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Authors: Jinwung Kim
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sodo was regarded as a sanctuary; if a criminal entered the precincts of the sacred sodo, he could not be apprehended there. Because religion and politics had already been separated in the three Han federations under this standard, the society there was considered more advanced than in Old Chos ŏ n and Puy ŏ , where church and state were united.
The three Han people also performed ceremonies dedicated to heaven, similar to those celebrated in Puy ŏ ’s y ŏ nggo, Kogury ŏ ’s tongmaeng, and Tongye’s much’ ŏ n. The harvest thanksgiving festival took place in the tenth lunar month, at the conclusion of the harvest. No less important was the ceremony held in the spring to pray for a bounteous year, observed in the fifth lunar month, after seeds had been sown. The entire populace, without class distinctions, celebrated these festivals, eating, drinking, singing, and dancing for several days on end. The three Han people engaged in communal farming using the system of
ture,
or mutual help, in which the labor supply worked all the farms in turn.
People of the three Han federations actively engaged in heaven worship. A traditional Korean belief dates back to the era of the three Han federations that all generations of men are born into the world from heaven and return to heaven when they die. An ancestral rite was identified as a sacrificial rite to heaven and was considered one of the most important moral virtues of filial piety. Burying tomb furnishings in a grave together with the corpse derived from the belief that a man returned to heaven to enjoy ultimate immortality.
Heaven worship was well illustrated through drawings incised on rocks. One such drawing at Yangj ŏ n-dong (village), in Kory ŏ ng county, North Ky ŏ ngsang province, consists of a number of concentric circles symbolizing heaven (the sun). Another at Ch’ ŏ nj ŏ n-ni, in Ulchu county, Ulsan metropolitan city, includes a variety of geometric designs—circles, triangles, and diamonds—as well as sketches of animals, suggesting that heaven (circles), the earth (diamonds), and human beings (triangles) coexisted harmoniously. An incised rock drawing at Pan’gudae (cliff) near Ch’ ŏ nj ŏ n-ni, created in the Bronze Age, depicts hunting scenes on land and at sea, and includes pictures of whales, tortoises, and other marine life, of wild animals such as deer, tigers, bears, boars, and rabbits, and of human beings, suggesting a prayer that the people of that age might live together peacefully with all of Mother Nature. The hunting and fishing scenes also imply a supplication that these essential economic activities would be accomplished successfully. 6 As these drawings make clear, the art created by the three Han people was closely related to heaven worship.
The era of the Chin and three Han federations has been considered “forgotten history,” mainly because of the near absence of historical records. But this period occupies an eminent place in Korean history not only as a unique historical entity in itself but also as preparation for the advent of a new historical period, that of the Three Kingdoms of Kogury ŏ , Paekche, and Silla.
The period ranging from the Paleolithic Age to the rise and development of confederated kingdoms, Old Chos ŏ n in particular, represents the “dawn” of the Korean nation. This early age witnessed the formation of the Korean race, the acceptance of advanced Bronze and Iron cultures, and the emergence of important Korean states, including Old Chos ŏ n, Puy ŏ , and Kogury ŏ . In a word, this era laid the groundwork for the development of all future Korean history.
2
THE PERIOD OF THE THREE KINGDOMS (57 BC–AD 676)
THE GROW TH OF KOGURY Ŏ
The Early Development of Kogury ŏ
Beginning as a small walled-town state before the second century BC , Kogury ŏ grew increasingly into a confederated kingdom after its expulsion of the Chinese commandery of Hy ŏ ndo in 75 BC . At around that time there were five
The three Han people also performed ceremonies dedicated to heaven, similar to those celebrated in Puy ŏ ’s y ŏ nggo, Kogury ŏ ’s tongmaeng, and Tongye’s much’ ŏ n. The harvest thanksgiving festival took place in the tenth lunar month, at the conclusion of the harvest. No less important was the ceremony held in the spring to pray for a bounteous year, observed in the fifth lunar month, after seeds had been sown. The entire populace, without class distinctions, celebrated these festivals, eating, drinking, singing, and dancing for several days on end. The three Han people engaged in communal farming using the system of
ture,
or mutual help, in which the labor supply worked all the farms in turn.
People of the three Han federations actively engaged in heaven worship. A traditional Korean belief dates back to the era of the three Han federations that all generations of men are born into the world from heaven and return to heaven when they die. An ancestral rite was identified as a sacrificial rite to heaven and was considered one of the most important moral virtues of filial piety. Burying tomb furnishings in a grave together with the corpse derived from the belief that a man returned to heaven to enjoy ultimate immortality.
Heaven worship was well illustrated through drawings incised on rocks. One such drawing at Yangj ŏ n-dong (village), in Kory ŏ ng county, North Ky ŏ ngsang province, consists of a number of concentric circles symbolizing heaven (the sun). Another at Ch’ ŏ nj ŏ n-ni, in Ulchu county, Ulsan metropolitan city, includes a variety of geometric designs—circles, triangles, and diamonds—as well as sketches of animals, suggesting that heaven (circles), the earth (diamonds), and human beings (triangles) coexisted harmoniously. An incised rock drawing at Pan’gudae (cliff) near Ch’ ŏ nj ŏ n-ni, created in the Bronze Age, depicts hunting scenes on land and at sea, and includes pictures of whales, tortoises, and other marine life, of wild animals such as deer, tigers, bears, boars, and rabbits, and of human beings, suggesting a prayer that the people of that age might live together peacefully with all of Mother Nature. The hunting and fishing scenes also imply a supplication that these essential economic activities would be accomplished successfully. 6 As these drawings make clear, the art created by the three Han people was closely related to heaven worship.
The era of the Chin and three Han federations has been considered “forgotten history,” mainly because of the near absence of historical records. But this period occupies an eminent place in Korean history not only as a unique historical entity in itself but also as preparation for the advent of a new historical period, that of the Three Kingdoms of Kogury ŏ , Paekche, and Silla.
The period ranging from the Paleolithic Age to the rise and development of confederated kingdoms, Old Chos ŏ n in particular, represents the “dawn” of the Korean nation. This early age witnessed the formation of the Korean race, the acceptance of advanced Bronze and Iron cultures, and the emergence of important Korean states, including Old Chos ŏ n, Puy ŏ , and Kogury ŏ . In a word, this era laid the groundwork for the development of all future Korean history.
2
THE PERIOD OF THE THREE KINGDOMS (57 BC–AD 676)
THE GROW TH OF KOGURY Ŏ
The Early Development of Kogury ŏ
Beginning as a small walled-town state before the second century BC , Kogury ŏ grew increasingly into a confederated kingdom after its expulsion of the Chinese commandery of Hy ŏ ndo in 75 BC . At around that time there were five
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