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Hwarang
Hwarang () were an elite warrior group of male youth in Silla, an ancient kingdom of the Korean Peninsula that originated from the mid 6th century and lasted until the early 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture as well as religious teachings stemming mainly from Korean Buddhism. Chinese sources referred only to the physical beauty of the "Flower Youths". The history of the hwarang was not widely known until after the National Liberation Day of Korea in 1945, after which the hwarang became elevated to symbolic importance. The Hwarang were also referred to as ''Hyangdo'' (), the word hwarang and its colloquial derivatives being used for everything from playboy to Mu (shaman), shaman or husband of a female shaman. The word remained in common use until the 12th century but with more derogatory connotations. Traditional sources for Hwarang Information on the Hwarang i ...
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Hwarang Segi
Hwarang segi (lit. ''Annals of Hwarang'' or ''Generations of the Hwarang'') was a historical record of the Hwarang (lit. flower boys but referring to an elite warrior group of male youth) of the Silla kingdom in ancient Korea. It is said to have been written by Silla historian Kim Taemun( fl. 704) in the reign of Seongdeok the Great (r. 702~737). It was believed lost since the 13th century, resurfaced in 1989 when two handwritten manuscripts were publicly unveiled. These manuscripts, owned by Park Chang-hwa and later by his student Kim Jong-jin, were revealed in two parts: a 32-page extract in 1989 and a 162-page "mother text" in 1995. Both texts, written by Park, detail the lives of the hwarang leaders from the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. The manuscripts' authenticity has been rejected by most of scholars considering it as fictional works by Park. Regardless of their origin, the Hwarang segi is significant for its unique perspective on early Korean history. History The ...
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Silla
Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between 57 BCE – 935 CE and was located on the southern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Paekje and Koguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Silla had the lowest population of the three, approximately 850,000 people (170,000 households), significantly smaller than those of Paekje (3,800,000 people) and Koguryeo (3,500,000 people). Its foundation can be traced back to the semi-mythological figure of Hyeokgeose of Silla (Old Korean: *pulkunae, "light of the world"), of the Park (Korean surname), Park clan. The country was first ruled intermittently by the Miryang Park clan for 232 years and the Seok (Korean surname)#Wolseong, Wolseong Seok clan for 172 years and beginning with the reign of Michu of Silla, Mi ...
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Kim Taemun
Kim Taemun (; fl. early 8th century) was a historian of Silla. He was the governor of Hansan in 704. According to book 46, biography section of Samguk Sagi, he wrote several books including Hwarang Segi. Kim Taemun was a noble from the chinggol class. The period of survival is believed to span the units of King Sinmoon, King Hyoso and King Seongdeok. Books * Tales from Gyerim (계림잡전, Gyerim is an old word for Silla) * Records of Hansan(한산기) * Biographies of Monks of the Ancient (고승전) * Book of Music (악본) * Annals of the Hwarang (Hwarang Segi) : A manuscript of Hwarang Segi was found in Gimhae, South Korea in 1980s, but its historical validity is not clear. None of these works survive today. See also * History of Korea * Unified Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla, is the name often applied to the historical period of the Korean kingdom of Silla after its conquest of Goguryeo in 668 AD, which marked the end of the Three Kingdoms period. In the 7th ...
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Wonhwa
The Wonhwa (original flowers) were a class of female warrior cadets in 6th-century Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It is not clear to what extent they ever engaged in battle. Created in the reign of King Jinheung, the first group of Wonhwa consisted of about 300 young girls chosen for their beauty and skill. Their leaders were two women. However, after one of them committed murder, the wonhwa class was abolished, and replaced by the all-male Hwarang. Subsequently, the Wonhwa title was granted to female spiritual leaders of the Hwarang. "The term Won Hwa is often incorrectly used to represent a single individual; in fact, Won Hwa was a group of highly revered Buddhist nuns who spiritually guided these Buddhist monastic warriors." Some have suggested that ''wonhwa'' might be the origin of the later kisaeng class, but little evidence exists to support this theory. The first two women to be nominated for Wonhwa were the leaders of the two bands of Wonhwa, Nammo (南毛) ...
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Samguk Sagi
''Samguk sagi'' () is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Completed in 1145, it is well-known in Korea as the oldest surviving chronicle of Korean history. The ''Samguk sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea. Its compilation was ordered by King Injong of Goryeo (r. 1122–1146) and undertaken by a government official and historian named Kim Bu-sik with his team of junior scholars. The document has been digitized by the National Institute of Korean History and is available online with Modern Korean translation in Hangul. Description ''Samguk sagi'' is critical to the study of Korean history during the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods. Not only because this work, and its Buddhist counterpart '' Samguk yusa'', are the only remaining Korean sources for the period, but also because the ''Samguk sagi'' contains a large amount of information and details. For example, the transl ...
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Jinheung Of Silla
Jinheung (534–576; reign 540–576) was the 24th monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He followed King Beopheung (r. 514–540) and was followed by King Jinji (r. 576–579). Jinheung was the nephew / grandson of King Beopheung. Jinheung of Silla was one of the greatest kings of Silla, and was responsible for expanding Silla territory immensely. He and King Seong 26th king of Baekje, struggled with each other over the Han River valley. Jinheung won this struggle and expanded Silla's territory immensely. Rise to the throne Jinheung of Silla rose to the throne at a young age when his predecessor and paternal uncle / maternal grandfather, Beopheung, died. Since he was too young to rule a kingdom at the time, his mother Queen Jiso acted as regent. When he became of age, he began to rule independently. One of his first acts as true king of Silla was to appoint a man named Kim Isabu as Head of Military Affairs, which occurred in 541. Jinheung adopted a pol ...
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Beopheung Of Silla
Beopheung (r. 514–540 AD) was the List of monarchs of Korea, 23rd monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was preceded by Jijeung of Silla, King Jijeung (r. 500–514) and succeeded by Jinheung of Silla, King Jinheung. His name was inscribed on Bongpyeong Silla Stele and Cheonjeonri Petroglyphs as ''Mojeukji'' (牟卽智, 另卽智). In Chinese literature, his name was written as ''Mojin'' (募秦) as well. By the time of his reign, Buddhism had become fairly common in Silla, as it had been introduced much earlier by Goguryeo monks during King Nulji of Silla, Nulji's reign. One of King Beopheung's ministers, a man named Ichadon, was a Buddhist convert who had even shaved his head and took the tonsure. He constantly implored the king to adopt Buddhism as the state religion, and in fact King Beopheung himself had become fond of Buddha's teachings. However, the other ministers of Silla were greatly opposed to this, and expressed such defi ...
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Won-gwang
Won Gwang (541~630?), also known as Won Gwang Beop Sa (圓光法士) meaning "Won Gwang Teacher of the Law", was the name of a renowned Buddhist monk, scholar, and teacher of the Silla kingdom during the reign of King Jinpyeong. His layname was Seol (설 hanja: 薛) or Bak (박 hanja: 朴). Like a great number of other Korean Buddhist monks of the 6th-8th centuries, Won Gwang traveled to China in search of a more thorough grounding in the sacred texts of Buddhism. In 589 Wongwang went to Sui China, where for eleven years he was educated in the major texts of both Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism. Won Gwang returned to Silla in 600 and promulgated the Mahayana form of Buddhism. His method was to teach the faith to the common people free of complex jargon and employing common words.Chae, Taeg-su, "The United Silla Period: the Golden Age of Buddhism." In ''The History and Culture of Buddhism in Korea'' (Seoul:Dongguk University Press, 1993), p. 81. Won Gwang is best known for his "Fi ...
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Korean Buddhism
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, they developed a new holistic approach to Buddhism that became a distinct form, an approach characteristic of virtually all major Korean thinkers. The resulting variation is called '' Tongbulgyo'' ("interpenetrated Buddhism"), a form that sought to harmonize previously arising disputes among scholars (a principle called ''hwajaeng'' 和諍). Centuries after Buddhism originated in India, the Mahayana tradition arrived in China through the Silk Road in the 1st century CE via Tibet; it then entered the Korean peninsula in the 4th century during the Three Kingdoms Period, from where it was transmitted to Japan. In Korea, it was adopted as the state religion of 3 constituent polities of the Three Kingdoms Period, first by the Goguryeo (also kno ...
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Three Kingdoms Of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea or Samhan (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) competed for hegemony over the Korea, Korean Peninsula during the ancient period of History of Korea, Korean history. During the Three Kingdoms period (), many states and statelets consolidated until, after Buyeo was annexed in 494 and Gaya confederacy, Gaya was annexed in 562, only three remained on the Korean Peninsula: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The "Korean Three Kingdoms" contributed to what would become Korea; and the Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla peoples became the Korean people. The three kingdoms occupied the entire peninsula and roughly half of Manchuria (modern-day Northeast China and small parts of the Russian Far East). Goguryeo controlled the northern half of the peninsula, as well as Liaodong Peninsula and Manchuria. Baekje and Silla occupied the southern half of the peninsula. The island kingdoms of Tamna and Usan were subordinated to Baekje and Silla, respectively. All three kingdoms shared a simila ...
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