Korean Literature

"I dedicate this page to my very dear friend, Teri Suh."

Starting is half the task.

(Click on above graphic to read in Korean)

Early Korean literature was heavily influenced by Shamanism, Buddhism and
Confucianism. The early literature, which began as an oral tradition, depicted a
love of nature and man and held that man was a part of nature. Good was rewarded
and evil was punished and values like loyalty to the King, filial piety, respect for one's
elders, true friendship and chastity were emphasized. Some of the earliest Korean
writings were poems, called hyangga, written during the Shilla Kingdom using the
script type Idu partially adapted from Chinese characters phonetically, only 25
remain. During the Koryo period, Korean literature of the upper class, mostly written
in classical Chinese, was characterized by an emphasis on philosophic expositions
on the Chinese classics, an art that was essential for government service, the only
respectable avenue to success outside of teaching.

Korean Traditional Colors

Traditional Clothes

BIBLIOGRAPHY

David Adams Leeming, The world of myth, New York, Oxford University Press,
Inc., 1990, p. 3 Ibid., p. 4

Richard Cavendish, Mythology an Illustrated Encyclopedia, New York, Rizzoli
International Publications, Inc., 1980, p. 11

Zong In-Sob, Folk Tales From Korea, Seoul, Hollym Corporation: Publishers,
1970, p. 3-4

Sheila Savill, Pears Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends, The Orient, London,
1977, p. 19

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Korean National Anthem

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Korean Words

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Korean Literature


"I dedicate this page to my very dear friend, Teri Suh."
(Click to play music) "May Peace Prevail on Earth"
Art Festivals Five Elements History Literature Martial Arts Medicine Music & Dance Poetry Traditional Art	Korean Proverbs Korean Proverbs - Group 1 Korean Proverbs - Group 2 Korean Proverbs - Group 3 Korean Claim To Be True Descendants Of Dongyi (Easter Yi)

Starting is half the task. Power lasts ten years; influence not more than a hundred. Cast no dirt into the well that gives you water. Even if the sky falls on you, there is a hole that you can escape from. The deeper the waters are, the more still they run. A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out. Even a fish wouldn't get into trouble if it kept its mouth shut. Put off for one day and ten days will pass. Words have no wings but they can fly a thousand miles. A kitchen knife cannot carve its own handle. After losing a cow, one repairs the barn. One can build a mountain by collecting specks of dust.

(Click on above graphic to read in Korean)

Early Korean literature was heavily influenced by Shamanism, Buddhism and Confucianism. The early literature, which began as an oral tradition, depicted a love of nature and man and held that man was a part of nature. Good was rewarded and evil was punished and values like loyalty to the King, filial piety, respect for one's elders, true friendship and chastity were emphasized. Some of the earliest Korean writings were poems, called hyangga, written during the Shilla Kingdom using the script type Idu partially adapted from Chinese characters phonetically, only 25 remain. During the Koryo period, Korean literature of the upper class, mostly written in classical Chinese, was characterized by an emphasis on philosophic expositions on the Chinese classics, an art that was essential for government service, the only respectable avenue to success outside of teaching.



No one knows exactly where the Koreans came from or who they are. It is believed that the humanoid - human-like creatures - appeared about two and half million years ago and that the humans as we know today, homo sapiens sapiens, came into being some 35,000 years ago. Although the oldest known writings - written language - date back only 5,000 years at best, we can 'read' our history by studying fossils, our DNA, geological data, cosmological data, our language, and so on, and from these records, we can determine the origin, or rather the prehistoric history, of the Korean race, the baik-yi-min-jok - the 'White-clad People' (called "Dong-yi" -- the eastern barbarians, 동이족 東夷族" and also 예맥족 濊貊族 by the Chinese historians). Koreans are classified as the Mongoloid (the 'yellow' race) along with Chinese, Japanese, Native Americans, Mongols, Eskimos, and so on. The Yellow race makes up 33% of the world population. The Caucasoid (the "white" race), including the Australian aborigines, Arabs, Indians, Polynesians, and so on, accounts for 59% of the world population, while the Negroid (the 'black' race) accounts for only 8%. It is believed the Negroid and Caucasoid are more closely related than the Mongoloid, which gave rise to the regionalism hypothesis whereby the Mongoloid has evolved from homo erectus while the Negroid and the Caucasoid have evolved from a common ancestor homo antecessor.


It is interesting to note that the Koreans have the least body odor of the all races. The apocrine glands emit biochemical substances that smell and about 50% of the Koreans do not have apocrine glands at all. The Mongoloid also has dry earwax while the other races have wet earwax.


The character 'Yi', as shown above, was originally meant for barbarians in the east, but later expanded to be more an inclusive word to mean aliens. The big Korean school of thought, touched on in prehistory section, claimed that the Koreans were true descendants of the Dongyi [Dong-yi] people. Hence, the identities of Koreans had changed dramatically during the course of history. As one reader speculated, "modern-day Koreans" might very well have "appropriated their (Dongyi) history and myths". Charcoal remains of 2000-year-old rice in western Japan pointed to China's Yantze Delta as the origin. DNA studies conducted on human remains excavated in Shandong Peninsula suggested southern and northern points of origin for Jormon and Yayoi Japanese. On basis of various historical records and modern technology analysis, I would speculate: i) that early Korean culture was very much connected with eastern China as a result of nascent human migration from south to north and ii) that Tungusic invasions from Manchuria gradually overtook the early Continental traits. In both cases, Tungusic or continental, Koreans shared inseparable relations with the Chinese.

Photo courtesy of OhMyNews.	50,000-year old Footprints The Cheju footprints are 8.4 by 10 inch in size (note the hammer in the photo for comparison) and show sharp details of the heels, medial arches and balls. In addition to the human footprints, the sedimentary fossil rocks contain footprints of elephants, horses, deer. and birds as well as remains of fish, mollusks and sea plants. Prof. Kim believes that the footprints contain enough information for him to reconstruct the physical features of the Cheju Stone Age people. Modern digital reconstruction technology developed for forensics can be used to draw detailed pictures of our ancestors that inhabited this remote island some 50,000 years ago. It is believed that the East Sea was once an inland lake surrounded by the Japanese islands, Cheju, the Philippines, and the Asian continent, and Cheju was a mere volcano (Mt. Hanra) in a vast continent where elephants and other Stone Age animals roamed.

Korean Traditional Colors


	Literature

	Classic Korean Literature Korean History: A Bibliography Korean Historical Connection Korean Literature Today Korean Language Korean Creation Story "Dan-Gun, First King of Korea" Korean Novel: the Tangs of China Language and Literature Korean Literature Links Summary of Korean Literature (Early, Traditional, Modern) Legends, and Folklore of Asia Creation Story in Korean Korean Folktales Korean Stories Magpie Story (Korean) Magpie Story (English) Asia Web Ring Korean Literature Mailing List	Traditional Clothes
	Art Association of Art History (Korea) Korean Old Paintings Korean Painting Korean Art Poetry Korean Poetry Pages Real Audio Poems (Spoken in Korean)
	Music Contemporary Korean music Directory of Korean Music Gayo Music Korean Music Music of Korea Korean Songs - MP3 MP3 Search Utilities Music Galleries Music Videos Other Music

Dancing

	Other Links

	Korean Resources Archery in Korea English-to-Korean Dictionary Korean-to-English Dictionary Encyclopedia of Korean Culture Huns and the Forgotten Korean Korea: The land of the Morning Calm Korea Web Korean Weddings Origin of the Korean People: Who are the Koreans? Origins Of Huns, Uygurs, Mongols And Tibetans Who are the Koreans? Who Are We?

BIBLIOGRAPHY David Adams Leeming, The world of myth, New York, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1990, p. 3 Ibid., p. 4 Richard Cavendish, Mythology an Illustrated Encyclopedia, New York, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1980, p. 11 Zong In-Sob, Folk Tales From Korea, Seoul, Hollym Corporation: Publishers, 1970, p. 3-4 Sheila Savill, Pears Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends, The Orient, London, 1977, p. 19 Korean National Anthem (Click to play music) Korean Words This site has been accessed 10,000,000 times since February 8, 1996 Return to Indigenous Peoples' Literature Compiled by Glenn Welker The most important golden anniversary gifts cover the outstanding choice for you. High quality faux fur jackets made from full grain leather that provides the service and durability. Superb array of girls coats, get here. You can get access our VCP-511 and 642-741 guides you with multiple prep resources.