KOREA AND KOREAN PEOPLE
KOREA AND THE KOREAN PEOPLE
The Land and the People
Korea is a peninsula bordering on Manchuria and Rusia to the north, facing China to the West across the Yellow Sea and Japan to the east and south across the Sea of Japan and the Korea Straits. This peninsula, together with its adjacent islands, covers an area of 221,362 square kilometers.
Although historically one country Korea has been divided into two halves since the end of World War II in 1945. The Republic of Korea in the south covers 99,221 square kilometers, making the nation a little more than twice the size of Switzerland.
The eastern part of the peninsula is mountainous with several towering mountain ranges and virtually no coastal plain. On the other hand the western part has most of the large rivers and richer alluvial lands.
Korea enjoys a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. In the extreme north, however, the winter lasts a full five months and the average temperature inJanuary and February is belcw freezing. In the rest of the country moderately cold dry winters and warm humid summers are the norm. Spring and autumn are particularly pleasant with crisp weather and clear blue skies.
The Korean people are believed to be the descendants of several Mongolian tribes which migrated from Central Asia in prehistoric times. Although some historians maintain that a people of proto-Caucasian origin may have reached the Korean peninsula earlier, the Mongolian strain predominated the early Korean population.
Interestingly, the Korean language belongs to the Ural-Altaic group and is related to such agglutinative tongues as Mongolian, Turkish, Hungarian and Finnish The Korean race is homogenous, with a unique culture and civilization, and traits quite distinct from both the Chinese and the Japanese
The History of Korea
According to ancient legend, the Korean people are the descendants of an bear-like god who descended from heaven in the northern part of the Korean peninsula This god transformed an earthly bear into a woman and married her. Their union produced a son named Tan'gun who is said to have founded the Ancient Choson Kingdom.
It is believed that the history of the Korean people began approximately 5,000 years ago with the influx of Mongolian tribes onto the peninsula. The cultural development of these Neolithic tribes was accelerated by the Chinese conquest of Ancient Choson in 108 B.C When the Chinese were finally driven from their colony on the Korean peninsula in 313 AD, they had left a lasting cultural imprint on the inhabitants.
Toward the middle of the first century B.C, the Korean peninsula was divided into three kingdoms Koguryo to the north, Paekche southwest of the Han River, and Silla in the southeast corner of the peninsula Koguryo (73 B.C.- 668 AD.), with its acce$ibility to Chinese culture, was the first to mature culturally The official Chinese style of writing was introduced to the privileged royalty and aristocracy and it wasn't long before the classics of Confucius and Lao-tse, as well as Buddhism, were introduced Buddhist images and texts to Japan for the first time in 552 and served as an important conduit of Chinese culture and technology to Japan.
At first, the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C4i68 AD.) was the smallest of the Three Kingdoms, but it later conquered Koguryo and Paekche to spread the seeds of a colorful civilization. Particularly during the Unified Silla period (668-936), Korea witnessed the birth of a golden age of art and culture However, a series of violent internal rifts cut Silla's golden age short and gave rise to the Koryo Kingdom (918-1392) founded by Wang Kon, who adopted Buddhism as his kingdom's ruling
ideology Koryo grew to become a rich and powerful state but it also suffered from foreign invasions and domination. There were sporadic clashes with various Chinese states during the 11th and 12th centuries, but Koryo suffered most from the destructive Mongol invasions that began in 1231 and resulted in nearly 100 years of Mongolian domination.
Confucianism grew in influence in the latter years of Koryo and became the ruling philosophy under the Choson Kingdom (1392-1910) founded by General Yi Songgye after his overthrow of the corrupt Koryo court. Politically, Choson was as turbulent as Koryo, fraught with factional feuding. However, it was not without spectacular achievements, such as King Sejong's creation of 1uangil, the Korean alphabet, in the mid-15th century as well as a number of important technological and cultural developments in fields as diverse as medicine and meteorology, painting and literature.
The peninsula was devastated by Japanese invasions in the late 16th century and, not long after, was struck by Manchurian invasions in 1627 and 1636. Follc,wing Choson's defeat at the hands of the Manchus, the country adopted an isolationist policy Meanwhile, the government's inability to cope with the worsening economic crisis, official corruption, and factionalism led to the decline of the kingdom.
This process of dynastic decay was nearly halted in the 18th century, however, by the rise of the Sirhak (Practical Learning) movement spearheaded by some of the kingdom's brightest scholars. These scholars' proposals were largely ignored by the Choson rulers, hc,wever, and Chc60n society remained unprepared for the rapid changes occurring both at home and abroad
By the early 19th century, Western traders and missionaries were trying to "open" Korea, but the Choson court was vehemently oppc6ed to the introduction of Western goods or ideas. This isolationist stance reached its peak during the regency of the Taewongun, who ruled in his son's name from 1864 to 1873. After the forced removal of the Taewongun by his foes in 1873, the country readily gave in to mounting pressures from abroad Korea signed a diplomatic treaty withJapan in 1876 and trade agreements with the United State$ Russia, France and Great Britain in the 1880s. The Korean peninsula was the scene of superpower strife for the next quarter century, and Korea was ultimately annexed by the Japanese in 1910.
Korea's modern history has been plagued by colonial oppression, ideological division and political intrigue For 35 years, Korea was ruled by an oppressiveJapanese colonial government that exploited the nation's mineral resources, land markets and people The Korean people were liberated from colonial rule in 1945 at the end of World War II, and the Korean peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel in accordance with a decision reached by the Allied Powers in February 1945. The largely agricultural South was put under US. occupation and the industrial North was occupied by Soviet troops. Although the purpc6e of the US. and Soviet occupation was to help establish a "free and independent" Korea, the plan ultimately failed and separate governments were formed in the North and South.
The Korean War broke out inJune 1950 and lasted for three bloody years during which some 400,000 civilians were killed FinaLly after two years of bitter negotiations, a truce line was estabLished across the peninsula roughly along the 38th parallel.
The Land and the People
Korea is a peninsula bordering on Manchuria and Rusia to the north, facing China to the West across the Yellow Sea and Japan to the east and south across the Sea of Japan and the Korea Straits. This peninsula, together with its adjacent islands, covers an area of 221,362 square kilometers.
Although historically one country Korea has been divided into two halves since the end of World War II in 1945. The Republic of Korea in the south covers 99,221 square kilometers, making the nation a little more than twice the size of Switzerland.
The eastern part of the peninsula is mountainous with several towering mountain ranges and virtually no coastal plain. On the other hand the western part has most of the large rivers and richer alluvial lands.
Korea enjoys a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. In the extreme north, however, the winter lasts a full five months and the average temperature inJanuary and February is belcw freezing. In the rest of the country moderately cold dry winters and warm humid summers are the norm. Spring and autumn are particularly pleasant with crisp weather and clear blue skies.
The Korean people are believed to be the descendants of several Mongolian tribes which migrated from Central Asia in prehistoric times. Although some historians maintain that a people of proto-Caucasian origin may have reached the Korean peninsula earlier, the Mongolian strain predominated the early Korean population.
Interestingly, the Korean language belongs to the Ural-Altaic group and is related to such agglutinative tongues as Mongolian, Turkish, Hungarian and Finnish The Korean race is homogenous, with a unique culture and civilization, and traits quite distinct from both the Chinese and the Japanese
The History of Korea
According to ancient legend, the Korean people are the descendants of an bear-like god who descended from heaven in the northern part of the Korean peninsula This god transformed an earthly bear into a woman and married her. Their union produced a son named Tan'gun who is said to have founded the Ancient Choson Kingdom.
It is believed that the history of the Korean people began approximately 5,000 years ago with the influx of Mongolian tribes onto the peninsula. The cultural development of these Neolithic tribes was accelerated by the Chinese conquest of Ancient Choson in 108 B.C When the Chinese were finally driven from their colony on the Korean peninsula in 313 AD, they had left a lasting cultural imprint on the inhabitants.
Toward the middle of the first century B.C, the Korean peninsula was divided into three kingdoms Koguryo to the north, Paekche southwest of the Han River, and Silla in the southeast corner of the peninsula Koguryo (73 B.C.- 668 AD.), with its acce$ibility to Chinese culture, was the first to mature culturally The official Chinese style of writing was introduced to the privileged royalty and aristocracy and it wasn't long before the classics of Confucius and Lao-tse, as well as Buddhism, were introduced Buddhist images and texts to Japan for the first time in 552 and served as an important conduit of Chinese culture and technology to Japan.
At first, the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C4i68 AD.) was the smallest of the Three Kingdoms, but it later conquered Koguryo and Paekche to spread the seeds of a colorful civilization. Particularly during the Unified Silla period (668-936), Korea witnessed the birth of a golden age of art and culture However, a series of violent internal rifts cut Silla's golden age short and gave rise to the Koryo Kingdom (918-1392) founded by Wang Kon, who adopted Buddhism as his kingdom's ruling
ideology Koryo grew to become a rich and powerful state but it also suffered from foreign invasions and domination. There were sporadic clashes with various Chinese states during the 11th and 12th centuries, but Koryo suffered most from the destructive Mongol invasions that began in 1231 and resulted in nearly 100 years of Mongolian domination.
Confucianism grew in influence in the latter years of Koryo and became the ruling philosophy under the Choson Kingdom (1392-1910) founded by General Yi Songgye after his overthrow of the corrupt Koryo court. Politically, Choson was as turbulent as Koryo, fraught with factional feuding. However, it was not without spectacular achievements, such as King Sejong's creation of 1uangil, the Korean alphabet, in the mid-15th century as well as a number of important technological and cultural developments in fields as diverse as medicine and meteorology, painting and literature.
The peninsula was devastated by Japanese invasions in the late 16th century and, not long after, was struck by Manchurian invasions in 1627 and 1636. Follc,wing Choson's defeat at the hands of the Manchus, the country adopted an isolationist policy Meanwhile, the government's inability to cope with the worsening economic crisis, official corruption, and factionalism led to the decline of the kingdom.
This process of dynastic decay was nearly halted in the 18th century, however, by the rise of the Sirhak (Practical Learning) movement spearheaded by some of the kingdom's brightest scholars. These scholars' proposals were largely ignored by the Choson rulers, hc,wever, and Chc60n society remained unprepared for the rapid changes occurring both at home and abroad
By the early 19th century, Western traders and missionaries were trying to "open" Korea, but the Choson court was vehemently oppc6ed to the introduction of Western goods or ideas. This isolationist stance reached its peak during the regency of the Taewongun, who ruled in his son's name from 1864 to 1873. After the forced removal of the Taewongun by his foes in 1873, the country readily gave in to mounting pressures from abroad Korea signed a diplomatic treaty withJapan in 1876 and trade agreements with the United State$ Russia, France and Great Britain in the 1880s. The Korean peninsula was the scene of superpower strife for the next quarter century, and Korea was ultimately annexed by the Japanese in 1910.
Korea's modern history has been plagued by colonial oppression, ideological division and political intrigue For 35 years, Korea was ruled by an oppressiveJapanese colonial government that exploited the nation's mineral resources, land markets and people The Korean people were liberated from colonial rule in 1945 at the end of World War II, and the Korean peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel in accordance with a decision reached by the Allied Powers in February 1945. The largely agricultural South was put under US. occupation and the industrial North was occupied by Soviet troops. Although the purpc6e of the US. and Soviet occupation was to help establish a "free and independent" Korea, the plan ultimately failed and separate governments were formed in the North and South.
The Korean War broke out inJune 1950 and lasted for three bloody years during which some 400,000 civilians were killed FinaLly after two years of bitter negotiations, a truce line was estabLished across the peninsula roughly along the 38th parallel.
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