Korean Myths And History

The world cannot be categorized by a single aspect. Everything is connected. So are myth and history. Myth and history are attached. Just like Taegeuk which includes both Yin and Yang, Myth and history coexist. Sometimes, Myth becomes history and history becomes myth. Myth also repeats through ramification and reenactment. Korean myth has the same structure.Korean myth is in line with the Korean perception toward history. The Korean people's myth of a nation of unity has its origins in the myth of Tan-jun, the birth myth of Gu-chao-xian. The myth of Tan-jun is sometimes recognized as history and sometimes as myth, which is because the myth of Tan-jun contains both history and myth. The myth of Tan-jun is followed by myth of Gao-ju-li and Fu-yu. And then the myth of Zhou-meng was integrated into a greater whole with an epic of King Dongmyoung.The representative myths of Xin-luo, a country that led the three kingdom period, are the He-ju-shi myth which is the birth myth of Xin-luo, Tuo-jie myth, and E-zhi myth. Jia-ya has King Suro myth. These myths indicate cultural interchange and diversity. Group movements promoted cultural interchange and it created new cultures. With that said, the myth of Xin-luo and Jia-ya have the same thought paradigm and culture symbols.Myth also functions as propaganda.Through coexistence of diverse groups and paradigm. Myth has been the pivot of claiming and propagating its legitimacy. It shows myths have been closely connected with politics. That is why myths have been transformed and repeated along the periodic paradigm. However, what myth always implies is the reenactments of mythical events.Myth can be articulated in ways other than language. It can be expressed through the medium of gestures, which is a basic form of non-verbal communication, arts and paintings, and architecture. Golden crowns and bent jade of Xin-luo represent the symbol paradigm of the people of Xin-luo. Rock paintings demonstrate the perception toward the world and thought paradigm of the then current people. Gao-ju-li's ancient tomb murals show the perspective in afterlife, thislife, and universe of the people of Gao-ju-li. In this respect material culture is another mythological expression.Religion is another axis of myth. Korea's traditional religion is Wu. In a broad sense Wu is parallel to Shamanism. Exorcism is the essence of Korean Wu. Korean exorcism is a complex of music, dance, literature, costumes, and myth. A shaman sings myth in an exorcism. The creation myths are transmitted only through Shaman myth. Genesis song, Si-lu-mal, and the creation of the cosmos are those. Korean Shamanism carries ba-li princess who is known as the progenitor of an exorcist and who saves dead people by taking a journey of the other world.This dissertation consists of six chapters including introduction. The relations of myth and history, ramification and reenactment of myth, and Koreans'perception toward history are described in the introduction. Chapter 1 examines a vision of the universe and world view through the creation myths transmitted from Shamanism. Chapter 2 talks about the people and myth through the myth of Tan-jun, and the perception of the ancient history. Chapter 3 focuses on text analysis of myths and connection with political paradigm and myth, with Gao-ju-li and Xin-luo'myth focused. Chapter 4 discusses material and myth through statue of Venus, Xin-luo's golden crowns, Gao-ju-li's ancient tomb murals and rock paintings. Finally, chapter 5 analyzed Ba-li princess's myth with a broad explanation of Korean Shamanism. In addition, each chapter includes comparisons between mythologies of minority races in Northeast China, Japan, and Siberia.Myth is neither isolated nor inconvenient. Myth is still alive today. It will show up to us in a different form. It is because myth deals with roots and holds fundamental power. Myth always reenacts the basis.