The original religion of Korea was a form of the Eurasian shamanism and the totemism of Far East Asia, specifically of the nomadic peoples of present-day Manchuria. These were strongly colored by the later importations of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism from China.
During the early ages, when Buddhism was on the rise, Korean shamanism was widely discredited in an attempt to establish Buddhism as the state religion. In later years both Korean Buddhism and shamanism were heavily purged, almost to the point of being lost from the consciousness of the general population.
Below are some mythology stories:
The Coming of Humankinds
The first story has to do with the beginnings of mankind. A long time ago, a man named Jiso지소 (支巢) was starving from a famine that raged the entire countryside. To relieve his hunger, 지소 decided to climb a tall cliff to jump off of it and die. Before he was about to jump off, he noticed some grapes near the cliff. Unable to suppress his hunger, he ate the grapes and immediately acquired the five tastes of sourness, bitterness, spiciness, sweetness, and saltiness. This is known as the Incident of the Five Tastes. 지소 told his fellow countrymen about the grapes. In the mist of such hunger, several of the men ate a live animal near the grapes. One of the guardian gods saw this and punished everyone in anger. To this day, no human has immortality.
The Settling of the World
Cheong-gung 청궁 (靑穹) went to the East, where he established China.
Baekso 백소 (白巢) and his people moved to the West and became the people of Europe and the Middle East.
Heukso 흑소 (黑巢) moved to the South, into the region that is now India and Southeast Asia.
The Establishment of Korea
The next myth has to do with the birth of the Korean peninsula. One of the guardian gods named Hwang-gung황궁 (黃穹) took about three thousand men and traveled north to a place called Cheonsanju 천산주 (天山洲). In Korean Cheonsanju means, “land of the heavenly mountains”. 황 궁 had a grandson named Hwan-in 한인 (桓因). 한인 received a heavenly heirloom that contained knowledge. With the heirloom 한인 taught people how to build a fire, how to farm, and how to domesticate certain animals. As the people became civilized, 한인 decided to return to the heavens. 한 인 was the last of the heavenly gods, who used the power of the Heirloom to bring abundant sunlight and good weather.
The Sun and the Moon
Once upon a time, there was an older brother named Haesik (해식) and a younger sister named Dalsun (달순). 해식 and 달식’s mother was a rice cake seller. On her way to selling rice cakes, she came upon a tiger. She pleaded her life to the tiger, and mentioned her children, in hopes that the tiger would pity her. Instead of pitying the woman the tiger ate the mother and used her clothes to disguise himself as the mother. When the tiger found the children, he used the powder from the rice cakes and stuck his hand under the door.
The tiger’s paw looked white and the children opened the door. As the children realized in horror that it was not their mother, they raced to the top of a tall tree. In an effort to eat the children, the tiger got an axe and tried to chop the tree. Then the children prayed to the gods and asked for deliverance. The gods felt pity for the children and let down a strong rope, which the children climbed. As the children climbed up to the sky, 해식 became the sun, and 달식 became the moon. (해 = sun and 달 = moon in Korean).
Founding of the Nations - Founding Myth of Ancient Joseon
"Dangun", the first Korean Emperor of the first Korean dynasty, a half-human and half-divine, is said to be the grandson of heaven and regarded as the ancestor of all Koreans.
Dangun's ancestry legend begins with his grandfather Hwanin 환인(桓因), the "Lord of Heaven". Hwanin had a son Hwanung who yearned to live on the earth among the valleys and the mountains. Hwanin permitted Hwanung and 3,000 followers to descend onto Baekdu Mountain, where Hwanung founded Sinsi 신시 (神市, "City of God"). Along with his ministers of clouds, rain, and wind, he instituted laws and moral codes and taught humans various arts, medicine, and agriculture.
A tiger and a bear prayed to Hwanung that they may become human. Upon hearing their prayers, Hwanung gave them 20 cloves of garlic and a bundle of mugwort, ordering them to eat only this sacred food and remain out of the sunlight for 100 days. The tiger gave up after about twenty days and left the cave. However, the bear remained and was transformed into a woman.
The bear-woman (Ungnyeo; 웅녀; 熊女) was grateful and made offerings to Hwanung. However, she lacked a husband, and soon became sad and prayed beneath a "Sindansu" (신단수; 神檀樹, "Divine Betula") tree to be blessed with a child. Hwanung, moved by her prayers, took her for his wife and soon she gave birth to a son, who was named Dangun Wanggeom.
Dangun ascended to the throne, built the walled city of Asadal, situated near Pyongyang (present capital of North Korea), and called the kingdom Joseon—referred to today as "Old/Ancient Joseon" (Korean: "Gojoseon") so as not to be confused with the Joseon kingdom which occurred much later. He then moved his capital to Asadal on Mount Baegak (or Mount Gunghol). Fifteen hundred years later, in the year Kimyo, King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty enfeoffed Jizi to Joseon, and Dangun moved his capital to Jangdangyeong. Finally, he returned to Asadal and became a mountain god at the age of 1,908.
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