The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
History
The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)
Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
Korea -- History
Late in the Tan-gun dynasty there was a minister named P‘ăng-o who is
said to have had as his special charge the making of roads and the care
of drainage. One authority says that the Emperor of China ordered
P‘ăng-o to cut a road between Ye-măk, an eastern tribe, and Cho-sŭn.
From this we see that the word Cho-sŭn, according to some authorities,
antedates the coming of Ki-ja.
The remains of the Tan-gun dynasty, while not numerous, are interesting.
On the island of Kang-wha, on the top of Mari San, is a stone platform
or altar known as the “Tan-gun’s Altar,” and, as before said, it is
popularly believed to have been used by the Tan-gun four thousand years
ago. It is called also the Ch’am-sŭng Altar. On Chŭn-dung San is a
fortress called Sam-nang which is believed to have been built by the
Tan-gun’s three sons. The town of Ch’un-ch’ŭn, fifty miles east of
Seoul, seems to have been an important place during this period. It was
known as U-su-ju, or “Ox-hair Town,” and there is a curious confirmation
of this tradition in the fact that in the vicinity there is today a plot
of ground called the U-du-bol, or “Ox-head Plain.” A stone tablet to
P’ang-o is erected there. At Mun-wha there is a shrine to the Korean
trinity, Whan-in, Whan-ung and Tan-gun. Though the Tan-gun resumed the
spirit form, his grave is shown in Kang-dong and is 410 feet in
circumference.
Chapter II.
Ki-ja.... striking character.... origin.... corrupt Chu.... story of
Tal-geui.... Shang dynasty falls.... Ki-ja departs.... route....
destination.... allegience to China.... condition of Korea....
Ki-ja’s companions.... reforms.... evidences of genius.... arguments
against Korean theory.... details of history meager.... Cho-sun
sides against China.... delimitation of Cho-sun.... peace with Tsin
dynasty.... Wi-man finds asylum.... betrays Cho-sun.... Ki-jun’s
flight.
Without doubt the most striking character in Korean history is the sage
Ki-ja, not only because of his connection with its early history but
because of the striking contrast between him and his whole environment.
The singular wisdom which he displayed is vouched for not in the
euphemistic language of a prejudiced historian but by what we can read
between the lines, of which the historian was unconscious.
The Shang, or Yin, dynasty of China began 1766 B.C. Its twenty-fifth
representative was the Emperor Wu-yi whose second son, Li, was the
father of Ki-ja. His family name was Cha and his surname Su-yu, but he
is also known by the name Sö-yŭ. The word Ki-ja is a title meaning “Lord
of Ki,” which we may imagine to be the feudal domain of the family. The
Emperor Chu, the “Nero of China” and the last of the dynasty, was the
grandson of Emperor T’ă-jŭng and a second cousin of Ki-ja, but the
latter is usually spoken of as his uncle. Pi-gan, Mi-ja and Ki-ja formed
the advisory board to this corrupt emperor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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