1. THE LITERATURE OF KOREA

2. ANCIENT KOREA MODERN KOREA
PAST AND PRESENT

3. FACTS AND FIGURES
(SOUTH KOREA)
Area: 99, 270 sq. km
Population: 44, 056, 000
Capital: Seoul
Other Major City: Pusan
Official Language: Korean
Main Religions: Buddhism, Christianity
Currency: Won
Government: Multi-party republic

4. NORTH KOREANS SOUTH KOREANS
THE KOREANS

5. BRIEF HISTORY

6. Korea was founded in 2333 BC by a mighty hero
named Tangun. Recorded history began independent
kingdom at Pyongyang. Chinese rule lasted until the 7th
century AD when three independent kingdoms arose in
Korea.
Korea became a united nation for the first time under
Wang Kien, a Korean patriot, who led a revolution in 918
and destroyed the Silla rule in 935. Wang named the
country Koryu from which its present name was derived.
His descendants ruled until 1392. After a brief invasion
by the Mongols,Korea was ruledby the Yi Dynasty
(1392-1910) which established the capital at
Seoul, introduced Chinese ways, and proclaimed
Confucianism as the state religion. The first century of
the Yi era was Korea’s Golden Age of civilization.
Koreans invented printing, a phonetic alphabet, fostered
literature and scholarships, and granted education to the
masses.

7. The Tangun Myth
CREATION MYTH

8. The story goes that a Heavenly Prince, Hwangun looked down at
earth and desired to possess it and rule over mankind. His father, the
Ruler of Heaven, Hwanin knew that his son would bring happiness to
human beings and, looking at the earth, chose Mount Taebak as a
suitable place for his son to go to earth. Hwangun arrives beneath a
sandalwood tree where he creates a holy city. He brings with him
three heavenly seals, somewhat mysterious in nature, and 3000 loyal
subjects from heaven, which are possibly spirits. In
addition, Hwangun brought three ministers, the Earl of Wind, the
Master of Rain, and the Master of Clouds. Different accounts of the
myth tell that Hwangun either taught or took charge of 360 areas of
responsibility, like agriculture and medicine. The story moves now to
a bear and a tiger, both desiring to become human beings. Set the
task of shunning sunlight and eating only the food given to them by
Hwangun (some mugwort and twenty cloves of garlic), the bear
succeeds in earning Hwangun’s approval while the tiger fails to
fast, fleeing into the forest. The bear becomes a beautiful
woman, Ungyo (bear woman) and becomes the wife of Hwangun.
Their son is Tangun, the King of Sandalwood. Tangun becomes the
first king of Korea, calling his country choson and ruling for 1500
years. After this time he retreats to Taebak-san to become a
mountain god.

9. KOREAN LITERATURE

11. THE HANGUL ALPHABET

12. KORYO CELADON

13. BRONZE MOVABLE TYPES

14. CHINESE IDEOGRAPH

15. SANDAE (MASK PLAY OF KOREA)

16. PROMINENT FIGURES OF KOREA

17. HAN YONG-UN

18. YUN SON-DO
 He was born in Seoul, in what is now South Korea. He achieved early
success as a government official, but his straightforward character made
enemies at court and he was banished for imprudent criticism of those in
power. Thirteen years later he returned to become tutor to the royal
princes but was later banished again. He spent most of his 85 years in
his rustic country home, contemplating the nature of life, teaching and
writing poetry.
 Yun is considered the greatest master in the history of Korean
literature.His most famous composition is The Fisherman's Calendar a
cycle of forty seasonal sijo. In both Chinese and Korean classical
poetry, the fisherman symbolized a wise man who lives simply and
naturally. In art, the fisherman appeared almost invariably in one of the
most common genres of Asian water colors: sets of four paintings, one
for each season of the year.
 Yun Seondo wove both traditions into The Fisherman's Calendar. It is
the longest and most ambitious sijo cycle attempted during the classical
period

19. YUN TU-SO
(b Haenam, South Cholla Province, 20 May 1668; d
Haenam, 26 Dec 1715). His eclectic output bridged
the transition between painting of the mid-Choson
and late Choson periods. Learned in Confucian
classics, military strategy, geography and
astronomy, he passed the initial state examination
(chinsa) in 1693 but returned to Haenam in 1713
without acquiring office. He was aligned with the out-
of-power Southerners (Namin), advocates of sirhak
(‘practical learning’) and sohak (‘Western learning’).
He studied calligraphy with Yi So (1662–1723) and
painted as a hobby.

20. LEE KWANG-SU

21. YI SANG HWA
`Does spring come to this land no more our
own, to these stripped fields?
Bathed in the sun I walk as if in a dream along a
lane that cuts across paddy fields like parted
hair to where the blue sky and the green field
meet.
Mute heaven and silent fields, I do not feel I
have come here alone; tell me if I am driven by
you or by some hidden force… ''