Upload
ellery
View
141
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Korea South Korea North Korea Hankuk Chosun 한국 조선 韓國 朝鮮. The land of the morning calm. Geopolitical Location. Appendage to China “Dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”. Manchuria. Geography. Overall Shape? What do you see? Size: Roughly equal to Utah Population: in ‘06 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Citation preview
KoreaKoreaSouth KoreaSouth Korea North KoreaNorth Korea
HankukHankuk ChosunChosun한국한국 조선조선韓國韓國 朝鮮朝鮮 The land of the morning calmThe land of the morning calm
Geopolitical LocationGeopolitical Location
• Appendage to China• “Dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”
Manchuria
GeographyGeographyOverall Shape?• What do you see?Size:• Roughly equal to UtahPopulation: in ‘06• South Korea: 48,846,823 • North Korea: 23,113,019Climate: • Temperate: • Cold winters• Hot, wet summersTopography:• Mountainous
Divided NationDivided 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
Ethnic HomogeneityEthnic Homogeneity
“Racially pure,” Unique Race
East Asian or Mongoloid racial group
• Strong sense of racial identity
• Self-identification as distinct from other Asian nations
Korean LanguageKorean Language한국어 조선말 한국어 조선말 Altaic Language GroupStructurally identical to Japanese60% of vocabulary borrowed from ChineseDistinct from both
Not a tonal languageRegional dialects – Just like U.S.
Korean LanguageKorean Language한국어 조선말 한국어 조선말 Early Literacy: ChineseEarly Writing: Chinese Characters
1400s Hangul – commissioned by King Sejong• Phonetic system• “Simple enough for women & servants”
Writing SystemWriting 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
National Creation Myth:National Creation Myth: Tangun 2333 BC 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.
Native Religious TraditionsNative Religious Traditions
• Animistic religious beliefs• Shamanism• Mudang:
– Korean Shaman– Always Female
• Kut:– Korean exorcism– Ecstatic dance
Native Spiritual / Native Spiritual / Cultural ConceptsCultural 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
Native Native Spiritual Spiritual
ConceptsConcepts
• Nature of the Human Soul
– Similar to China – spirit resides in the environment of its life/death.
– Burial practices similar to China
Native Spiritual ConceptsNative Spiritual Concepts
Ancestor Veneration:• Chesa • Enhanced & formalized by Confucianism• Major part of civil responsibility in later
Korean history
Borrowed Religious ConceptsBorrowed Religious Concepts
• Daoism– Focus on nature– Fengshui
• Confucianism• Buddhism
• Christianity – arrives late
Daoist ideas:Daoist ideas:Symbolism of the Symbolism of the South Korean FlagSouth 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
Fengshui Fengshui (Chinese)(Chinese)
Pungsu Pungsu (Korean)(Korean)
• Geomancy• Wind and Water• Used in:• Interior decorating• Architecture• City planning, etc.
• 5 Frog Brothers Folk tale…
ConfucianismConfucianism
• Borrowed from China• Dominant Governing Ideology
in later dynasties• Major impact on Korean Culture
– Hierarchy– Ritualism and formality– Male dominance
BuddhismBuddhism• 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
ChristianityChristianity
• Catholics enter 1774• Protestants enter 1884
• 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)
Myongdong Cathedral: Seoul