Korean kingdom of Koryo

King Taejo and the Establishment of Koryo

King Taejo established the Korean kingdom of Koryo, which subsequently gave the exonym Korea its name, in 918. Despite combining with the other three kingdoms in 936, it was eliminated by the ancestor of Joseon in 1392. The discussion that follows demonstrates how the three main writers, Breuke, Robinson, and Min, see the Koryo people as having a shared sense of identity. The paper’s discussion centers on how the identity of the Koryo people differed from that of the Silla era before it in terms of how they felt a sense of shared identity. Approximately seventy-five thousand people can speak Koryo. Many of them reside in the peninsula, though more than six million reside across the globe. Koryo is taken to be part of Tungusic branch of the group known as Altaic and language family known as Ural-Altaic. It is as well as has related to Japanese closely in grammar, general structure, and vocabulary. The Korean spoken for around the Seoul is perceived to be standard. Key dialects differ, especially in intonation and accent. In exception of old Cheju dialect, all are considered to be mutually intelligent (Breuke, 11).

The Importance of Han’gul

Korean people value their alphabet and their native tongue, han’gul, which was formed in the mid-15th century. Until then, aristocratic society of Koryo made use of Chinese characters, while the people and government used the system of writing known as odu a Korean words transcription system that was invented by Silla scholars in the eighth century by use of Chinese characters. The writing system of Chinese requires one to have a basic knowledge of many thousand characters. Those who did not have the means or time to master the Chinese language could not write or read.

The Creation of Han’gul

Furthermore, it is hard to express spoken the Korean language in Chinese characters (Breuke, 13). Putting into consideration the frustrating situation of troubled and mass illiteracy by the incongruity between ideographs and spoken Korean, King Sejong, invited a group of scholars to come up with a system of phonetic writing that would be representatives of the sounds of spoken Korean and all the people could learn. This led to the term Hunmin Chong’um (the right way to teach people) (Min, 12). The system was formed in 1444 and promulgated in 1447. The Koryo observed Han’gul with a festival ceremony at Sejongs tomb. It is easier to learn Han’gu simply because every letter is a correspondence to a phoneme, and Koryo now has one of the highest rates of literacy globally.

The Symbolism of the Taegukki

The Taegukki, the national flag, is a unique symbol. The T’aeguk, “Supreme Ultimate,” is a symbolism of basic ideas of Koryo that shared by many people. In the white background, the center is a circle that is horizontally divided in three by an S-shaped line. The upper part in red is a representation of the yang, and the lower part in blue is a representation the um, indicating yin-yang principle of the world in perfect harmony and balance. At the center there is a symbolism in the form of T’aeguk which depicts a continuous movement of opposites in the universe (night and day, evil and good, femininity and masculinity), there is also balance. The trigrams at the flag corners are also the expression of the ideas of balance and opposites. Three lines are unbroken in the upper left corner which is the representation of heaven whereas the three lines that are diagonally placed in the corner as well as represents the earth. The trigram in the upper corner is a representation of water, while the trigram in the lower corner is a representation of fire (Breuke, 5).

Aegukka and National Identity

However, the symbol of cosmological in the flag, Aegukka shows a sense of national identity of the Koryo people by making to the beautiful land of mugunhwa( the national flower, the rose Sharon) (Breuke, 10). The term can p’it-chul which means one bloodline always is used by Koryo at abroad and home to represent their identity as the members of the same community. Territory and blood, therefore, are most often invoked metaphors that can be associated with the community. Days of celebrations include Kwangbokchol and Kaech’onjol. Kwangbokchol celebrates the community liberation from their enemies.

The Legacy of Tan’gun

Additionally, Kaech’onjol it commemorates the founding of Koryo first kingdom, Koch, a son of the priest Tan’gun Wanggom. Before the division of the Koryo and the establishment of the political regimes of the south and North Korea in 1754, Koryo identified themselves as the individuals of Choson (Min, 8). Tan’gun as the founding father has had a meaning of symbolic for Koryo throughout the community history. A temple that was built in Tan’gun honor in 1430 stood in P’yongyang up to the time it was destructed because of war. Also 1993, Tan’gun’s tomb was discovered in North Korea and the skeletons at a site near P’yongyang. Some Koryo calendars’ still print the year of Gregorian calendar alongside the year of Tan’gun (Robinson, 17).

Ethnicity and Nationality in Koryo

Koryo is one of the few communities in which nationality and ethnicity coincide. The only group that is an immigrant ethnic minority is a Chinese community of approximately 20, 000 and is situated mainly in Seoul and has been there since the nineteenth century. Since the Koryo war, the presence of militia groups- Koryo has led to the immigration of more two hundred thousand Koryan people. Family background is vital considerations in matchmaking. Marriage between people with common origin place and the surname was prohibited. Many people find their partners through meetings organized by relatives, parents, friend, professional matchmakers, and friends (Min, 6).

The Military and Shared Identity in Silla

On the other hand, the early Silla military was constructed around royal guards of Silla constructed to protect nobility and royalty and during the wars it served as a military force if it was needed. Because of the frequency of conflicts between Goguryeo and Baekje , Silla constructed six garrisons one for every district. Finally, the royal guards morphed into Sodang or sworn banner units. In 624 another Sodang group was also created. Soldiers of Garrison were served as a police force and were responsible for local defense. A good number of Silla’s military leaders and greatest generals were Hwarang. It was a social group initially, because of military rivalry between the kingdoms of Korea; they finally changed from a group of aristocratic youth into military leaders and soldiers. Hwarang led to the fall of Goguryeo and the wars of Silla-Tang, which took away Tang forces in other Korean kingdoms (Robinson, 15). Concisely, it is clear and evident that the Koryo people share a sense of common identity as per discussions. Koryo people share cultural as a sense of collective identity.

Works cited

Robinson. “Koryo Politics under the Mongol Control.” International Journal of Korean History 1 (2015): 1-38.

Breuker. “Attitude of the Korean Court Towards Yuan-Japan Relationship During Kublai′ s Reign.” Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Humanities and Social Sciences) 2 (2012): 1-22.

Min Koryo. “Characteristics of Traditional Meditation Schools in Late Koryo: Focusing on Chigyom, Iryon and.” Buddhism in Koryŏ: A Royal Religion 5 (1996): 1-26.