Post on 25-Feb-2016
description
KoreaKoreaSouth KoreaSouth Korea North KoreaNorth Korea
HankukHankuk ChosunChosun한국한국 조선조선韓國韓國 朝鮮朝鮮 The land of the morning calmThe land of the morning calm
Geopolitical LocationGeopolitical Location
• Appendage to China• “Dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”
Manchuria
GeographyGeographyOverall Shape?• What do you see?Size:• Roughly equal to UtahPopulation: in ‘06• South Korea: 48,846,823 • North Korea: 23,113,019Climate: • Temperate: • Cold winters• Hot, wet summersTopography:• Mountainous
Divided NationDivided Nation• Japanese Occupation 1910• Divided in 1945
– Carrot used by US to lure USSR into the Pacific phase of WWII
– 38th Parallel– North: Soviet realm… ergo Communist– South: US realm … ergo Capitalist
• Korean War: 1950-53– Enemies– Divided Families– No mail, no trade, no visits, no phone calls
Ethnic HomogeneityEthnic Homogeneity
“Racially pure,” Unique Race
East Asian or Mongoloid racial group
• Strong sense of racial identity
• Self-identification as distinct from other Asian nations
Korean LanguageKorean Language한국어 조선말 한국어 조선말 Altaic Language GroupStructurally identical to Japanese60% of vocabulary borrowed from ChineseDistinct from both
Not a tonal languageRegional dialects – Just like U.S.
Korean LanguageKorean Language한국어 조선말 한국어 조선말 Early Literacy: ChineseEarly Writing: Chinese Characters
1400s Hangul – commissioned by King Sejong• Phonetic system• “Simple enough for women & servants”
Writing SystemWriting System
Mixed Writing system• Chinese root words written in Chinese
characters – 900 characters to pass middle school– 1800 characters to pass high school
• Korean Native words written in Hangul• Typical until 1945
– North Korea dropped Chinese about 1950– Hangul only newspapers in South Korea first
published in 1988
National Creation Myth:National Creation Myth: Tangun 2333 BC Tangun 2333 BC• Hwan-ung (god figure)• Tiger and Bear want to be
human• Live in cave 100 days eating
mugwort and garlic
• Bear endures and becomes a woman• She prays for a husband• Hwan-ung takes her as wife and they bear a
son, Tangun who governs over the people of Korea
See http://www.lifeinkorea.com/information/tangun.cfm for a simple but solid version of this story on the web.
Native Religious TraditionsNative Religious Traditions
• Animistic religious beliefs• Shamanism• Mudang:
– Korean Shaman– Always Female
• Kut:– Korean exorcism– Ecstatic dance
Native Spiritual / Native Spiritual / Cultural ConceptsCultural Concepts
• Han– Collective burden of historic pain– Centuries of oppression– Eons of suffering
– Creates a sorrow, sense of ‘blues’ that is unique to Koreans and pervades their art, music and culture
Native Native Spiritual Spiritual
ConceptsConcepts
• Nature of the Human Soul
– Similar to China – spirit resides in the environment of its life/death.
– Burial practices similar to China
Native Spiritual ConceptsNative Spiritual Concepts
Ancestor Veneration:• Chesa • Enhanced & formalized by Confucianism• Major part of civil responsibility in later
Korean history
Borrowed Religious ConceptsBorrowed Religious Concepts
• Daoism– Focus on nature– Fengshui
• Confucianism• Buddhism
• Christianity – arrives late
Daoist ideas:Daoist ideas:Symbolism of the Symbolism of the South Korean FlagSouth Korean Flag
• Center is the Korean version of the Yin-Yang symbol
• The four trigrams are:• ☰; geon ( 건 ; 乾 ) = heaven 天• ☷; gon ( 곤 ; 坤 ) = earth 地• ☲; ri ( 리 ; 離 ) = sun 日• ☵; gam ( 감 ; 坎 ) = moon 月
Fengshui Fengshui (Chinese)(Chinese)
Pungsu Pungsu (Korean)(Korean)
• Geomancy• Wind and Water• Used in:• Interior decorating• Architecture• City planning, etc.
• 5 Frog Brothers Folk tale…
ConfucianismConfucianism
• Borrowed from China• Dominant Governing Ideology
in later dynasties• Major impact on Korean Culture
– Hierarchy– Ritualism and formality– Male dominance
BuddhismBuddhism• Borrowed from
China– About 50 CE– Becomes
important about 500 CE
• Adopted by early dynasties • Political dominance early on• Coexists with Confucianism, Daoism and native
traditions -- usually
ChristianityChristianity
• Catholics enter 1774• Protestants enter 1884
• Both become politically and socially very important– Protestants 1900 to the present– Catholics briefly about 1800 and again since 1970
(much more to come in later history discussion)
Myongdong Cathedral: Seoul