In many nations, there are a lot of mythologies about their origin, the birth myth of a nation. In Roman myth, Romulus and Remus, the sons of Mars were twin brothers and founders of Rome. Also, in Japan, Izanagi and Izanami, the two gods made Japan in three days. Even in these days, they believe that the Emperor of Japan is lineage of the two gods.
The Dangun legend is a mythical story that portrays the origin of the Korean people as descendants of bear. Koreans have a mythical belief of regarding Dangun as a founder of the Korean people. The legend goes like this: A tiger and bear prayed to Hwanung, the son of the Lord of heaven, to become human. Upon hearing their prayers, Hwanung gave them 20 cloves of garlic and a bundle of mugwort, ordering them to eat only this sacred food and remain out of the sunlight for 100 days.
The tiger gave up after about twenty days and left the cave. However, the bear remained and was transformed into a woman. The bear-woman became a wife of Hwanung, and soon she gave birth to a son, who was named Dangun Wanggeom. Dangun built the state of Gojoseon. Korea honors the day of establishing the first state, and named it as Gaechunjeol (National Foundation Day) to commemorate it on October 3rd as a national holiday. Each year, a group gathers for a memorial service for Dangun at the Chamsungdan (stone structure known to be built by Dangun) located on the holy mountains including Mt. Mani on Kanghwha Island and Mt. Taebaeg in the Gangwon province on the 1st day of January in the lunar calendar.
Koreans accept and interpret the Dangun legend to be more than a mythical story. In the perspective of the ancient history of mankind, mythical stories have been another missing part of legitimate history. Just as the Trojan horse had been accepted by the world as a vague mythical story until the remains had been discovered, Koreans believe that the Dangun legend could be give a trace of the ancient Kingdom founded in the Korean peninsula. Based on the Dangun legend, Korean historians date and recorded the origin of Korea’s legitimate history back to some 50,000 years ago.
