Korea South Korea North Korea HankukChosun 한국 조선 韓國 朝鮮 Korea South Korea North Korea HankukChosun 한국 조선 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 –38 th Parallel –North: Soviet realm… ergo Communist –South: US realm … ergo Capitalist Korean War: –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 Language 한국어 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 Language 한국어 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

National Creation Myth: 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 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

Native Spiritual Concepts 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 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 乾 天 ☷ ; gon ( 곤 ; 坤 ) = earth 地 坤 地 ☲ ; ri ( 리 ; 離 ) = sun 日 離 日 ☵ ; gam ( 감 ; 坎 ) = moon 月 坎 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

Buddhism 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

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