korea south korea north korea hankuk chosun 한국 조선 韓國 朝鮮

KoreaKoreaSouth KoreaSouth Korea North KoreaNorth Korea

HankukHankuk ChosunChosun한국한국 조선조선韓國韓國 朝鮮朝鮮 The land of the morning calmThe land of the morning calm

Geopolitical LocationGeopolitical Location

• Appendage to China• “Dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”

Manchuria

GeographyGeographyOverall Shape?• What do you see?Size:• Roughly equal to UtahPopulation: in ‘06• South Korea: 48,846,823 • North Korea: 23,113,019Climate: • Temperate: • Cold winters• Hot, wet summersTopography:• Mountainous

Divided NationDivided Nation• Japanese Occupation 1910• Divided in 1945

– Carrot used by US to lure USSR into the Pacific phase of WWII

– 38th Parallel– North: Soviet realm… ergo Communist– South: US realm … ergo Capitalist

• Korean War: 1950-53– Enemies– Divided Families– No mail, no trade, no visits, no phone calls

Ethnic HomogeneityEthnic Homogeneity

“Racially pure,” Unique Race

East Asian or Mongoloid racial group

• Strong sense of racial identity

• Self-identification as distinct from other Asian nations

Korean LanguageKorean Language한국어 조선말 한국어 조선말 Altaic Language GroupStructurally identical to Japanese60% of vocabulary borrowed from ChineseDistinct from both

Not a tonal languageRegional dialects – Just like U.S.

Korean LanguageKorean Language한국어 조선말 한국어 조선말 Early Literacy: ChineseEarly Writing: Chinese Characters

1400s Hangul – commissioned by King Sejong• Phonetic system• “Simple enough for women & servants”

Writing SystemWriting System

Mixed Writing system• Chinese root words written in Chinese

characters – 900 characters to pass middle school– 1800 characters to pass high school

• Korean Native words written in Hangul• Typical until 1945

– North Korea dropped Chinese about 1950– Hangul only newspapers in South Korea first

published in 1988

National Creation Myth:National Creation Myth: Tangun 2333 BC Tangun 2333 BC• Hwan-ung (god figure)• Tiger and Bear want to be

human• Live in cave 100 days eating

mugwort and garlic

• Bear endures and becomes a woman• She prays for a husband• Hwan-ung takes her as wife and they bear a

son, Tangun who governs over the people of Korea

See http://www.lifeinkorea.com/information/tangun.cfm for a simple but solid version of this story on the web.

Native Religious TraditionsNative Religious Traditions

• Animistic religious beliefs• Shamanism• Mudang:

– Korean Shaman– Always Female

• Kut:– Korean exorcism– Ecstatic dance

Native Spiritual / Native Spiritual / Cultural ConceptsCultural Concepts

• Han– Collective burden of historic pain– Centuries of oppression– Eons of suffering

– Creates a sorrow, sense of ‘blues’ that is unique to Koreans and pervades their art, music and culture

Native Native Spiritual Spiritual

ConceptsConcepts

• Nature of the Human Soul

– Similar to China – spirit resides in the environment of its life/death.

– Burial practices similar to China

Native Spiritual ConceptsNative Spiritual Concepts

Ancestor Veneration:• Chesa • Enhanced & formalized by Confucianism• Major part of civil responsibility in later

Korean history

Borrowed Religious ConceptsBorrowed Religious Concepts

• Daoism– Focus on nature– Fengshui

• Confucianism• Buddhism

• Christianity – arrives late

Daoist ideas:Daoist ideas:Symbolism of the Symbolism of the South Korean FlagSouth Korean Flag

• Center is the Korean version of the Yin-Yang symbol

• The four trigrams are:• ☰; geon ( 건 ; 乾 ) = heaven 天• ☷; gon ( 곤 ; 坤 ) = earth 地• ☲; ri ( 리 ; 離 ) = sun 日• ☵; gam ( 감 ; 坎 ) = moon 月

Fengshui Fengshui (Chinese)(Chinese)

Pungsu Pungsu (Korean)(Korean)

• Geomancy• Wind and Water• Used in:• Interior decorating• Architecture• City planning, etc.

• 5 Frog Brothers Folk tale…

ConfucianismConfucianism

• Borrowed from China• Dominant Governing Ideology

in later dynasties• Major impact on Korean Culture

– Hierarchy– Ritualism and formality– Male dominance

BuddhismBuddhism• Borrowed from

China– About 50 CE– Becomes

important about 500 CE

• Adopted by early dynasties • Political dominance early on• Coexists with Confucianism, Daoism and native

traditions -- usually

ChristianityChristianity

• Catholics enter 1774• Protestants enter 1884

• Both become politically and socially very important– Protestants 1900 to the present– Catholics briefly about 1800 and again since 1970

(much more to come in later history discussion)

Myongdong Cathedral: Seoul