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 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 slyph"). The character 仙 is heavy in Taoist meaning, denoting an immortal or transcent 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) andSamguk 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 used primary sources no longer extant, including: 1) a memorial stele to Mannang (presumed 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, but most scholars regard it 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 an later patriarchal reading into the Wonhwa. Women played a much more prominent social role in pre-Confucian Korea, especially in Silla, which had three 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, 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 ^* choose pretty 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. This description has led some to speculate on the homosexual nature of the Hwarang, although widely rejected.

Five Commandments

Two youths, Gwisan (귀산,貴山) and Chwihang (취항, -項), approached the Silla monk Wongwang (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).

Wongwang, who had gained fame for his period of study in Sui China, replied by composing the Five Commandments for Secular Life (Sesok Ogye; 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)
Piety towards one's parents (sachin ihyo; 사친이효; 事親以孝)
Trust among friends (gyo-u isin; 교우이신; 交友以信)
Never retreat in battle (imjeon mutwae; 임전무퇴; 臨戰無退)
Be selective in the taking of life or Always make a just kill (salsaeng yutaek; 살생유택; 殺生有擇)

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).

Other Uses of Hwarang

Following the fall of Silla, the term hwarang survived but changed in meaning. 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"

Notes

References

Joe, Wanna J. and Hongkyu A. Choe. Tradtional 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.^*

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. ^*

External links

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