Dangun
Dangun or Tangun (단군; 檀君; [tan.ɡun]), also known as Dangun Wanggeom (단군왕검; 檀君王儉; [tan.ɡun waŋ.ɡʌm]), was the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven" and "son of a bear", and to have founded the kingdom in 2333 BC. The earliest recorded version of the Dangun legend appears in the 13th-century Samguk Yusa, which cites China's Book of Wei and Korea's lost historical record Gogi (고기; 古記; lit. 'Ancient Record'). However, it has been confirmed that there is no relevant record in China's Book of Wei. There are around seventeen religious groups that focus on the worship of Dangun.
| Dangun | |
Portrait of Dangun (by Chae Yong-sin, 19–20th century) | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 단군왕검 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Dangun Wanggeom |
| McCune–Reischauer | Tan'gun Wanggŏm |
| IPA | [tan.ɡun waŋ.ɡʌm] |
Koreans regard the day when Dangun founded Gojoseon, Korea's first dynasty, as a national holiday and call it Gaecheonjeol. The Gaecheonjeol is 3 October. It is a religious anniversary started by Daejonggyo (Korean: 대종교; Hanja: 大倧教) worshipping Dangun. Gaecheonjeol is a day to commemorate Dangun's founding of Gojoseon, but 3 October is not actually the date when Gojoseon was founded.
Many Korean historians regard Dangun and Tengri as being etymologically identical.