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Similar to Korea: A Geographically Divided Nation with a Unified Cultural Heritage
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Korea: A Geographically Divided Nation with a Unified Cultural Heritage
- 1. Korea South Korea North Korea Hankuk Chosun 한국 조선 韓國 朝鮮 The land of the morning calm
- 2. Geopolitical Location Manchuria • Appendage to China • “Dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”
- 3. Geography Overall Shape? • What do you see? Size: • Roughly equal to Utah Population: in ‘06 • South Korea: 48,846,823 • North Korea: 23,113,019 Climate: • Temperate: • Cold winters • Hot, wet summers Topography: • Mountainous
- 4. Divided 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
- 5. Ethnic Homogeneity “Racially pure,” Unique Race East Asian or Mongoloid racial group • Strong sense of racial identity • Self-identification as distinct from other Asian nations
- 6. Korean Language 한국어 조선말 Altaic Language Group Structurally identical to Japanese 60% of vocabulary borrowed from Chinese Distinct from both Not a tonal language Regional dialects – Just like U.S.
- 7. Korean Language 한국어 조선말 Early Literacy: Chinese Early Writing: Chinese Characters 1400s Hangul – commissioned by King Sejong • Phonetic system • “Simple enough for women & servants”
- 9. Writing 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
- 10. National Creation Myth: 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.
- 11. Native Religious Traditions • Animistic religious beliefs • Shamanism • Mudang: – Korean Shaman – Always Female • Kut: – Korean exorcism – Ecstatic dance
- 12. Native Spiritual / Cultural 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
- 13. Native Spiritual Concepts • Nature of the Human Soul – Similar to China – spirit resides in the environment of its life/death. – Burial practices similar to China
- 14. Native Spiritual Concepts Ancestor Veneration: • Chesa • Enhanced & formalized by Confucianism • Major part of civil responsibility in later Korean history
- 15. Borrowed Religious Concepts • Daoism – Focus on nature – Fengshui • Confucianism • Buddhism • Christianity – arrives late
- 16. Daoist ideas: Symbolism of the South 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
- 17. Fengshui (Chinese) Pungsu (Korean) • Geomancy • Wind and Water • Used in: • Interior decorating • Architecture • City planning, etc. • 5 Frog Brothers Folk tale…
- 18. Confucianism • Borrowed from China • Dominant Governing Ideology in later dynasties • Major impact on Korean Culture – Hierarchy – Ritualism and formality – Male dominance
- 19. Buddhism • 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
- 20. Christianity • Catholics enter 1774 • Protestants enter 1884 Myongdong Cathedral: Seoul • 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)