Chapter II

Foundation Myths
A. INTRODUCTION
In this section, I propose to examine the foundation myths of ancient Korea. My own interest in
this subject has been stimulated by the very lively popular and scholarly interest in the foundation
myths of Korea, particularly the Myth of Tan'gun, which has developed there over the past decade
and a half. Foundation myths are a particular type of creation myth dealing with the origin of the
state, nation, people, ruling dynasty, or national culture. Creation myths cover a broad area from
the origin of the universe to the origin of particular cultural traits or practices. Creationmyths are
aetiological in nature, that is they explain how certain thingscame to be, but also indicate that
events came about because of a certain combination of events involving particular people, animals
or forces of nature. Some of these myths may be purposive in character in that the actors perform
creative actions with intention. Other creation myths show merely a causal relation between certain
events and actors which led to the 'current state of affairs.' Within this broad area of mythology,
foundation myths have a special place in the mythic history of a people because they describe the
very origins of the people themselves, their customs, and their rulers. The principal function of
foundation myths is ethnogenesis, the creation of a sense of being a peculiar people, distinct from
neighbouring groups. Seen in one way, ethnogenesis is a definition of nationhood. To the core
mythic narrative, an ethnic foundation myth in addition may describe how the state came to be,
and how a particular clan or sub-clan came to possess sovereignty over other groups within the
ethnic unit. In addition to ethnic foundation myths and state foundation myths, there are clan
foundation myths which describe the origin of a large, consanguinal unit within the general ethnic
unit. A fourth type of foundation myth is the myth of cultural origins which explains how
particular cultural practices arose. Included in this type of foundation myth would be those myths
which explain the origins of agriculture, the origins of certain cultic practices, the origins of the
particular type of family structure, or the origin of customs such as mother-in-law avoidance. The
figure who brought to the people those defining cultural practices which made them a 'civilised'
people and gave them distinctive features vis-a-vis neighbouring groups is
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called the Culture Bearer or Culture Hero. He or she is either a divine figure or a semi-divine
hero.
There is no ancient documentary evidence for Korean creation myths which are concerned with
the origin of the universe or mankind in general. The myths which have been recorded in the
oldest surviving documents are foundation myths of the people, state, clan and culture. All
surviving materials assume both the existence of the world and humanity. In most cases they also
presume the existence of culture. Thus, surviving Korean foundation myths are primarily of the
state formation type.
Many writers have alluded to similarities between Korean mythology and mythic systems in
Manchuria and Siberia, as well as the neighbouring states of China and Japan. In this section, I
propose to examine the narrative structure and narrative function of the foundation myths of Korea
in comparison with similar foundation myths from neighbouring states and peoples. I will attempt
to show in what way the foundation myths of ancient Korea are similar to and distinctive from
the foundation myths told by these other groups. In addition to traditional Korean documentary
sources, materials will be drawn from similar documents from the ancient states which surrounded
the Korean peninsula or neighbouring peoples, as well as ethnographic material some of which has
not been published previously. Except for purposes of short comparison, material from the
ethnic Chinese dynasties has not been examined.
The Northeast Asian neighbours of Korea represent a diverse spectrum of ethnic groups,
including Mongolian, Tungusic and Palaeo-Siberian types. Within the first two broad ethnic groups,
there may be found peoples who have possessed the most sophisticated political systems of their
time, and other groups which possess the most simple political and social systems. Comparisons
will be made between the Korean myths and the myths of the Liao Empire (Khitan people), the
Chin Empire (Jurchen people), the Yuan Empire (Mongol people), the Ch'ing Empire (Manchu
people), and the early Yamato state (Japan). These comparisons will be at the level ofstate
formation myths. The myths of tribal peoples who do not possess state-level societies, the
indigenous peoples of Manchuria and the Amur River basin such as the Nanai (Goldi), the
Udegey, the Nivkhi (Gilyak), the Ainu and others, will be compared with Korean myths as well.
Each myth presented in this section will be considered as if it were adrama composed of
various scenes with actors in each of those scenes carrying out certain actions. This method of
analysis, however, should not be taken to be an indication that the author accepts the thesis that
myths are intrinsically related to ritual and religious ceremonial. This method of analysis is meant
simply to show that the narrative structure of a myth may progress from one unit ofthe story to
another in the same way that a drama unfolds through the course of its various scenes. In the
commentary on a myth, its structure will be described in terms of the sequence of its
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narrative scenes. Each scene in turn will be examined for its themes and narrative motifs. I use
the latter term to indicate the means by which the theme is conveyed in preference to 'motif'
which has developed a somewhat different technical meaning, as was discussed in Chatper I, D.,
'Definition of Terms'. The thematic structure of the myth will then be examined in the light of the
four functions of folklore as proposed by William Bascom in order to determine the types of
functions which the myths may have had when heard by the original hearers of the tale. Finally
the myths will be examined for redactions and additions made to the core text, insofar as these
emendations can be determined. The fact that both the core and the redacted text may have had
different functions is a point which must be kept in mind as we examine the different myths.
This section is divided into four units comprising the presentation of the myths of the ancient
states of Korea, Korean clan and royal clan myths, foundation myths of the states of Northeast
Asia, and the foundation myths and legends of the tribal peoples of Manchuria and the Amur
River basin. A final section will then compare all mythic types in terms of structure, theme, and
types of narrative motifs. A general classification of foundation myths in Northeast Asia will then
be proposed.

Sources for Northeast Asian Foundation Myths

1 The Samguk yusa

The principal source for information about the legends and myths of the ancient period of Korean
history is the Samguk yusa [Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms]. This book was written in the
thirteenth century by the learned monk Iryon (1206-1289). The Samguk yusa was composed in
part as a counterbalance to the more Confucian historiographical work, the Samguk sagi [History
ofthe Three Kingdoms] written by Kim Pusik (10751151) in the previous century. The latter work
excluded much material of a folkloric or hearsay nature which the monk Iryon included in his
work. Iryon's work greatly enriches our understanding of society and thought in Koryo times and
earlier periods. The Samguk yusa is a rich repository of materials for the study of myths and
legends, folklore, the society of the Koryo and earlier periods, information on family histories,
vocabulary in use at the time of writing and earlier, etymologies of words and place names, and
other materials of interest to the student of religions, anthropology and folklore. Iryon was an
assiduous collector of materials on local history, thought and belief. It would be no exaggeration
to say that he was the first Korean folklorist. The work is divided into five volumes or kwon
which encompass nine different topical sections. There are a total of 138 sections of titled material
in these sections. However, as many of these titled sections contain more than one folkloric or
historic narrative, the total number of narrative units and referenced sources is vast. Each titled
narrative section concludes with a poem. In the narrative units, Iryon has inserted supplementary
material and his own comments and questions about the veracity and meaning of the sources.
Materials which have been selected from the Samguk yusa for presentation here are identified at
the end of the narrative by a number and a transliteration into Roman letters of the Korean
heading for the narrative unit from which the individual narrative has been selected. The
identification numbers for the narrative units are assigned according to the sequence order within
one of the nine topical sections. A complete list of the contents of the Samguk yusa appears in
Appendix 2, indicating volume, topical section, and individual narrative units. A translation of the
transliterated topical section headings and narrative unit headings is also provided. The only
exception to this rule is where the term is the name of a state or a self-evident personal name or
place name.

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