Dangun

Dangun
Portrait of Dangun (by Chae Yong-sin, 19–20th century)
Korean name
Hangul
단군왕검
Hanja
Revised RomanizationDangun Wanggeom
McCune–ReischauerTan'gun Wanggŏm
IPA[tan.ɡun waŋ.ɡʌm]

Dangun or Tangun (단군; 檀君; [tan.ɡun]), also known as Dangun Wanggeom (단군왕검; 檀君王儉; [tan.ɡun waŋ.ɡʌm]), was the legendary founder and king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom. He founded the kingdom around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven",[1] "son of a bear",[2] and to have founded the kingdom in 2333 BC. The earliest recorded version of the Dangun legend appears in the 13th-century Samguk Yusa, which cites China's Book of Wei and Korea's lost historical record, Gogi (고기; 古記; lit. 'Ancient Record').[3] There are around seventeen religious groups that focus on the worship of Dangun.

Koreans regard the day when Dangun founded Gojoseon, Korea's first dynasty, as a national holiday and call it Gaecheonjeol. The Gaecheonjeol is 3 October. It is a religious anniversary started by Daejonggyo (Korean대종교; Hanja大倧教) worshipping Dangun. Gaecheonjeol is a day to commemorate Dangun's founding of Gojoseon, but 3 October is not actually the date when Gojoseon was founded.

Many Korean historians regard Dangun and Tengri as being etymologically identical.[4]

  1. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2014). Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History. Vol. 1. ABC-Clio. pp. [1]. ISBN 978-1610690263.
  2. ^ Kang, Chae-ŏn (2006). The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism. Homa & Sekey. pp. [2]. ISBN 1931907374.
  3. ^ 한국 브리태니커 온라인 ‘단군’ Encyclopædia Britannica online Korea ‘단군 Dangun’
  4. ^ Kim, Sang Yil (March 1986). "Hanism: Korean Concept of Ultimacy". Ultimate Reality and Meaning. 9 (1): 17–36. doi:10.3138/uram.9.1.17. ISSN 0709-549X.

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