Hwarang

Infobox Korean name
hangul=화랑
hanja=花郞
mr=Hwarang
rr=Hwarang

The Hwarang were an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. They were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture steeped in Buddhism and Taoism. These groups developed into a more military organization as the Silla court centralized political power and battled to unite the Three Kingdoms.

Meaning of Term

"Hwarang" is most often translated as "Flower Knights" or "Flower Youths." "Hwa" is the Sino-Korean (hanja) character for flower or the act of blooming. "Rang" means man, sometimes used as a suffix in Silla official titles. The term Hwarang does not literally indicate "youth" or "boys". The "Samguk Yusa" differentiates between the male and female Hwarang through a change in the second character.

Hwarang leaders were also sometimes referred to in the Samguk Yusa as "gukseon" 國仙 ("state immortals", or "state sylph"). The character 仙 is heavy in Taoist meaning, denoting an immortal or transcendent being dwelling in the mountains. "Seon" may be a transliteration of a pure Korean word meaning man. [Rutt, 11.]

Traditional Sources for Hwarang

Information on the Hwarang are mainly found in the histories "Samguk Sagi" (1145) and "Samguk Yusa" (ca. 1285), and the partially extant "Haedong Goseungjeon" (1215), a compilation of biographies of famous monks of the Three Kingdoms.

All three of these works cite primary sources no longer extant, including: 1) a memorial stele to Nallang (presumably a Hwarang based upon the suffix "nang") by the 9th–10th century Silla scholar Choe Chiwon; 2) an early Tang account of Silla titled the "Xinluo guoji" by the Tang official Ling Hucheng; and 3) "Hwarang Segi" (화랑세기, 花郞世記, Chronicle of the Hwarang) by Kim Daemun, compiled in the early 8th century. In the late 1980s, an alleged "Hwarang Segi" manuscript was discovered in Gimhae, South Korea, which some scholars regard as a forgery. [see McBride (2005).]

History

Wonhwa

According to the "Samguk Sagi" and "Samguk Yusa", two bands of females called Wonhwa (원화, 源花, "original flowers") preceded the Hwarang. The precise nature and activities of the Wonhwa are also unclear, with some scholars positing they may have actually been court beauties or courtesans. [Rutt, 20] However, considering that they were trained in ethics this would seem to be a later patriarchal reading into the Wonhwa. Women played a much more prominent social role in pre-Confucian Korea, especially in Silla, which had three reigning queens in its history.

Both sources record that during the reign of King Jinheung, groups of beautiful girls were chosen and taught filial and fraternal piety, loyalty, and sincerity (no firm date is given for this, and some scholars express doubt this even occurred during Jinheung‘s reign). [Rutt, 19.] However, the leaders of the two bands of Wonhwa, Nammo 南毛 and Junjeong 俊貞, grew jealous of one another. When Junjeong murdered her rival the Wonhwa were disbanded.

Founding

At some point thereafter, according to the "Samguk Yusa", the Silla king, "concerned about the strengthening of the country ... again issued a decree and chose boys from good families who were of good morals and renamed them "hwarang"." [Translated in Rutt, 18.] . This suggests that the Hwarang were not originally military in character, as the Wonhwa were not soldiers.

In 520, King Beopheung had instituted Chinese-style reforms and formalized the golpum system. In 527, Silla formally adopted Buddhism as a state religion. The establishment of Hwarang took place in the context of tightening central state control, a complement to the "golpum" system and a symbol of harmony and compromise between the king and the aristocracy. [K.D. Lee, 7-9.]

Evolution

With the consolidation and expansion of Silla and intensification of military rivalries among the Three Kingdoms in the 6th century, the Silla court took a more active interest in the Hwarang. Hwarang groups were usually led by a youth of aristocratic standing, and the state appointed a high ranking official to oversee the organization.

The Hwarang in the later 6th and 7th centuries trained in horsemanship, swordsmanship, archery, javelin and stone throwing, polo, and ladder-climbing. [Joe, 70.] By the seventh century the organization had grown greatly in prestige and numbered several hundred bands. [Joe, 69.] .

The "Samguk Sagi", compiled by the general and official Kim Busik, emphasizes the military exploits of certain Hwarang, while the "Samguk Yusa" emphasizes the group's Buddhist activities. [Rutt, 21.] The biographies section of the Samguk Sagi describes young Hwarang who distinguished themselves in the struggles against the Gaya confederacy and later Baekje and Goguryeo. According to the "Hwarang Segi", as cited in the "Samguk Sagi" and "Haedong Gosuengjeon", “...able ministers and loyal subjects are chosen from them, and good generals and brave soldiers are born therefrom.” [Peter H. Lee, 67.]

The Hwarang were greatly influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. A Chinese official recorded, "They [Silla] choose fair sons from noble families and deck them out with cosmetics and fine clothes and call them Hwarang. The people all revere and serve them." [Rutt, 17, citing the "Samguk Sagi" quoting the no longer extant "Xinluo guoji" (Account of the Country of Silla) by the Tang official Ling Hucheng, who had visited Silla in the early 8th century and later wrote an account of the country.]

Five Commandments

Two youths, Gwisan (귀산,貴山) and Chwihang (취항, -項), approached the Silla monk Won Gwang (원광, 圓光) seeking spiritual guidance and teaching, saying “We are ignorant and without knowledge. Please give us a maxim which will serve to instruct us for the rest of our lives.” [Peter H. Lee, 79, citing The "Samguk Sagi", "Samguk Yusa", and the "Haedong Goseungjeon" (Lives of Eminent Korean Monks, a partially extant compilation of Buddhist hagiographies dated 1215).]

Won Gwang, who had gained fame for his period of study in Sui China, replied by composing the Five Commandments for Secular Life ("Sae Sok O-Gye"; 세속 오계; 世俗五戒). These have since been attributed as a guiding ethos for the Hwarang:

#Loyalty to one's lord ("sagun ichung"; 사군이충; 事君以忠; 나라에 충성하고)
#Love and respect your parents and teachers("sachin ihyo"; 사친이효; 事親以孝; 부모님께 효도하고)
#Trust among friends ("gyo-u isin"; 교우이신; 交友以信; 믿음으로 벗을 사귀고)
#Never retreat in battle ("imjeon mutwae"; 임전무퇴; 臨戰無退; 싸움에 나가서는 물러서지 않으며)
#Never take a life without a just cause ("salsaeng yutaek"; 살생유택; 殺生有擇; 살아있는 것을 함부로 죽이지 않는다)

The "Samguk Yusa" also records that Hwarang members learned the Five Cardinal Confucian Virtues, the Six Arts, the Three Scholarly Occupations, and the Six Ways of Government Service (五常六藝 三師六正).

Influence

The biggest influence of the Hwarang is probably the inclusion of their sword techniques in later martial arts manuals of the Joseon Dynasty, like the Muyesinbo and Muyedobotongji. In the chapters called bonguk geom, meaning 'national sword', the sword techniques of the Hwarang elite have presumably been preserved.

Famous Hwarang

* Kim Yu-shin
* Kim Won-Sool
* Kim Ban-gool
* Gwanchang

Other Uses of Hwarang

Following the fall of Silla, the term "hwarang" survived and changed in meaning again. During the Joseon Dynasty, "hwarang" came to mean a male shaman. Today, Hwarang is often used in the names of various schools, organizations and companies.

* The Taekwondo pattern Hwa-Rang was named in honor of the Hwarang.

* A South Korean cigarette brand issued to the armed forces was called "Hwarang".

* The modern Hwarangdo is a Korean martial art inspired in the Hwarang.

Notes

References

*Joe, Wanna J. and Hongkyu A. Choe. "Traditional Korea, A Cultural History." Seoul: Hollym, 1997.

*Lee, Ki-dong. "The Silla Society and Hwarang Corps." "Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities", 65 (June 1987 ):1-16

*Lee, Peter H. (trans.) "Lives of Eminent Korean Monks: The Haedong Kosŭng Chŏn" (by Gakhun). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1969.

*McBride, Richard D. "The "Hwarang segi" Manuscripts: An In-Progress Colonial Period Fiction." "Korea Journal", vol. 45, no. 3 (Autumn 2005):230-260. [http://www.ekoreajournal.net/archive/detail.jsp?BACK
]

*Mohan, Pankaj N. “Maitreya Cult in Early Shilla: Focusing on Hwarang in Maitreya-Dynasty.” "Seoul Journal of Korean Studies", 14 (2001):149-174.

*Rutt, Richard. "The Flower Boys of Silla (Hwarang), Notes on the Sources." "Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society", 38 (October 1961):1-66.

*Tikhonov, Vladimir. "Hwarang Organization: Its Functions and Ethics." "Korea Journal", vol. 38, no. 2 (Summer 1998):318-338. [http://www.ekoreajournal.net/archive/detail.jsp?BACK
]

ee also

*List of Korea-related topics
*Hwa Rang Do
*History of Korea
*Namsadang

External links

* [http://www.hwarangdo.net/art/the_way.php Hwa Rang O Kae and Hwa Rang Do Kyo Hoon]
* [http://www.hwarangdo.com/hwarang.htm The Hwarang Warriors]
* [http://www.hwarangdo.com/hrd1.htm Hwa Rang Do History]