The Tan’gun Myth

Long, long ago, on the brightest of bright mornings, God looked carefully over every corner of this rugged world. Mind and eyes were clear and vigilant; one son only, the beloved Hwan’ung, stood at His side.

‘My beloved son,’ said God the Father, ‘choose the land where you would wish to live and rule.’

Hwan’ung the Son considered the world with critical eye – mountains, plains, rivers and seas, all the wondrous weave of creation. He compared, considered, considered, compared: nowhere could he find a land to match the magic of Chosŏn.

‘The land of Chosŏn seems particularly fine,’ said Hwan’ung the Son, whereupon God the Father asked, ‘Why?’ To which the Son replied with a smile: ‘It is the land where the morning sun first rises, first shines: everything is clear, majestic, bright. It is a world that fills my heart with longing: everything is vivid, fresh as if laid in lovely flowers. Wherever the eye goes, there are fine mountains, limpid streams – no other land is quite like it.’

And as God's most beloved son, Hwan’ung, accompanied by the host of spirits that arbiter wind, rain, clouds, food, clothes, and livelihood, was about to descend on T’aebaek Mountain in the land of Chosŏn, God the Father gently tugged his sleeve, put his lips close to his ear and in low tones bestowed upon him the following secret advice.

‘When you live on Earth for a while, you will discover that earthlings, unlike our practice here in Heaven, are accustomed to take several wives and they call a child born of a concubine illegitimate. Thus, some day a muttering half-wit mob may emerge to defeat in arms the most heaven-like of your descendents.