Hwan-guk

The hypothetical state of Hwanguk (환국, 桓國) is the first mythical state of Korea described in Hwandan Gogi. According to Hwandan Gogi, Hwanguk existed long before Gojoseon. However, mainstream Korean historians reject the existence of Hwanguk altogether, for the lack of credible evidences.

Claim of Hwanguk's Appearance in Samguk Yusa

In some editions of Samguk Yusa, one of the oldest surviving Korean history books, the name Hwanin (桓因), the mythical grandfather of Gojoseon's founder Dangun, appears as if it is instead written "Hwanguk" (桓囯), which would mean "The Hwan nation." Some people argue that this is an evidence that the original manuscript of Samguk Yusa wrote "Hwanguk" instead of "Hwanin."

However, the theory is problematic because in all other places in the book where the "guk" (nation)" character appears, it consistently uses the traditional Chinese character "國", not the simplified form "囯". Moreover, Samguk Yusa itself contains an annotation that says "Hwanin" means "Jeseok" (제석, 帝釋)", that is, a god. This is rather difficult to explain if we are to assume that "Hwanguk" was the intended word. Modern historians regard this as a mere mistake in transcription. [For a more detailed account on the source of this misconception, see this blog post "The reality of Hwanguk (환국(桓國)의 진실)": http://orumi.egloos.com/251832 (written in Korean).]

Hwanguk in Hwandan-gogi

According to the Hwandan-gogi, it was composed of twelve states, Biri-guk(비리국, 卑離國), Yangun-guk(양운국, 養雲國), Gumakhan-guk(구막한국, 寇莫汗國), Gudacheon-guk(구다천국, 句茶川國), Irun-guk(일운국, 一群國), Uru-guk(우루국, 虞婁國) or Pilla-guk(필라국, 畢那國), Gaekhyeon-han-guk(객현한국, 客賢汗國), Gumoaek-guk(구모액국, 句牟額國), Maeguyeo-guk(매구여국, 賣句餘國) or Jikguda-guk(직구다국, 稷臼多國), Sanaba-guk(사납아국, 斯納阿國), Seonbi-guk(선비국, 鮮裨國) or Siwi-guk(시위국, 豕韋國) or Tonggosa-guk(통고사국, 通古斯國), and Sumiri-guk(수밀이국, 須密爾國).

There were seven emperors for 3301 years. Because of their long reigns (average would be 471.6 years/emperor), this nation is not officially considered to be historical. Because the nation was governed by Hwanin, it might be called Hwanguk or the Hwanin’s nation ("guk" is a Sino-Korean word that means "state" or "nation"). It was located at the area of the mountain Pana-ryu, thus it was also called the Pana-ryu’s nation. Hwanguk was located in the east of the sea of heaven. Hwanguk was an allied nation that consisted of twelve confederacies. It is believed that the size of the Hwanguk was 8,000 km from east to west, and 20,000 from north to south. The people of Hwanguk believed that they were the offspring of Heaven. Thus, they respected brightness, their god was the sun, their ancestor was Heaven, and they worshiped to heaven everyday because all of the people in Hwanguk do not doubt about it at all.

After its destruction, it was succeeded by Baedalguk.

List of Hwanin

# An Pa-gyeon (Hangul : 안파견 Hanja: 安巴堅) 7197 B.C.E. - ?)
# Hyeok Seo (Hangul : 혁서 Hanja: 赫胥)
# Go Si-ri (Hangul : 고시리 Hanja: 古是利)
# Ju U-yang (Hangul : 주우양 Hanja: 朱于襄)
# Seok Je-im (Hangul : 석제임 Hanja: 釋提壬)
# Gu Eul-ri (Hangul : 구을리 Hanja: 邱乙利)
# Ji Wi-ri (Hangul : 지위리 Hanja: 智爲利)

References

* [http://home.postech.ac.kr/~yihs Hwandan-gogi text]

* Founding myth of Korea
* Budoji
* Hwandan-gogi