Hwarang
Encyclopedia
The Hwarang, or "Flower Boys"., were an elite group of male youth in Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

, an ancient Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture steeped mainly in Buddhism
Korean Buddhism
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from foreign countries were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new...

. Ancient sources referred only to the physical beauty of the "Flower Boys". After the Japanese concept of bushido
Bushido
, meaning "Way of the Warrior-Knight", is a Japanese word which is used to describe a uniquely Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and...

 was developed in the late 19th century, a theory became widespread in Korea that hwarang were a military force.

Traditional sources for Hwarang

Information on the Hwarang are mainly found in the histories Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...

(1145) and Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...

(ca. 1285), and the partially extant Haedong Goseungjeon
Haedong Goseungjeon
The Haedong Goseungjeon was a compilation of mostly Korean Buddhist hagiographies, notably of famous monks from the Three Kingdoms period of Korean history....

(1215), a compilation of biographies of famous monks of the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...

.

All three of these works cite primary sources no longer extant, including: 1) a memorial stele to Nallang (presumably a Hwarang based upon the suffix nang) by the 9th–10th century Silla scholar Choe Chiwon
Choe Chiwon
Choe Chiwon was a noted Korean Confucian official, philosopher, and poet of the late Unified Silla period . He studied for many years in Tang China, passed the Tang imperial examination, and rose to high office there before returning to Silla, where he made ultimately futile attempts to reform the...

; 2) an early Tang account of Silla titled the Xinluo guoji by the Tang official Ling Hucheng; and 3) Hwarang Segi
Hwarang Segi
Hwarang segi was a historical record of the Hwarang of the Silla kingdom in ancient Korea. It is said to have been written by Silla historian Kim Daemun 金大問 in the reign of Seongdeok the Great Hwarang segi (lit. Annals of Hwarang or Generations of the Hwarang) was a historical record of the...

(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
Gimhae
Gimhae, also commonly spelled Kimhae, is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Gimhae is known to locals as "The Paris of Gyeongsangnamdo." It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim clans in Korea...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, which some scholars regard as a forgery.

Wonhwa

According to the Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...

and Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...

, 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. However, considering that they were trained in ethics, this may be a later patriarchal reading into the Wonhwa. Women played a much more prominent social role in pre-Joseon dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 Korea, especially in Silla, which had three reigning queens in its history.

Both sources record that during the reign of King Jinheung
Jinheung of Silla
King Jinheung was the 24th monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.He followed King Beopheung and was followed by King Jinji . Jinheung was the nephew of King Beopheung. King Jinheung was one of the greatest kings of Silla, and was responsible for expanding Silla territory immensely...

, 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). 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." The actual word used in this chronicle is hwanang (花娘), meaning "flower girls". This suggests that the Hwarang were not originally military in character, as the Wonhwa were not soldiers.

In 520, King Beopheung
Beopheung of Silla
King Beopheung was the 23rd monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was preceded by King Jijeung and succeeded by King Jinheung....

 had instituted Sino-Korean style reforms and formalized the golpum
Bone rank system
The bone rank system was the system of aristocratic rank used in the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. It was used to segregate society, and particularly the layers of the aristocracy, on the basis of their hereditary proximity to the throne and the level of authority they were permitted to wield...

 (bone rank) 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.

Evolution

With the consolidation and expansion of Silla and intensification of military rivalries among the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...

 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, archery, javelin and stone throwing, polo, and ladder-climbing. By the seventh century the organization had grown greatly in prestige and numbered several hundred bands.

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. The biographies section of the Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi
Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...

 describes young Hwarang who distinguished themselves in the struggles against the Gaya confederacy
Gaya confederacy
Gaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is 42–532 CE...

 and later Baekje
Baekje
Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

 and Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

. 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.”

The Hwarang were greatly influenced by Buddhism
Korean Buddhism
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from foreign countries were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new...

 and Taoism
Korean Taoism
Taoism was introduced to Korea from China during the Three Kingdoms period, and remains as a minor but significant element of Korean thought...

 ideals. A Chinese official recorded, "They [Silla] choose fair sons from noble families and deck them out with cosmetics and fine clothes and call them Hwarang. The people all revere and serve them."

Hierarchy

  • Wonhwa: royal female patron
  • Gukseon: Grand Master
  • Pungwolju: Chief officer
  • Wonsanghwa: first officer in charge of training
  • Team commanders

Five commandments

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

Won Gwang, who had gained fame for his period of study in Sui
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

 China, replied by composing the Five Commandments for Secular Life (Sae Sok O-Gye
Sae Sok O-Gye
The Se Sok O-Gye, sometimes also referred to as just O-Gye, is the moral code of the hwarang formulated by a Buddhist monk named Won Gwang consisting of five rules:*사군이충 - 事君以忠 - Loyalty to the king...

; 세속 오계; 世俗五戒). These have since been attributed as a guiding ethos for the Hwarang:
  1. Loyalty to one's lord (sagun ichung; 사군이충; 事君以忠; 나라에 충성하고)
  2. Love and respect your parents and teachers(sachin ihyo; 사친이효; 事親以孝; 부모님께 효도하고)
  3. Trust among friends (gyo-u isin; 교우이신; 交友以信; 믿음으로 벗을 사귀고)
  4. Never retreat in battle (imjeon mutwae; 임전무퇴; 臨戰無退; 싸움에 나가서는 물러서지 않으며)
  5. Never take a life without a just cause (salsaeng yutaek; 살생유택; 殺生有擇; 살아있는 것을 함부로 죽이지 않는다)


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 and changed in meaning again. In Choe Sejin (최세진)'s 1527 book Hunmong jahoe (훈몽자회), the term hwarang refers to a male prostitute. Today, Hwarang is often used in the names of various schools, organizations and companies.
  • The Taekwondo
    Taekwondo
    Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

     pattern Hwa-Rang as well as several traditional forms are named in honor of the Hwarang.
  • A South Korean cigarette brand issued to the armed forces was called "Hwarang".
  • The modern Hwarangdo is a Korean martial art inspired in the Hwarang.
  • In the fighting game
    Fighting game
    Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...

     series "Tekken", a playable character named Hwoarang is present in the game, and fights with the Tae Kwon Do fighting style.

See also

  • List of Korea-related topics
  • Hwa Rang Do
    Hwa Rang Do
    Hwa Rang Do is a Korean martial art that was created by Dr. Joo Bang Lee and his brother Joo Sang Lee. This martial art teaches fighting techniques, weapons, spiritual training, intellectual enhancement, and artistic pursuits. It has a very evolved technical structure.-History:The name Hwa Rang Do...

  • History of Korea
    History of Korea
    The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...

  • Namsadang
    Namsadang
    The namsadang is a Korean itinerant troupe which consists of male performers who present various performing arts such as acrobatics, singing, dancing and playing like a circus....

  • Knight
    Knight
    A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

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