Legend has it that Dangun he was the first founding king of Kingdom of Korea in 2333 BC. He was the grandson of Sky Lord Hwan-In and son of Hwan-Ung. Dangun reigned for 1500 years; upon his abdication he hid in the mountains and transformed himself into a Sanshin, a spirit of the mountains. The legend begins with Hwan-Ung's request to his Father to be able to come down to Earth and rule it, as as a second son he could never succeed him in the Kingdom of Heaven. Hwan-In accepted and sent him to earth, accompanied by the three Spirits of Wind, Rain and Clouds and with three thousand subjects.
Hwan-Ung settled on Mount Taebaek, where he began to reign and prosper the Kingdom. Under his guidance, laws were established and the arts, medicine and cultivation of the fields were practiced.
Some time passed and a Bear and a Tiger they began to desire to become human too and begged Hwan-Ung to give them this possibility. The God listened to their prayers and decided to subject them to a test: he gave them a bundle of Artemisia and twenty cloves of garlic (some texts say it was twenty cloves) and confined them in a cave, ordering them to remain in there for a hundred days, nourishing themselves only on these sacred foods.
The Tiger did not resist for long and, soon, devoured by hunger, abandoned the cave to look for other food, while the bear resisted stoically and, after twenty-one days, was transformed into a Woman. Happy the Bear-Woman, Ungnyŏ, thanked Hwan-Ung and began living as a human. However, in her new nature, she soon began to feel lonely, so she went to God again and begged him to give her a partner and a son. Hwan-Ung, moved, transformed into a human and decided to take her as his wife. From their union was born Dangun, meaning “Prince of the Altar”.
Dangun was then venerated by many rulers, one of these was King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty, who built a shrine dedicated to him in Pyongyang. Since then, Dangun became the spiritual fulcrum of Korean nationalism, especially because his cult spread in an era marked by Japanese colonialism. Even today Dungun is an important historical figure who is given a Royal birth and is believed to have really existed; A pyramid-shaped mausoleum containing the tomb of this God-King was built on Mount Taebaek-san.
Paola Pelissa
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