Hwanung married Ungnyeo, the bear who transformed into a woman after enduring the trial of darkness and sacred foods. Their son Dangun Wanggeom founded Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, making all Koreans descendants of this divine-human union.
According to the Samguk Yusa, Dangun retired from earthly rule at the age of 1,908 and transformed into Sansin, the mountain spirit of Asadal, achieving divine immortality rather than mortal death.
Dangun Wanggeom ruled from Asadal as the capital of Gojoseon for over fifteen hundred years, governing the first Korean kingdom before withdrawing to become a mountain spirit at the age of 1,908.
Dangun reigned over Gojoseon for fifteen hundred years from the capital at Asadal, governing with the divine authority inherited from his father Hwanung and grandfather Hwanin, before retiring to Asadal mountain to become a sansin.
Dangun built the Chamseongdan altar atop Mani Mountain on Ganghwa Island for offering sacrifices to his grandfather Hwanin, the Lord of Heaven. The altar remains a site of annual Gaecheonjeol ceremonies.
⚠ The Chamseongdan attribution to Dangun is Ganghwa Island local tradition, not found in the Samguk Yusa. The altar's antiquity is debated by modern scholars.
Dangun founded Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, in the fiftieth year of Emperor Yao's reign (traditionally 2333 BCE), establishing the capital at Asadal and bringing civilization, law, and divine governance to the Korean people.
Ungnyeo prayed beneath the Sindansu, the sacred sandalwood tree on Mount Taebaek, to conceive a child. Hwanung heard her prayer and took her as his wife, and their son Dangun — whose very name may derive from the sandalwood (檀) — was born beneath its branches.
Dangun was born on Taebaeksan where his father Hwanung had descended from heaven, and after fifteen hundred years of rule, he returned to Asadal on that same mountain to become a sansin — the peak framing both his mortal beginning and his immortal transformation.
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