The Modern Korean Nation, Tan’gun, and Historical Memory in Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century Korea

Abstract

Tan’gun was the symbol of a community connected by blood that accompanied the image of unity and purity in Korean history. It played a major role in the development and settlement of a homogenous nationalism, defining Koreans as descendants of Tan’gun and therefore members of a “single” ethnic group. “Tan’gun” was also at the center of the process of creating a modern nation. Historically in each period, the “symbolic” Tan’gun moved with its own life force and performed various functions apart from the “real” Tan’gun. The making of a Korean national consciousness was closely related to the process and the way of remembering Tan’gun. Ways to remember Tan’gun differed depending on the times in the face of the national crisis. The “bundling” of Tan’gun and Kija that continued from the early Chosôn period began to be disintegrated as foreign countries plundered the Korean sovereignty. Kija was gradually excluded from the historical consciousness of the Korean people while the memory of Tan’gun was emphasized. This reflected the sentiment of the times as people tried to overcome the crisis by strengthening national consciousness through Tan’gun. Hereby, Koreans escaped from the medieval self-awareness centered around China and acquired the national self-identity of the modern times with an independent history and a unique culture, different from China and the rest of the world.

Keywords

• Tan’gun
• Kija
• Minjok
• Shin Ch’aeho
• Taejonggyo
• History
• Memory