforeit had only millet. Although no descendants for Kija are given, alater source the Sanguozhi completed in 297 states that his

descendants ruled for forty generations until overthrown by the

Chinese usurper Weiman (Korean: Wiman) around 180 B.C. seeKenneth H.J. Gardiner, The Early History of Korea (Honolulu:University of Hawaii Press, 1969), 10-.William Griffis, Corea: The Hermit Kingdom 8th ed. (New York:Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907), 13.Chizuko T. Allen, "Northeast Asia Centered Around Korea: Ch'oe

Nam-son's View of History," Journal of Asian Studies 49.4

(November 1990):787-806; see also Pai Hyung Il, ConstructingKorean Origins: A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography,and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories, (Cambridge,MA: Harvard University Press, 2000).Kukki sokkirok (Proceedings of the National Assembly), 9November 1949, 744-.Hahn Ki-on, "Study on the Democratization of Education in Korea

Based on the History of Educational Thought," Korea Observer1.3(April-July 1969), 11-31; Yu Chin-o, "Sin kyoyuk sasang kwa kukkai hyndaehwa" (New Educational Ideas and the Modernization ofthe Nation), Sae kyoyuk(New Education) 100 (Februrary 1963):26-2 Kukka sokkirok, 9 November 1949, 744-.For an example of this see the guidebook for educators written bythe first education minister An Ho-sang Ilminjui ponbat'ang (TheFundamentals of Ilminism), (Seoul: Ilminjui Yn'guso, ).Korea Times, 9 August 1963.2Korea Times, 4 October 1963.
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Taehan ilbo, 25 February 1966.Korea Times, 26 February 1966.Korea Newsreview, 1 March , 22.Korea Times, 18 July 1971.Elaine Kim and Chungmoo Choe editors, Dangerous Women:Gender and Korean Nationalism. -.See Chngsin Munhwa Ynguwn, Hanguk kukkai gibon

snggyk kwa kwaje (The Basic Nature of the State and ItsProblems), (Songnam, Korea: Chngsin Munhwa Ynguwn,1988); Chngsin Munhwa Ynguwn, Chngtongjk gachikwankwa sae kachikkwan i chongnip(The Establishment of TraditionalValues and New Values), (Songnam, Korea: Chngsin MunhwaYnguwn, ).Korea Newsreview, 1 March 1986, 22.2Korea Newsreview, 11 October .2Aidan Foster-Carter, "Listen class, to the latest version ofhistory," Far Eastern Economic Review, (24 December 1987):57-.22Korea Herald, 9 June 1987.2Korea Herald, 10 June 1987.2Korea Herald, 10 June 1967.

2Korea Herald, 10 June 1987.2This claim that Manchuria was part of Korea in ancient timesbecame a source of dispute between China and South Korea in the2000s. See Andrei Lankov The Legacy of Long-Gone States: China,Korea and the Koguryo Andrei LankovJapan Focus (October 2006).2 Chunghakyo kuksa kyosa yongji tos(Middle School NationalHistory Instructors Guide), (Seoul: Kuksa Pynchan Wiwnhi,), -.2 Kyodng hakyo kyosa yongji tos(High School National HistoryInstructors Guide , (Seoul: Kuksa Pynchan Wiwnhi, ), .2Korea Herald, in Korea Newsreview, 9 October 1993, 34.Korea Herald, in Korea Newsreview, 9 October 1993, 34.Ch'oe Yong-ho, "Reinterpreting Traditional History in North

Korea,"Journal of Asian Studies40:3 (May 1981):503-2.2Korea Newsreview, 16 October 1993, 30-.Pyongyang-Capital of the Korean Nation Korea Today(1995No.2,43-), .Korean Central News Agency broadcast 13 March 1998, BBCWorldwide Monitoring 14 March 1998.Agence France-Presse11 September 1998.Korean Central News Agency 1 March 2000, BBC Worldwide

Monitoring.Korea Herald 2 August 1999.World Reporter19 November 1999.

Korea Times9 July 1999; Korea Herald9 July 1999.Korean Central News Agency, 1 November 1999, 1 November1999 BBC World wide Monitoring Korea Herald 3 October 2006.

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