Dangun- Korean HeroHero"National Ancestor"
Also known as: 단군, 檀君, 단군왕검, 檀君王儉, Dangun Wanggeom, 왕검, 王儉, Tan'gun, and Tangun
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Description
Born of the heavenly prince Hwanung and Ungnyeo the Bear Woman, Dangun Wanggeom founded Gojoseon, Korea's first kingdom, at Asadal in 2333 BCE. He ruled for fifteen hundred years before retreating into the mountains to become a sansin, an eternal spirit watching over the land he had made.
Mythology & Lore
Son of Heaven and Earth
Dangun Wanggeom was born of the union between heaven and earth. His father was Hwanung, a divine prince who had descended from the celestial realm to Mount Taebaek with three thousand followers, establishing the Sacred City of Sinsi beneath a great sandalwood tree. His mother was Ungnyeo, a bear who had prayed to Hwanung for human form and endured twenty-one days in a dark cave eating only mugwort and garlic until she was transformed into a woman.
The Samguk Yusa records the lineage: Hwanin the Lord of Heaven, Hwanung the Heavenly King, Dangun the Founder. Three generations from the celestial realm to the mortal world.
The Morning Kingdom
Dangun descended from the sacred mountain and established his capital at Asadal, "Mountain of the Morning Sun." The Samguk Yusa places the founding in the fiftieth year of the Chinese Emperor Yao's reign, calculated as 2333 BCE. The kingdom was Gojoseon, "Old Joseon."
The Hanshu records that its people observed the Eight Prohibitions. Only three survive: murder carried the death penalty, and theft brought enslavement or a heavy fine. The same text notes that the people of Joseon did not steal from one another and left their doors unlocked at night.
The Mountain Spirit
Dangun ruled for 1,500 years. When he concluded his earthly reign, he did not die. He retreated to Asadal and became a sansin, a mountain spirit, at the age of 1,908. Throughout Korea, every significant mountain houses its own sansin, honored at shrines on village paths and within Buddhist temple grounds. Paintings show a white-bearded elder seated beneath a pine tree with a tiger at his side. Dangun was the first of them: a king who became part of the land itself.
On Ganghwa Island, the stone altar called Chamseongdan stands atop Mani-san. Tradition holds that Dangun built it for sacrifices to his grandfather Hwanin. Its circular lower tier represents heaven, its square upper tier represents earth. October 3rd, Gaecheonjeol, "Opening of Heaven Day," is South Korea's National Foundation Day, when ceremonies at the altar and across the country honor the triad of Hwanin, Hwanung, and Dangun.
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