The Great Epic of the Korean People as a Chosen People (Mythology Volume)

[Summary] The Korean people are the Dongi people (an ancient eastern people), a peace-loving chosen people that has never invaded another nation. The roots of “Daehan Minguk” (the Republic of Korea) reach back thousands of years to “Han-ssi Joseon” (the Joseon of the Han clan), and the word “Han (韓)” means great, bright, and God. When read through a providential view of history, the Dangun myth reveals a profound meaning. Hwanin symbolizes Heavenly Parent; Hwanung, the restored son; and Ungnyeo (the bear-woman), a perfected true woman. The bear’s overcoming of the ordeal of “three sevens” (a 21-fold period) and her giving birth to Dangun Wanggeom is a prophetic revelation of the birth of the Messiah and the completion of a world of peace. Through the Korean people’s female myths runs a deep tradition of feminine divinity governing creation, life, and salvation, which becomes the soil for the theology of the only begotten Daughter. The Korean people are the only nation to embed purity, reverence for Heaven and love for humankind, the ideal of benefiting all humanity (Hongik Ingan), and peace into their myths. True history is not a chronology of dynasties but an epic written together by Heavenly Parent and human beings—at whose center stand the True Parents of Heaven, Earth, and Humankind.

Words of True Parents

(June 15, 1988, True Father) Throughout its five thousand years of history, Korea has continually sacrificed up to now. The Korean people are the Dongi people, originally a people that detests war and loves peace. Looking at Korean history, they have never invaded another country. They suffered countless invasions but never carried out one themselves. They are truly a people burning with a sense of justice. Tracing the origin of our people back, records appear showing that the Han clan lived even before Gojoseon (Old Joseon).

(December 6, 2013, True Mother) Our nation’s historians assert that before the era of Gojoseon there was a country ruled by Hwanung, the father of Dangun. The character Hwan (桓) in the historical records, following its old pronunciation, is written as Han (韓). So Hwanung and Hanung are the same word. The Dangun myth contains the will of God, who chose the Korean people as a heavenly-descended people (cheonson minjok). Not many people know the origin of the word “Korean people” or of the national title “Daehan Minguk.” That origin can be found in “Han-ssi Joseon.” Thousands of years ago, the ruler of a vast territory stretching from the northeastern region of China to the Korean peninsula was of the Han bloodline, and that country was called “Han-ssi Joseon.” The reason our people are the Han people and our national title became Daehan Minguk is that it derives precisely from this “Han.”

As True Mother said, the roots of the name “Korean people” and the national title “Daehan Minguk” began with “Han-ssi Joseon,” which ruled a vast land stretching from northeastern China to the Korean peninsula thousands of years ago. The character “Han (韓)” carries the meanings of great, bright, infinite, one, and God.

What Kind of Genre Is “The Great Epic of the Chosen People”?

True Mother deliberately used the word “great epic (daeseosasi).” Why did she do so? A great epic is not a genre that tries to prove a people’s or nation’s historical events, myths, legends, and heroic tales through logic or science. It is a genre that, through the form of story, explores “what meaning these events hold for us.”

So if you ask, “Is this fact or fiction?”, the answer is that the purpose of a great epic is not pure scientific research. The essence of an epic is to narrate meaning regarding humanity and the world as it runs through a society, a people, a civilization, and a history.

Generally, history is narrated based on visible facts. But we can ask this: “Is only the visible factual?” If the invisible, formless Heavenly Parent has held one axis of history and led it forward, then without that God, history cannot be fully explained. The perspective that narrates the meaning of a history made together by God and human beings is called the “providential view of history.”

This is precisely the reason we study the Great Epic of the Korean People as a Chosen People: to find the answers Heavenly Parent desires regarding “what kind of people we are,” “in what direction we should advance,” and “how we should live.”

A New Meaning of “Chosen People”

The term “chosen people (seonmin)” is well known as a Christian concept meaning “a people chosen by God and bound to Him by covenant.” Yet this concept must not remain confined to a special and narrow meaning alone.

The chosen people we speak of does not refer only to those born in Korea. All Blessed Families throughout the world who know the will of God and seek to live as Blessed Families are the chosen people. The one who receives Heaven’s blessing and fulfills its responsibility is the true chosen people.

Creation Myths of Nations Around the World

To understand the characteristics of Korean mythology, let us first survey the myths of various nations around the world.

Asia: China’s Pangu (盤古) myth, Japan’s Izanagi-Izanami myth, and India’s Brahma myth.

Europe: Greece’s Hesiod myth, Northern Europe’s Ymir myth, and Rome’s Romulus myth.

The Americas: the Maya Popol Vuh myth, the Aztec myth of the Five Suns, and the Inca Manco Cápac myth.

Africa: Egypt’s Atum myth, Nigeria’s Oduduwa myth, and South Africa’s Unkulunkulu myth.

Representative World Myths

① China: the Pangu (盤古) Myth. In the beginning, the universe was a chaotic mass shaped like an egg. Within it, the giant Pangu slept for 18,000 years, then split the chaos open with an axe. The clear energy became the heavens and the turbid energy became the earth; 18,000 years later, when Pangu died, his eyes became the sun and moon, his blood the rivers, his flesh the land, and his hair the forests.

② Japan: Izanagi and Izanami. By the command of the gods, the two deities Izanagi (male) and Izanami (female) stirred the chaotic sea with a jeweled spear. Drops of water falling from the spear’s tip hardened to become the Japanese islands, and the two deities married and gave birth to countless gods and natural features. After Izanami died giving birth to the fire god, Izanagi journeyed to the underworld and back, and from this the sun goddess Amaterasu, the storm god Susanoo, and the moon god Tsukuyomi were born.

③ India: the Creation of Brahma. In the beginning, Vishnu slept upon the cosmic ocean, and from his navel a lotus blossomed, from which the creator Brahma was born. Through meditation, Brahma created the five elements—water, fire, air, earth, and sky—along with the gods, humans, and all living things. The three-deity structure of Brahma (creation), Vishnu (preservation), and Shiva (destruction) is the core of Indian mythology.

Common Patterns in World Myths

Looking at the world’s myths, there is a common pattern: order is created out of chaos, and the world is born through the death and sacrifice of a god. Let us now examine the Korean myth in contrast to these.

The Korean Creation Myth: The Dangun Myth

The Korean creation myth is recorded in the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms). The Samguk Yusa is a historical text compiled by the late-Goryeo monk Iryeon, a treasury of ancient Korean history that records the history, myths, Buddhism, and folklore from Gojoseon to the Later Three Kingdoms.

The Dangun Myth (Original Classical Chinese Text)

[魏書云]: 乃往二千載 有壇君王儉 立都阿斯達 開國號朝鮮 與高同時.

[古記云]: 昔有桓因 庶子桓雄 數意天下 貪求人世. 父知子意 下視三危太伯 可以弘益人間. 乃授天符印三箇 遣往理之. 雄率徒三千 降於太伯山頂 神壇樹下 謂之神市 是謂桓雄天王也. 將風伯·雨師·雲師 而主穀·主命·主病·主刑·主善惡 凡主人間三百六十餘事 在世理化.

時有一熊一虎 同穴而居 常祈于神雄 願化爲人. 時神遺靈艾一炷 蒜二十枚 曰: “爾輩食之 不見日光百日 便得人形.” 熊虎得而食之 忌三七日 熊得女身 虎不能忌 而不得人身. 熊女者 無與爲婚 故每於壇樹下 呪願有孕. 雄乃假化而婚之 孕生子 號曰壇君王儉.

The Dangun Myth (English Translation)

The Book of Wei (Weishu) states: Two thousand years ago there was Dangun Wanggeom. He established his capital at Asadal, founded a nation, and named it Joseon—at the same time as Emperor Yao.

The Ancient Records (Gogi) state: Long ago there was Hwanin. His son by a secondary line, Hwanung, repeatedly set his heart on the world below and longed for the human realm. The father, knowing his son’s heart, looked down upon the Three Perils and Taebaek and saw that it was a place where one could “broadly benefit humankind” (Hongik Ingan). So he gave him the three Heavenly Seals (Cheonbu-in) and sent him down to govern. Hwanung descended upon the summit of Mount Taebaek with a host of three thousand, came to the foot of the Divine Altar Tree (Sindansu), and called this place the Divine City (Sinsi); this one is called Hwanung Cheonwang (the Heavenly King). Commanding the Earl of Wind, the Master of Rain, and the Master of Clouds, he governed grain, life, sickness, punishment, and good and evil—presiding over some 360 affairs of humankind, dwelling in the world to govern and enlighten it.

At that time a bear and a tiger living in the same cave constantly prayed to the divine Hwanung, wishing to become human. Then Hwanung gave them a bundle of sacred mugwort and twenty cloves of garlic, saying, “If you eat these and do not see sunlight for one hundred days, you will attain human form.” The bear and the tiger received and ate them. They observed the taboo for “three sevens” (3×7 = 21 days). The bear attained a woman’s body, but the tiger could not keep the taboo and did not attain a human body. As the bear-woman (Ungnyeo) had no one to marry, she prayed each day beneath the Altar Tree to conceive a child. Hwanung then briefly transformed into a man and married her; she conceived and gave birth to a son, named Dangun Wanggeom.

A Principled Interpretation of the Dangun Myth

Here Han-ssi Joseon, that is Gojoseon, began. When this Korean myth is interpreted according to the Principle, a remarkable meaning emerges. First, the character Hwan (桓) has from of old been used as a Chinese character sharing the same root as the character Han (韓) used for the nation’s name. Hwanung (桓雄) is also read as “Hanung,” and Hwanguk (桓國) as “Hanguk (韓國).” Hwan (桓) means a pillar, but its symbolic meaning is light and pillar. Mythologically, it is the bright light of Heaven (Hwanin).

Hwanin (桓因) = Heavenly Parent

Hwanin symbolizes God, that is, Heavenly Parent.

Hwanung (桓雄), Coming Not as the Legitimate Son but as a Son of a Secondary Line = the Restored Child (the second son, Abel)

Hwanung is in the position of a son of a secondary line (seoja), that is, a second-son position. It is understood that human beings were originally God’s own children, but through the fall with Lucifer became children of Satan, and now stand in the position of having been restored.

The Three Heavenly Seals (天符印) = the Three Great Blessings

The three Heavenly Seals signify the three great blessings of the Bible: be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion.

The Divine Altar Tree (神壇樹) = the Tree of Life

The Divine Altar Tree signifies the Tree of Life in the Bible.

The Bear and the Tiger = Fallen Humanity

The bear and the tiger symbolize fallen humanity, which has fallen into an animalistic value system of the survival of the fittest.

“Do Not See the Sun” = Sexual Purity

From of old, the sun symbolizes man and the moon symbolizes woman. “Do not see the sun for one hundred days” means “do not know a man”—that is, keep sexual purity. To devote oneself in the cave eating only mugwort and garlic means to overcome sexual temptation, to endure trials and suffering even while persecuted by those around, and to grow up through utmost sincerity that moves Heaven.

The Tiger’s Failure and the Bear’s Success

The tiger could not restrain its sexual desire, ran out of the cave, and ultimately remained fallen humanity. The bear-like woman, by contrast, endured to the end, keeping her purity through the “three sevens” (childhood 7 years + adolescence 7 years + youth 7 years = 21 years), and grew up through utmost sincerity. To Ungnyeo—perfected as a beautiful woman at the adult age of twenty-one—Hwanung responded and married her, and the child born between them was Dangun Wanggeom, the ancestor of the Korean people.

The Perfected Ungnyeo

The perfected Ungnyeo symbolizes a true woman of completed character. Thus the Dangun myth can be seen as a prophetic revelation that the Messiah would be born among the Korean people and complete a world of peace.

Dangun Wanggeom became the root of purity, of reverence for Heaven and love for humankind (gyeongcheon aein), of benefiting all humanity (Hongik Ingan), and of the peace-loving “white-clad people” (baegui minjok).

The Female Myths of the Korean People

Among the deities revered as male gods in the Korean tradition are Hwanin, Hwanung, Dangun Wanggeom, the Mountain Spirit, the Dragon King, and Chiyou the Heavenly King. By contrast, Haemosu (Buyeo), Jumong (Goguryeo), Bak Hyeokgeose (Silla), and King Suro (Gaya) are revered not as deities but in the position of national fathers. Interestingly, however, the Korean people possess far more female myths.

Ungnyeo (熊女): founding of Gojoseon · mother of Dangun.

Mago Halmi (麻姑): creation of heaven and earth · the primordial goddess who shaped the land.

Samsin Halmi / Samseung Halmang: the great mother who presides over childbirth, life, and human birth.

Jacheongbi (自請妃): the goddess of love and agriculture who brought the seeds of the five grains to earth.

Gameunjang-agi: the goddess of fate who carved out her own fortune.

Barideki / Princess Bari: the ancestral shaman goddess (mujosin) who crossed beyond death to bring back the water of life.

Seondo Seongmo, Jeonggyeon Moju, Lady Yuhwa: the mothers of the nation who became guardian deities of the Three Kingdoms.

Seolmundae Halmang: the giant woman who shaped Jeju Island and Mount Halla on Jeju.

Yeongdeung Halmang: the wind goddess of Jeju who governs wind, abundant catches, and the sea.

① Mago Halmi (麻姑): the Goddess Who Created the Land. A goddess of enormous stature, she is said to have carried soil in the folds of her skirt to make mountains and islands and to have formed rivers by relieving herself. “Halmi” is not a derogatory term but an honorific meaning “great mother (great mother-goddess).” Halmeoni = Han (great) + eomeoni (mother) = the great mother of life. In archaic language, she represents the Heavenly Mother.

② Samsin Halmi (三神), Samseung Halmang: the Goddess of Life. She is the goddess of life who bestows children and assists in childbirth. Samsin (三神) does not mean three deities but “conception (potae),” the bearing of life. As a warm mother-deity who cares from birth until a child takes its first steps, she is the most universal female deity in Korean mythology.

③ Barideki, Princess Bari: the Goddess of Salvation Beyond Death. A king wanted a son, but as only daughters were born one after another, he abandoned the seventh daughter, Bari. When the king who had abandoned her fell ill and was about to die, Bari journeyed alone to the very end of the underworld to obtain the water of life. After bringing her dead parents back to life, she became a deity—the ancestral shaman goddess (mujosin) who guides souls to the next world. This story holds a paradoxical structure in which the abandoned daughter is the very one who saves souls. Even today, shamans guide souls through Barideki.

Characteristics of Korean Female Deities

Korean female deities possess a distinct character unlike that of any other culture in the world. While the world’s myths, as they became patriarchal, demoted the standing of their goddesses, the Korean image of the female deity is a divinity presiding over purity, chastity, life, birth, creation, salvation, protection, nature, and abundance. This is a narrative exactly opposite to the passive, sacrificial image of woman. In particular, Jeju Island preserved the tradition of feminine divinity so powerfully that some 80% of its village shrine deities are goddesses. Even within a Confucian patriarchal society, it was women (mothers) who were the agents healing the lives and pain of the common people, and this continued into the woman-centered tradition of Korean shamanism.

The Link Between True Mother and Korean Female Mythology

True Mother declared herself to be the only begotten Daughter and the Holy Mother Han. This narrative resonates deeply with the Korean people’s unique tradition of female myth. The notion that “woman is the source of creation, life, and salvation,” accumulated in Korean culture over thousands of years, became the soil for the birth of the only begotten Daughter. The theology of the only begotten Daughter has its own originality, and even from the standpoint of the Principle, it corresponds exactly to the principle of dual characteristics (i-seong seong-sang) and the principle of the creation of heaven and earth.

We Are the Protagonists of the Epic

The Great Epic of the Korean People as a Chosen People begins with the myth that expresses the origin of the Korean people and continues into the story of the realization of Heaven’s hope contained in the Book of Genesis.

In all the world, the Korean people are the only nation to embed all of purity, reverence for Heaven and love for humankind, love of peace, the benefiting of all humanity (Hongik Ingan), and the enlightening of the world with light (Gwangmyeong Ise) into their myths. Suffering countless invasions, they never once invaded another people; regarding purity as life itself, the women carried the eunjangdo (a small ornamental dagger symbolizing chastity); they revered the Way (Do) through a philosophy of truth; and they carried on a culture of heart rooted in loyalty, filial piety, and fidelity (chung-hyo-yeol). I will speak later about how this loyalty, filial piety, and fidelity differs in grain from that of other peoples.

And so there is the chronology of kings we studied in history class: Tae-Jeong-Tae-Se-Mun-Dan-Se / Ye-Seong-Yeon-Jung-In-Myeong-Seon / Gwang-In-Hyo-Hyeon-Suk-Gyeong-Yeong / Jeong-Sun-Heon-Cheol-Go-Sun… (a mnemonic for the kings of the Joseon dynasty). This is the external history centered on kings. The internal history is the epic that the invisible Heavenly Parent has written through human beings. And the final conclusion of the Great Epic of the Korean People as a Chosen People must be that the hope of Heavenly Parent is completed through human peace centered on the True Parents of Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. <The End>