King Onjo of Paekche [From Samguk sagi]

The father of King Onjo, founder of Paekche, was
Chumong. He fled from North Puyô to escape troubles
and went to Cholbon Puyô, whose king had no son but
had three daughters. Knowing that Chumong was
extraordinary, the king presented his second daughter to him
in marriage. Shortly thereafter, the king died and was
succeeded by Chumong. Chumong had two sons, Piryu and Onjo.

When Yuri, a son of Chumong, born
in North Puyô, came to Cholbon Puyô and became
heir to the throne, Piryu and Onjo were afraid of being
rejected by their half brother and travelled south with ten
counselors, including Ogan and Maryô. Many followed
them. Upon reaching Hansan, they climbed Pua Peak (Mount
Samgak) to find a place to settle. When Piryu wished to
settle by the sea, the counselors advised him: "The land
south of the Han borders the Han River to the north, takes
to a high mountain to the east, views a fertile marsh to the
south, and is separated by a great sea to the west. Its
natural fastness is unparalleled, a place fit for your
capital." But Piryu did not listen. He divided the people
and went to Mich'uhol to settle. Onjo set up his capital at
Hanam Wiryesông, made ten counselors his assistants,
and named his country Sipche. This was in the third year of
Hung-chia of Emperor Cheng of the Former Han [18 BC].

Because the land of Mich'uhol was wet and its water
salty, Piryu could not live in comfort; when he returned and
saw Wirye firmly established and its people happy, he died
of shame and remorse. His followers pledged allegiance to
Wirye and joyfully came to submit, hence the country was
named Paekche. Like Koguryô, the ruling family of
Paekche stems from Puyô, which they adopted as their
clan name.

The Legend of Pak Hyôkkôse, the Founder of Silla
From Samguk yusa]

In olden times Chinhan had six villages, each belonging
to a separate clan whose ancestor was said to have descended
from heaven...
On the first day of the third month of the first year,
imja, of Ti-chieh of the Former Han [69 BC], the
ancestors of the six villages, together with their children,
gathered by the shore of the Al River. They said, "Because
we have no ruler above to govern the people, the people are
dissolute and do only what they wish. We should seek out a
virtuous man to be our king, found a country, and lay out a
capital."
When they climbed to a height and looked southward, they saw an
eerie lightening-like illumination under Mount Yang, while
nearby a white horse kneeled and bowed. When they reached the spot,
they found a red egg; the horse neighed and flew up to heaven
when it saw men approaching. When the people cracked the egg open,
they discovered within a beautiful infant boy with a radiant visage.
Amazed by their discovery, they bathed the infant in the East Spring,
and then he emitted light. Birds and beasts danced for joy,
heaven and earth shook, and the sun and the moon became
bright. The named the child King Hyôkkôse, or
Bright, and titled him kôsûrhan, or king.
The people congratulated one another and said, "Now
that the Son of Heaven has come down to be among us, we must
seek a virtuous queen to be his mate." That day a hen
dragon appeared near the Aryông Well in Saryang
district and produced from under her left rib an infant
girl. Her features were unusually lovely, but her lips were
like the beak of a chick. Only when the girl was given a
bath in the North River Wôlsông in did the beak
fall off. The river was then called Palch'&circon. The
people erected a palace at the western foot of Mount South
and reared the two wondrous infants together. Since the boy
had been born fron an egg in the shape of a gourd, pak in
Korean, they gave him the surname Pak; the girl was named
after the well where she was born.
When the two reached the age of thirteen in the first
year, kapcha, of Wu-feng [57 BC], the boy became king and
the girl became queen. They named the country Sôrabôl, Sôbôl, Sara, or Saro.
And because of the circumstances surrounding the queen's birth,
the country was also called Kyerim, or Forest of the Cock,
to commemorate the appearance of the hen dragon.
According to another story, the country was so called because a cock
crowed in the woods when Kim Alchi was found during the
reign of King T'arhae. Later, Silla became the official
name of the country.
After a sixty-one year reign, Hyôkkôse
ascended to heaven, and after seven days his remains fell to
earth. His queen is said to have followed him. The people
wished to bury them in the same tomb, but a large snake
appeared and stopped them. So the remains of each were
divided into five parts and buried. Called Five Tombs or
Snake Tomb, it is the present North Tomb at Tamôm
Monastery. The heir apparent succeeded Hyôkkôse
as Namhae.
The Legend of King T'arhae of Silla(From Samguk yusa)
During the reign of King Namhae, a boat came to anchor
off the shores of Karak. King Suro of that country,
together with his people, beat drums and shouted to welcome
it, but the boat sailed away and reached Ajin Cove, east of
the Forest of the Cock. Just then an old woman appeared on
the shore of the inlet. She was the mother of the fisherman
of King Hyôkkôse. Espying the boat from afar,
she said, "There is no rock in the middle of the sea. Why
does a flock of magpies circle there and cry?" She took a
skiff and went to investigate. Magpies hovered over the
boat, which bore a casket twenty feet long and thirteen feet
wide. She pulled the boat and moored it at the foot of a
grove of trees. She did not know whether it would be
auspicious or not and made a vow to heaven for good luck.
Then she opened the casket. She found a handsome boy, seven
treasures, and male and female slaves.
After being provided for seven days, the boy said, "I
am from the land of Yongsông, where there were twenty-
eight dragon kings, all born from human wombs. They
ascended the throne one after another at the age of five or
six, taught the people, and regulated life. We have clans
of eight ranks, but all ascended to the throne without
elections. My father, King Hamdalp'a,
married the daughter of the king of the land of
Chôngnyô, but she long remained barren and
prayed for a son. After seven years, she gave birth to a huge egg.
The great king gathered and consulted his ministers, who said, "We have
never heard of a woman giving birth to an egg; surely it is
a bad omen." The king had a casket made, put me into it,
together with seven treasures and slaves, and loaded it on a
boat. He had it launched, and prayed that it would land on a destined place,
found a kingdom, and establish a family. A red dragon came to guard the
boat until it arrived here." Then the boy, his staff trailing after him, climbed
Mount T'oham with two slaves, built a cairn where he stayed
for seven days, and looked around for a suitable place
within the city walls to settle. He saw a hill shaped like
a three days' crescent moon, an ideal place for a long stay.
When he went down and approached the place, it was Lord Ho's
residence. The boy devised a ruse: he had whetstone and
charcoal buried around the house. The next day, he went to
the door and declared that it was the house of his
ancestors. Lord Ho denied this, and, after a quarrel
without reaching a decision, they brought the case before
the authorities. When the officials asked the boy to prove
his case, he replied, "We are a family of blacksmiths, but
we were away at a nearby village. During our absence some
other person occupied our house. I beg you to dig the
ground and make a search." They found the whetstone and
charcoal, so the house became his. Acknowledging the
shrewdness of the boy, King Namhae gave him his eldest
daughter in marriage....
Upon the death of King Yuri in the six month of the
second year of Chung-yuan of Emperor Kuang-wu [AD 57],
T'arhae ascended the throne. Because he had taken another's
property under the pretext that it was his ancestors', his
surname became Sôk (old); or because magpies caused
the casket to be opened, the bird radical was dropped from
the graph "magpie," leaving the one for Sôk. His name
T'arhae ("remove and undo") alludes to the fact that he came
out of an egg from a casket.
After a rule of twenty-three years, he died in the
fourth year of Chien-ch'u [AD 79], kimyo, and was buried on
the hill of Soch'ôn. Later a god said, "Remove my
bones." His skeleton was three feet two inches in
circumference, his body was nine feet seven inches tall, his
teeth were closely set like one tooth, his bones were joined
closely-- indeed he was a peerless giant. His remains were
broken, remade into a statue, and enshrined in the palace.
Then a god spoke again, "Bury my bones on Eastern Peak." So
he was enshrined there.

Glossary of texts, motifs, and figures

EGG

Egg is a recurrent motif in the founding legends of the three kingdoms. The egg descends from heaven or is born of a woman miraculously impregnated by the sun. It is worshipped, or feared and abandoned. See episodes in The Legend of Pak Hyôkkôse; in The Legend of King T'arhae.

SUN

Among the natural objects such as mountains, rivers, and trees that were accorded status as divinities in the animistic religion of the early occupants of Korea, the sun is foremost. Sun worship is demonstrated by the many examples of mythical birth from eggs after impregnation by the sun. See episodes in The Lay of King Tongmyông; in The Legend of Pak Hyôkkôse.

JOURNEY

Escapes, journeys, and migrations are important features of many of the legends of ancient Korea. See episodes in The Lay of King Tongmyông; in The Legend of King Onjo; in The Legend of King T'arhae.

SAMGUK YUSA

Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, compiled by the Sôn Buddhist master Iryôn in the thirteenth century. This text is the source of most of the legends of ancient Korea.

SAMGUK SAGI

Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms, 1146, compiled by the historian Kim Pusik in the twelfth century.

Translator
Peter H. Lee, University of California, Los Angeles.

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