(Goma Article Excerpt 4) Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea and Her Mythology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture, published in 2018 by Mago Books.]

Sample Narratives of the Goma Myth

Narratives

Narrative A (Source Group 1) The Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), written by Iryon (1206–1289):

The Gogi (Old Records) reads: Long ago, Hanin[1] had an heir, Hanung, who was from Seoja. Hanung was interested in the human world and willed to save it. Hanin, learning about her will,[2] peered into Mount Samwi (Trinity) and Mount Taebaek (Great Resplendence) to benefit the human world widely. She gave Hanung the Heavenly Emblem of Three Seals and sent her down to govern people. Leading the three thousand people, Hanung descended to Divine Goma Tree (神壇樹 Sindansu) atop Mount Taebaek. The place was called Sinsi (神市 Divine City). And she was called Heavenly Ruler Hanung. She appointed Wind Minister, Rain Master, and Cloud Master and administrated over grains, life, disease, judiciary, and the-good-and-the-evil. Directing about 360 human affairs, she governed the created world to run its own course according to the principle.

At the time, the tiger clan and the bear clan lived in the same cave. They ceaselessly prayed to Sinung (神雄) to attain human nature. The Divine gave them a bundle of mugwort and twenty pieces of wild garlic and said, “Eat these and stay without seeing the sunlight for one hundred days. And you will acquire the human nature.” The bear and the tiger received and ate them. In three seven days, the bear gained the female body. The tiger was unable to endure and therefore did not attain the human body. The queen of the bear clan had no one to marry. Thus, she came to the Divine Tree daily and prayed for conception. Ung was tentatively transformed and married. She conceived and begot a child who was known as Dangun Wanggeom.[3]

Narratives B and C (Source Group 2) The Handan Gogi, “Sinsi Bongi (Prime Chronicle of Sinsi)” in Taebaek Ilsa, written by Maek Yi (1455-1528):

According to the Samseong Milgi (Esoteric Records of the Three Sages), at the end of the Hanguk period, there rose a recalcitrant tribe. Concerning this, Hanung established the teaching of the Triad Divine. And she gathered people and had them vow to observe the covenant. This was her secret plan to remove this unruly clan in the end.

At that time, clan names grew indifferent and their customs drifted apart from each other. The indigenous was the tiger clan (the Ho) and the immigrant was the bear clan (the Ung). The Ho was greedy and cruel. They made a living by raiding and plundering others. The Ung were single-minded and did not mingle with others. They were too proud to reconcile. The two clans lived in the same cave. However, they grew ever apart. Neither they lent things to each other. Nor they married. They opposed every single matter and never walked on the same road.

Facing such conflict, the queen of the bear clan learned about Hanung’s divine virtue. She, leading her people, came to visit Hanung and said, “May you grant us a cave hall (穴廛 Hyeoljeon) and allow us to become the people of the divine covenant.” Ung granted it [a cave hall] and had herself decide the administrative territory. She conceived and gave birth to a child. The Ho did not change until the end and was expelled to the land outside Four Seas (the territory of Old Magoist East Asia). Thereupon, the Han clan began to prosper from this time on.

The Jodaegi (Book of the Early Period) reads: There were many people but not enough resources, which made livelihood difficult. Hanung, the great person of Seojabu (Branch of Seoja), was concerned about this. She listened to the affairs of the world widely and determined herself to descend the Heavenly Realm and open the one world of resplendent luminescence.

Thereupon, Anpagyeon [Hanin] peered down Mount Geumak (Metal Mountain), Mount Samwi (Trinity), and Mount Taebaek (Great Resplendence) and deemed Mount Taebaek a suitable place to benefit the human world widely. She commanded Hanung and said to her, “Now humans and all things are brought to stability. Take lead of people and descend to the world. Open the will of Heaven and teach people. Administer rituals to the Heavenly Deity. Establish the right of fathers, support the elderly, and guide children. Bring peace among them. Instate the way of teaching to govern the created world to run its own course by the principle. Set it as an exemplar for the generations to come.” And she gave her the Heavenly Emblem of Three Seals and sent her to the world to govern.

Leading the three thousand people, Hanung descended to the Divine Tree. This is called Sinsi (Divine City). Assisted by Wind Minister, Rain Master, and Cloud Master, she had grains, life, judiciary, disease, and the-good-and-the-evil administered. She administered about 360 affairs and benefited the human world widely by governing the created world to run its own course according to the principle. She was named Heavenly Ruler Hanung.

At that time, the tiger clan and the bear clan lived in close proximity. They went to pray at the Divine Tree and requested of Hanung, “Grant us to become the people of the divine covenant.” Hanung transformed them by reciting holy mantras to have them attain the divine power. Giving them a bundle of mugwort and twenty pieces of chive,[4]  she said warningly, “Eat these and pray for one hundred days in a place where there is no sunlight. And you will become a great human being who realizes the self and save all beings.”

Both the tiger clan and the bear clan ate them and trained themselves refraining from the sunlight for three seven days. The Ung endured the pain of hunger and coldness and observed the heavenly covenant. They kept the vow of Hanung and attained the female feature. The Ho, deceptive and neglectful, broke the heavenly covenant. They were not able to complete the heavenly task. That proved how fundamentally different the two clans were from each other.

Women of the bear clan were so stubborn and single-minded that they had no one to marry. They persistently gathered under the Divine Tree and recited mantras to become pregnant. Ung was tentatively transformed to Han. After attaining the administrative territory, she married and begot a daughter.[5] Thereupon, women and men came to understand the way of human beings.[6]

 

Narrative D (Source Group 3) The Budoji, written by Jesang Bak (363-418):

Hanung, the descendant of Hanin, had a great will from birth. She inherited the Heavenly Emblem of Three Seals and performed the rite of gyebul (禊祓, cleansing the mind and body upon inaugurating a new dynasty). Establishing the Way of Heavenly Ung, she taught people the common origin. Because people were concerned only about the affair of eating and clothing, she legislated the four articles of Muyeo Yulbeop (無餘律法 Law of Removing the Residue) and appointed Hwanbu (鰥夫 Male Officials) to implement it.

First Article: Keep human behaviors impeccable all the time and prevent people from unwittingly becoming living ghosts. Don’t let people become devils being blocked. Remove the last shade of impediment.

Second Article: Credit human achievements posthumously so as not to speak about the living ghost’s unclean matters. Don’t let people become devils wastefully. Let them harmonize widely and remove the last shade of resentment.

Third Article: Send off those who are obstinate and deceitful to the wilderness and have them shed off their deceitfulness. Remove the last shade of the malicious gi (氣) from earth.

Fourth Article: Exile those who transgressed gravely to Seomdo (Island of the Sunrise). Cremate the body upon death. Remove the last shade of sinful karma from earth.

She had palace/shrine chambers built and made people dwell in them. She also had ships and vehicles built and taught people how to travel by sea and by land. Hanung herself launched a ship in the sea for the first time and traveled in Four Seas. That was to illumine and cultivate the Heavenly Emblem, to communicate among peoples of the world, to appeal to them not to forget the common origin of all being, and to teach how to build palace/shrine chambers, ships and vehicles and how to cook food.

Hanung, upon returning, learned eight spoken languages and two written languages, established the calendar and numerology, trained medical and medicinal cures, and wrote books on astrology and geography. This benefited the human world widely. All was engineered for purpose of preserving and verifying the Way of Origin in the worldly affairs of life. People had increasingly sought deceitful customs, as generations lapsed and as morals loosened. Thereafter, culture of studying began because people, grown ignorant and confused in disposition, did not understand without being taught.[7]

 

Commentaries

The Goma myth recounted in (Source Group 1) is the most favored and renowned version of the Korean foundation myth, better known as the Dangun myth. Calling it “the Dangun myth” is a misnomer in that it is the story of Goma. It reflects an internalized Sinocentric perspective on the part of the author that dismisses pre-Chinese Magoist Korean/East Asian history. Aligned with the Sinocentric and patriarchal perspective, its historical framework conveys the assumption that there is no other advanced pre-Chinese East Asian history. It endorses the view that ancient China, patriarchal and ethnocentric, is the oldest and most civilized nation in East Asian history. Nonetheless, its degree of the Sinocentric perspective is debated in that the oldest edition of the Samguk Yusa reads “Hanguk (桓囯 State of Han)” not “Hanin (桓因 Sovereign of Han).” Some scholars argue that in other editions “Hanguk” was altered as “Hanin” under the rule of the Japanese colonial government. Recognizing Hanguk (7199?-3989 BCE) remains unthinkable within the Sinocentric historical framework. Ilyeon, the 13^th century author of the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three States), intimates Dangun as the founder of the Korean people. It is debated if the present form of the Samguk Yusa underwent redactions or to what extent, if so. Later Joseon (1392-1910), marking the dark period of the mytho-history of Magoism, took pro-Chinese policy. Calling themselves Little China, Joseon kings self-subjugated to the rule of Ming China (1368–1644) and dismissed pre-Chinese Korean/East Asian history. Sources inform us that ancient history books were confiscated by King Sejo, Yejong, and Seongjong in the 15^th century onward (see the Annals of the Joson Dynasty). Within the framework of Sinocentric East Asian historiography, pre-Chinese Old Magoist Korea remains unthinkable or heterodox at best.

(End of the Excerpts. Full article is available in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture.)

(Meet Mago Contributor) Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.

 

Notes

[1] As Buddhist monk, the author Ilyeon notes Hanin as Jeseok, the Buddhist God.

[2] It is written as “father” in the original text (父知子意).

[3] Iryeon, Samguk Yusa (Memorability of the Three States). Translated by the author.

[4] The term, san (蒜), refers to wild garlic or chive.

[5] It can be translated as “Ung was surprisingly and tentatively transformed to Han. After attaining the territory, she married, conceived and begot children (雄乃假化爲換 得管境而使與之婚 孕生子女).” It is unclear who the subject of procreation is, however. It can be Goma or her women of the bear clan. The phrase, “生子女,” may mean “children,” “son and daughter” or “a daughter.”

[6] Handan Gogi, Taebaek Ilsa, Sinsi Bongi (Main Chronicle of Divine City).

[7] Budoji, Chapter 11.