Hwarang

smallest and most unlikely kingdom of Silla that began the foundations of what we now call Taekwondo. The king of Silla, Chin Heung, had an elite group of warriors known as the HwaRang (Southwick). The HwaRang were skilled warriors who had experience of using weapons and weaponless martial arts. One marital art that was favored by the HwaRang was Soobak. Soobak involved foot fighting and some hand techniques. HwaRang wanted to increase their skills so they added on other techniques and sometimes used weapons when practicing the HwaRang version of SooBak, which would eventually become Taekwondo (Southwick). However, King Chin Heung, wanted the HwaRang to be motivated with patriotism when fighting their enemies. He decided that the HwaRang needed a code of ethics to abide by to help inspire unity among the ranks of the HwaRang (Southwick). Won Kang was a “Buddhist monk and scholar” who had been asked by the king to come up with the new code of ethics for the HwaRang. Some of the new principles in this new code of ethics were: “Be loyal to your king, be obedient to your parents, have honor and faith among friends, have perseverance in battle, and justice never to take a life without cause” (Southwick). After combining this new code of ethics with the HwaRang’s method of fighting, the king decided that the HwaRang would become HwaRangDo, which when translated means, “the way of flower of manhood” (Southwick). This new method of early taekwondo enabled the HwaRangDo to renowned…

unify the kingdoms? And the reason behind the success of Silla was the Hwarang System. This leads to my research question: How did the start of the Hwarang system lead to Silla unifying the three kingdoms? And in this research project, I want to understand the influence of Hwarang. Silla was small in both size and population, and also weak. Silla depended on the Tang Dynasty and their allies. Silla was made in 57 BC by Pak (also Bak or Park) Hyeokgeose, however the start of the Silla Kingdom…

information on Taekwondo dating back to 50 B.C., when Korea was separated into three kingdoms: Silla, Koguryo, and Paekche. Within these, Koguryo was the first place where Taekwondo was seen and practiced. After spreading throughout Korea, Silla’s Hwarang warriors were credited for the growth of Taekwondo in Korea. Although Silla was the smallest, the Japanese Pirates always attacked. They were able to get help from King Gwanggaeto and his soldiers to drive the enemies out. At the time, some…

Being in a math team sounds boring and stressful, but I gained knowledge through the different math activities they provided. I gained a lot of math skills from participating in math madness and AMC.This showed me that math was not just deriving and integrating, but math was an application of those skills. Outside of school, I volunteer at Pomona Valley Medical Hospital Center, Volunteens, and Hwarang Leo Club. Pomona Valley Medical Hospital Center took me a step closer to my dreams. Throughout…

During the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BCE - 668 CE), Korea was divided between the Koguryo, Paekche and Silla. The Koguryo kingdom (37 BCE) stretching from the northern Korean Peninsula to Manchuria, was the first kingdom to adopt Buddhism in China. In the southwestern part of the peninsula, the Paekche kingdom (18 BCE) ruled and were in constant rivalry with the other two kingdoms of the period. The Silla Kingdom, which was established first in 57 BCE, was most powerful of the three and played a…

Koguryo and Paekche, Silla would have seemed the least likely to succeed in unifying the Korean peninsula. Silla was the smallest of the three kingdoms, and its location on the southeastern corner of the peninsula was the furthest from China in comparison to Koguryo and Paekche. Although Silla seemed unlikely to prosper, the dynasty was powerful in many areas, leading to their success in Korean history. The Silla dynasty flourished and was one of the longest sustained dynasties in the world,…

and its negative effects on Korean women are shown in the 2010 film “The Housemaid” in which two South Korean women are mistreated and used as tools for the benefit of their shared lover. The societal expectations are even more damaging for South Korean lesbians who suffer an even greater stigma as shown in the film “Whispering Corridors 2: Memento Mori” (1999) where the lesbian main characters are frequently discriminated against because of their sexuality and relationship. Despite being…