Culture Focus

1. A God becomes King of the Human World

The common theme of the Korean creation myth may be summarized as "a sacred being appears on earth and establishes a nation" or "a sacred being becomes the first king of a dynasty." A common thread in these myths is that the being who becomes the first king of a dynasty is not human, but rather a god or the offspring of gods. To the ancients, kings were distinct from normal human beings and regarded as superior, god-like beings, especially in the case of the royal progenitor, the founding king of a dynasty. In Korean mythology it is difficult to find stories that deal exclusively with the world of the gods. The gods that appear in Korean myths are only summoned in relation to humans and affairs of the human world. A primary qualification required of gods in Korean mythology is that they create something new and unprecedented. The origin of any being or law cannot be explained by actual human experience. The parents of a human being are themselves human, but the original or first human being cannot have had human parents. This is when mythology is naturally required.

The creation of an entirely new state is the closest historical incident comparable to the creation of the heavens and the earth. According to historical precedent, a king needs to be the son of a king. However, the first king of a dynasty obviously cannot have a king for a father, so his father must be divine. In Korea's founding mythologies, the heavenly gods descend directly to the human world and, once there, establish a nation, create laws, and rule over its human subjects. Hwanung, in the myth of Dangun, is the son of a heavenly god named Hwanin. The world of the gods is ruled jointly by the father and his eldest son, and so even though Hwanung is divine, not being the eldest son, he cannot become a king in the heavenly realm. Thus, Hwanung, who desired to become king of his own realm, descended to the human world and established the city of Sinsi ("divine city"). Buyeo's founding myth—that of Haemosu—also describes the descent of a heavenly god to rule the human world. Here, the heavenly god, Haemosu, who rules the heavens, descends to the human world and establishes Buyeo. During the day he rules the human world, while at night he returns to his heavenly realm. The story of Haemosu residing in the human world in the daytime and returning to the heavenly world at night has led some to consider him a representative deity of the sun.

The founding mythologies of Gojoseon and Buyeo, which Koreans consider to be the first historically Korean states, tell of a heavenly god or the son of a heavenly god descending to the human world, establishing a state, and becoming its king.

In the case of Silla, the earliest of the Three Kingdoms (Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo) to be established, its founding myth of Hyeokgeose presents the story of a divine egg that descends from heaven to earth, from which the divine being Hyeokgeose is born and becomes king. A similar story can be found in the myth of Suro, the foundation myth of the Gaya state, wherein Suro descends from heaven to earth inside an egg and, after emerging from the egg, establishes a new dynasty. The myth of Alji, the legendary founder of the Kim clan, which would become one of Silla's ruling families, is similar in this respect. However, instead of an egg, the myth of Alji employs the image of a golden box in which Alji, the infant founder of the Kim clan, descends from heaven.

However, the myth of Jumong, which was the last to emerge of the myths of the northern states of Korea, has some distinct features relative to these other, earlier foundation myths. Jumong is born from an egg laid in the human world by the daughter of Habaek, the god of the river. In the case of Hyeokgeose and Suro, the egg falls to earth from the heavens, while in Jumong's, it is a woman living on earth who lays the egg. Because a woman laying an egg was difficult to accept according to the laws that govern life on earth, Jumong is not at first considered a sacred being and is rejected. He is recognized as a sacred being only after facing and overcoming several trials, thereby demonstrating the excellence of his abilities. A similar figure is Talhae, the progenitor of the Seok clan of Silla dynasts. In the myth of Talhae, Talhae emerges as an egg from a human mother, but the egg is then abandoned because the parents think it inauspicious. Talhae then emerges from the egg and, like Jumong, overcomes ordeals, demonstrates his superior abilities, and goes on to become king, in this case of Silla.

The first kings of Tamna's (Jeju Island) founding myth, the myth of Samseong ("three surnames"), differ markedly from the kings of all the aforementioned states. In foundation myths, the founding kings of states are often depicted as celestial deities or else born of an egg that falls directly from heaven. Though Jumong and Talhae are born on earth, they are still linked to the heavens, as symbolized by the egg. Jumong's parents in the myth of Jumong both have a relationship with mythical animals. His mother, Yuhwa, is related to a waterfowl, while his father, Haemosu, is related to the samjoko, or three-legged crow, which represents the sun. In the myth of Talhae, a magpie protects Talhae until he reaches the Korean Peninsula, and therefore Talhae took his surname from the magpie. However, the first three rulers of Tamna are figures that soar from the earth; their origins are not in heaven but on earth. Separated as it was from the mainland by the sea, Tamna had a stronger sense of identity, as well as mythical traditions that were distinct from those of the mainland. Furthermore, because Tamna was so geographically isolated, unlike the mainland, making it difficult to maintain relations with the outside world, its mythical traditions did not feature any figures coming from the outside, such as from heaven. Therefore, the Tamna community's need for its mythical rulers to emerge from the land seems to be a unique feature of that island's mythology and culture.

2. A Human becomes a God

Korean mythology contains many stories in which mortals become gods. In classical Greco-Roman mythology, gods and humans are clearly distinguished, and no matter how excellent the hero, it is fundamentally impossible for him to become a god. And though there may be cases of demigods—a combination of a god and a human—it is still impossible for them to become fully immortal gods. In classical Greco-Roman mythology, even though a hero may win a contest or battle with a god or gods, in the end they eventually die as mortals.

By contrast, in Korean mythology humans can become gods. The protagonists in the founding myths metamorphose back into gods and return to the sacred world once their lives as kings in the human world come to an end. Hwanung's son, Dangun, rules the human world for a long period and later becomes a mountain god. Jumong returns to the heavenly world without leaving behind a corpse. As for Talhae, he becomes a mountain god and protector of Silla after his death. The underlying logic is that the protagonists of these foundation myths are originally gods or the offspring of gods, so they transform back into gods or return to the heavenly world when their human lives end.

However, in shamanist myths, even those who are originally human can become gods. Baby Danggeum (Danggeum aegi), the female protagonist of the Jeseok bonpuri myth, which relates the story of the origins of the three gods governing childbirth, is the beautiful youngest daughter of a good family. However, her fate changes when she meets a Buddhist monk who is also a sacred being. She is seduced by the monk and spends a night with him while her family is away. The truth of her having secretly slept with a man without her family's permission is revealed after the monk leaves, and she is nearly killed. She eventually gives birth to and raises triplet sons without a husband. When they grow up, the sons seek out and find the monk, who transforms Baby Danggeum and her sons into gods. The eponymous protagonist of the Princess Bari (Bari gongju) myth is a princess in the human world. She is abandoned right after she is born and grows up with the aid of a god who has rescued her. Later, she traverses hell to reach the world of the gods to obtain life-giving water to rescue her father before returning to the human world. As compensation for saving her father, Princess Bari is transformed into a goddess who consoles the souls of the dead and guides them to the afterworld.

In the Igong bonpuri myth, a problem arises when the man in charge of managing the celestial flower garden attempts to travel to the celestial world with his wife. Because his wife was unable to move quickly due to her pregnancy, she ends up being left behind in the human world. The woman and the son she gives birth to then fall into trouble. She becomes a slave in a wealthy household and is eventually killed by her master who lusts after her. The son escapes the master's house and proceeds to the celestial world in search of his father. The son, named Hallakgungi, eventually meets his father and attains a life-restoring flower. The son then returns to the earthly realm in order to revive his mother and slay her enemy (the slave owner). Finally, Hallakgungi returns to the celestial world with his mother and becomes the god who manages the celestial flower garden, following in his father's footsteps.

Shamanist myths include many other instances of mortals becoming gods. For instance, there is Seongju bonga, which tells the tale of Seongju, who is summoned to the heavenly realm and becomes a god as a result of his great engineering skills; Chilseong puri, which relates how Chilseong becomes a god after punishing an evil stepmother; then there is Segyeong bonpuri, which relates mortal travels to the celestial realm, the attainment there of grain seeds and their distribution to humans, and thus the origin of the god of farming; and Woncheongang bonpuri, which tells the story of a girl who travels to the celestial realm to meet her parents and thereafter becomes the god of human fate.

Thus, Korean shamanist myths can be said to be the stories of protagonists who perform an assigned duty and explore the other-earthly world before being transformed into new beings. The endings of such tales invariably involve the transformation of a mortal into a god, and the human realm being bettered and made more prosperous because of that god.

3. Creating a Reciprocal Relationship between Gods and Humans

In general, it would seem a self-evident statement that a god is a being that humans must worship and obey. In the Changsega, a Korean creation myth, humans are created by absolute gods named Mireuk (Maitreya) and Seokga (Sakyamuni). In the beginning, gods and humans exist in a relationship of creator/ creation. The relationship between gods and humans is vertical in founding myths as well. Humans must absolutely obey the ruler who is both a god and a political leader. It is the same in shaman myths, where the human's fate depends on a god. But upon closer examination, the god-human relationship in Korean mythology possesses many singularities relative to mythologies elsewhere.

In Korean mythology, whether the god-human relationship is religious or political, that relationship is often relatively horizontal and human-centered, eluding the binary of unconditional rule/ obedience or domination/subjugation. Especially in Korean mythology, there are many cases in which the relationship between a god and a mortal is represented as a familial one, revealing the Korean conceptualization of gods and humans.

Good representatives of the formation of familial relationships between gods and humans are the foundation myths of Dangun and Suro. In the Dangun myth, Hwanung descends to the human world with the status of a divine king and establishes a city from which to rule over his human subjects. However, Hwanung not only plays his role as ruler but also assists his subjects. He helps a bear transform into a human, Ungnyeo, and when Ungnyeo then desires to bear a child, Hwanung transforms into a human and fulfills Ungnyeo's wish. As we can see, Dangun, the offspring of that union and the founder of Gojoseon, is a sacred human being born through the union of a god and a human being. The myth of Suro importantly depicts the divine marriage between Suro, who descended from the celestial realm, and Heo Hwangok, a princess of the human world. Heo Hwangok is definitely a human being as she is the princess of the state of Ayuta. Yet under divine order, she seeks out and marries Suro. The interesting part is that despite being a human who marries a god, Heo Hwangok demonstrates confidence and autonomy. When she arrives in the state of Gaya after attaining her rare and precious wedding gift, Suro sends an attendant to lead her to the palace, but Heo Hwangok demands that Suro personally escort her there, to which Suro acquiesces. As we can see, even though the marriage between Suro and Heo Hwangok is one between a god and a human, there is a certain parity to their conjugal relations.

More common in shamanic myths is a family relationship wherein a god is the head of a household and a human spouse its partner. In the Cheonjiwang bonpuri (King Cheonji bonpuri), King Cheonji, who is the greatest god of the heavenly world, chooses a beautiful female human as his wife. The two sons born between them are King Daebyeol and King Sobyeol, who rule this world and the other world. In the Jeseok bonpuri myth, in contrast to the male protagonist, a sacred monk distinct from humans, Baby Danggeum and her family members are definitely humans. Here, the god confirms the truth of a good and beautiful female human (Baby Danggeum), and takes her. The marriage of Princess Bari, the female protagonist of the myth of that name, is similar. Princess Bari, who journeys to obtain medicinal water for her father, becomes married to a god named Mujangseung, possessor of lifesaving water, who lives in a sacred, unworldly place.

Why do gods who are almighty relative to humans insist on marrying humans? The Cheonjiwang bonpuri story starts off with a conflict between humans and gods. This myth concerns the birth of King Daebyeol and King Sobyeol, in charge respectively of this world (world of humans) and the next world (world of the dead), and the competition between these two for the possession of the human world. Depending on the version under discussion, the myth deals primarily with the conflict between King Cheonji, who becomes father to King Daebyeol and King Sobyeol, or Sumyeongjangja, who was the ruler of the human world. King Cheonji, who is the king of the heavens, descends to earth in order to punish Sumyeongjangja, a human being dwelling on earth, for his many evil deeds. However, Sumyeongjangja yells back at King Cheonji, taunting him that no one can capture him. King Cheonji becomes incensed and attacks Sumyeongjangja with ten thousand soldiers, yet fails to subdue him. On his way back from his failed attempt to chastise Sumyeongjangja, King Cheonji begets two sons, King Daebyeol and King Sobyeol, from a female human he encounters while on the earth. After he grows up, King Sobyeol finally disciplines Sumyeongjangja and sets the human world in order. It is difficult to find myths such as these in other cultures, that is, wherein a human disobeys an almighty god's authority and command. Though cases of humans disobeying a god's order or command do often appear in other mythologies, it is rare to find cases where such an omnipotent god of the heavens fails to punish such a human.

What such myths clearly demonstrate is that Korean gods are not perfect beings but flawed ones. By contrast, though humans are definitely inferior and defective relative to gods, they possess the potential to rise ontologically. Therefore, gods and humans fulfill their respective needs and promote ontological elevation through their interactions. In Korean myths, gods become more complete beings through their relationships with humans. And humans likewise are reborn from their original form as new beings through their relationships with gods. And the most ideal human being is produced through the union of these two beings. Gods and humans enjoy a symbiotic relationship in Korean mythology, and the ideal human model is well represented through this relationship.

Infokorea 2021
Infokorea is a magazine that introduces Korea to readers overseas, including teachers, textbook developers and other educators. The magazine offers the latest statistics on the Republic of Korea and articles that focus on Korean culture, society and history, which can be used as a reference source for textbook writers and editors and as materials for teachers to prepare for class. The theme of the 2021 issue was 'Myths of Korea'.