Haneunim
Haneunim or Hanunim (하느님 "Heavenly Lord"/"Lord of Heaven")[lower-alpha 1][1] is the sky God of Cheondoism and Jeungsanism.[1] In the more Buddhist-aligned parts of these religions, he is identified with Indra. In the more Taoist-aligned parts of these religions, he is also known as Okhwang Sangje (Hangul: 옥황상제 / Hanja: 玉皇上帝, "Highest Deity the Jade Emperor").
Dangun myth
Dangun is traditionally considered to be the grandson of Hwanin, the "Heavenly King", and founder of the Korean nation.[2] Myths similar to that of Dangun are found in Ainu[3] and Siberian cultures.[4]
The myth starts with prince Hwanung ("Heavenly Prince"), son of Hwanin. The prince asked his father to grant him governance over Korea.[5] Hwanin accepted, and Hwanung was sent to Earth bearing three Heavenly Seals and accompanied by three thousand followers.[5] The prince arrived under the Sindansu/ Shindansu (신단수/ Hanja: 神檀樹, "Holy Tree of Sandalwood")[6] on the holy mountain, where he founded his holy city.[5]
At the time of his reign, Ungnyeo or Ungnye (웅녀, 熊女)[6]—who was a bear—and a tiger were living in a cave near the holy city, praying earnestly that their wish to become part of humankind might be fulfilled.[5] Ungnyeo patiently endured weariness and hunger, and after twenty-one days she was transformed into a woman, while the tiger ran away for it could not tolerate the effort.[5] The woman Ungnyeo was overjoyed, and visiting the sandalwood city she prayed that she might become the mother of a child.[5]
Ungnye's wish was fulfilled, so that she became the queen and gave birth to a prince who was given the royal name of Dangun, the "Sandalwood King".[5] Dangun reigned as the first human king of Korea, giving to his kingdom the name of Joseon, "Land of the Morning Calm", in 2333 BC.[5]
According to some scholars, the name Dangun is related to the Turko-Mongol Tengri ("Heaven"),[7] while the bear is a symbol of the Big Dipper (i.e. Ursa Major), itself a symbol of the supreme God in many Eurasian cultures, including Chinese theological thought.[8] Later in the myth, Dangun becomes the Sansin, the "Mountain God" (metaphorically of civilising growth, prosperity).[9]
Kingdom of Hwanin
In the Hwandan Gogi (환단고기/ Hanja: 桓檀古記), a supposed 20th century compilation of older historical works that is regarded by many to be a forgery, described Gojoseon to have existed and formed in Hwan-guk (환국/ Hanja: 桓國, "Kingdom of Hwan") and Baedal-guk (배달국/ Hanja: 倍達國, "Kingdom of Baedal": later known as Sinsi 신시/ Hanja: 神市, "City of the Gods"). It is said that both nations were ruled by Hwan-in and Hwan-ung, each spanning from 7 rulers and 18 rulers respectively.
Establishment of the Nation
According to the pseudo-historic document Hwandan Gogi (환단고기/ Hanja: 桓檀古記), Hwan-in transformed himself from the sky of Sabaek-nyeok/ Sabaek-ryeok (사백력) to become a god, and with him, 800 young men and women descended from the sky to the eastern land of the shallow sea (천해/ Hanja: 淺海), which is the land of Heuk-su (흑수/ Hanja: 黑水, "Black Water") and Baek-san (백산/ Hanja: 白山, "White Snow-capped Mountain"). Some claims the area of Sabaek-nyeok/ Sabaek-ryeok is Siberia (in spite of the similarity of prior archaic pronunciation), and the shallow sea is Lake Baikal.
The 12 Federations
According to Hwandan Gogi (환단고기/ Hanja: 桓檀古記), apart the Kingdom of Hwan (환국/ Hanja: 桓國), the nation is a federal state based on a nomadic culture composed each of the 11 countries: 환단고기 내용중 환인 12분국 비정에서 정진만(재야 사학자)은 아래와 같이 분석, 주장하였다.
1) Kingdom of Biri (비리국/ Hanja: 卑離國),정진만의 '21세기에 새로 조명하는 고대사' (ISBN 978-89-6798-043-6 수서원(修書院-정진만, 2017)제 1권의 내용에 따르면 비리국은 영어로 Biri가 되며, '광명(光明)을 뜻한다. 이 비리국은 고대 터키의 문명으로 기원전 8,000년경으로 추산되었다.
2) Kingdom of Ilgun (일군국/ ]: 日群國),정진만은 이 일군국이 고대 그리스 북부에 있는 고대 일리리아로 일명 일리쿰이라고 하였다. 이러한 주장의 배경엔 이미 서양 학자들이 연구한 고대 그리스를 만든 사람이 북쪽에서 왔으며 일리리아인과 트라키아인이며 마케도니아를 아우러는 지역이라고 하였다,.
3) Kingdom of Gumak-han (구막한국/ Hanja: 寇莫汗國), 종족학적으로 고막해 종족이 있으므로 구막, 고막을 같은 어원이므로 인용하였다.내몽골과 요녕성 문명으로 이어지는 연결 밸트의 문명이다.
4) Kingdom of Gudacheon (구다천국/ Hanja: 句茶川國),-위구르인들이 모여사는 지역이며 고대 신강성 주변에 '구자국'의 이름을 빌려 구자는 구다와 같이 인용되므로 구다천국은 신강성의 비단길 입구에서 티벳의 연결 밸트 문명으로 비정한다.
5) Kingdom of Uru (우루국/ Hanja: 虞婁國) or either the Kingdom of Pilna (필나국/ Hanja: 畢那國),-지중해 문명으로 일명 페니키아 문명이라고 말한다
6) Kingdom of Gumo-aek (구모액국/ Hanja: 句牟額國),북만주권(부라디 보스톡 이남) 문명으로 비정하나 인류문명사, 고고학적으로 밝혀진 문명은 아직 없다.
7) Kingdom of Mae-gu-yeo (매구여국/ Hanja: 賣句餘國) or either the Kingdom of Jikkuda (직구다국/ Hanja: 稷臼多國),-파키스탄 문명으로 일명, 메르가르 문명이다. 메구여는 메구려, 메구르에 해당되므로 인도 문명이 확실한 것이다.
8) Kingdom of 'Tokro'독로국'(督路國)-트라키아 종족이 일군국의 일리리아 종족과 같이 그리스 북부의 빈카문명권을 이루게 되었다.(기원전 7300-8,000년)
9) Kingdom of Seonbi/ Seombi (선비국/ Hanja: 鮮裨國, 일명 시위국).-내몽골의 홍산문명이라고 부른다.
10)Kingdom of Sumer./수메르국-유프라테스, 티그리스 문명권으로 본다. 환인 12국중 정진만은 10국을 비정하며 설명하였다(21세기에 새로 조명하는 고대사 제1권 36p-88p)이 비정은 기원전 7,000년설에 바탕을 두고 정리 한 것이다.
Its territory is so vast that it is said to be 50,000 li (around 25,000,000 metres or 25,000 kilometres) from north and south and 20,000 li (10,000,000 metres or 10,000 kilometres) from east and west on record.
Dynasty of Hwanin
한국의 강단사학에서 인정하지 않는 '환단고기Hwandan Gogi (환단고기/ Hanja: 桓檀古記), the Kingdom of Hwan (환국/ Hanja: 桓國), the period lasted for either 3,301 years to 63,182 years during this dynasty of kings, seven in total.
The following rulers of the dynasty is dominantly ancient Korean in nature:
| Annal/ Generation | King Name in Hanja | King Name(s) in Hangul | Title (descendants bearing the suffix: 환인 Hwan-in) | Transliterated Name
(/ = variants in pronunciation) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 安巴堅 | 안파견 | 안파견 환인 | Anpa-gyeon/ Ampa-gyeon Hwan-in | |
| 2 | 赫胥 | 혁서 | 혁서 환인 | Hyeok-seo Hwan-in | |
| 3 | 古是利 | 고시리 | 고시리 환인 | Goshiri Hwan-in | |
| 4 | 朱于襄 | 주우양 | 주우양 환인 | Ju-u-yang Hwan-in | |
| 5 | 釋提壬 | 석제임 | 석제임 환인 | Seok-je-im Hwan-in | |
| 6 | 邱乙利 | 구을리 | 구을리 환인 | Gu-eulli Hwan-in | |
| 7 | 智爲利 | 지위리 | 지위리 환인 | Jiwiri Hwan-in | also known as Hwan-in (환인; 桓仁), father of Hwan-ung (桓雄) |
See also
Counterparts of Haneullim in other Asian cultures
- Amenominakanushi, the Japanese counterpart
- Jade Emperor, the Chinese counterpart
- Para Brahman, the Hindu counterpart
- Śakra, the Buddhist counterpart
- Tengri, the Turko-Mongolian counterpart
- Thagyamin, the Burmese Buddhist representation of Śakra, a counterpart of the Jade Emperor
- Yahweh or Jehovah (referred as Allah ("the god") in Arabic), the Abrahamic counterpart
- Yuanshi Tianzun, the Taoist counterpart
- Ông Trời, the Vietnamese counterpart
Notes
- also spelled Hanallim (하ㄴㆍㄹ님/하날님), Hanullim (한울님), birth name Hwanin (환인/ Hanja: 桓仁 or 桓因), also called Sangje (상제/ Hanja: 上帝, "Highest Deity"), Sangjenim (상제님/ mixed script: 上帝님, "Highest Divine Lord"), or Cheonju (천주/ Hanja: 天主, "Heavenly Lord"/"Lord of Heaven"), or known simply as Haneul (하늘 "Heaven"), Cheon (천/ Hanja: 天, "Heaven", in Sino-Korean), Cheonje (천제/ Hanja: 天帝, "Heavenly Emperor"/"Emperor of Heaven", in Sino-Korean), or Cheon-sin / Cheon-shin (천신/ Hanja: 天神, "God of Heaven")
References
- Hong (2009), p. 39.
- Lee (1981), p. 13.
- Lee (1981), p. 20.
- Lee (1981), p. 21.
- Lee (1981), p. 14.
- Lee (2010s), pp. 10–13.
- Lee (1981), pp. 17–18.
- Didier (2009), passim but especially Vol. I, pp. 143, 154.
- Lee (1981), pp. 16–18.
Sources
- Didier, John C. (2009). "In and Outside the Square: The Sky and the Power of Belief in Ancient China and the World, c. 4500 BC – AD 200". Sino-Platonic Papers. Victor H. Mair (192). Volume I: The Ancient Eurasian World and the Celestial Pivot, Volume II: Representations and Identities of High Powers in Neolithic and Bronze China, Volume III: Terrestrial and Celestial Transformations in Zhou and Early-Imperial China.
- Lee, Chi-ran (2010s). "The Emergence of National Religions in Korea" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014.
- Lee, Jung Young (1981). Korean Shamanistic Rituals. Mouton De Gruyter. ISBN 9027933782.
- Hong, Sung-wook (2009). Naming God in Korea. Wipf & Stock. ISBN 978-1606086261.