Korea South Korea North Korea Hankuk Chosun 한국 조선 韓國朝鮮

KoreaSouth KoreaNorth KoreaHankuk Chosun한국조선韓國朝鮮 The land of the morning calm

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

Geography Overall Shape? • What do you see? Size: • Roughly equal to Utah Population: in ‘06 • South Korea: 48,846,823 • North Korea: 23,113,019 Climate: • Temperate: • Cold winters • Hot, wet summers Topography: • Mountainous

Divided 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 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 Language한국어 조선말 Altaic Language Group Structurally identical to Japanese 60% of vocabulary borrowed from Chinese Distinct from both Not a tonal language Regional dialects – Just like U.S.

Korean Language한국어 조선말 Early Literacy: Chinese Early Writing: Chinese Characters 1400s Hangul – commissioned by King Sejong • Phonetic system • “Simple enough for women & servants”

Writing 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

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 National Creation Myth:Tangun 2333 BC See http://www.lifeinkorea.com/information/tangun.cfm for a simple but solid version of this story on the web.

Native Religious Traditions • Animistic religious beliefs • Shamanism • Mudang: • Korean Shaman • Always Female • Kut: • Korean exorcism • Ecstatic dance

Native Spiritual / Cultural 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

Nature of the Human Soul Similar to China – spirit resides in the environment of its life/death. Burial practices similar to China Native Spiritual Concepts

Native Spiritual Concepts Ancestor Veneration: • Chesa • Enhanced & formalized by Confucianism • Major part of civil responsibility in later Korean history

Borrowed Religious Concepts • Daoism • Focus on nature • Fengshui • Confucianism • Buddhism • Christianity – arrives late

Daoist ideas:Symbolism of the South 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 (Chinese)Pungsu (Korean) • Geomancy • Wind and Water • Used in: • Interior decorating • Architecture • City planning, etc. • 5 Frog Brothers Folk tale…

Confucianism • Borrowed from China • Dominant Governing Ideology in later dynasties • Major impact on Korean Culture • Hierarchy • Ritualism and formality • Male dominance

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 Buddhism

Christianity • 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

Korea South Korea North Korea Hankuk Chosun 한국 조선 韓國 朝鮮