The Three Hans- Why Korea's Native Name is Daehan

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Why Korea's name is Daehan? Well, to those who don't know the ancient characters of hanja which make up 70% of the Korean language, Daehan means, in literal translation, "Large Han". What is this "Han", then?

Not to be confused with the ethnic Han Chinese (Basically the people living in current People's Republic of China excluding the province of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang Uighur, Tibet, Qinghai, etc.), the "Han"s, are three "United" kingdoms in peace, in which they themselves are united, too. The three Hans are Mahan (마한), Jinhan (진한), and Byunhan (변한).

Idh0854/Wikipedia (CC)

The Mahan Confederacy is mostly the area of the Baekjae Dynasty that existed after it. It was a council of tribal kings and leaders, then mostly the council was led by Onjo, the brother of the second king of the Gorguyeo Dynasty in the north, who decided to move South and make his own kingdom. Later, he conquered all of the area of Mahan and later led the council of Kings.

The Jinhan Confederacy was the area of the 12 kingdoms, currently North Gyeongsang Province, in which later got united by the Saroguks, based in Gyeongju City, and became the Shinla Dynasty, Shinla had three families choosing the leader, rotating by the Parks, Suks, and Kims, which all had family relations with each other. Later, the Kim family only had kings.

Then comes Byunhan. later the short-living Gaya Dynasty and then part of Shinla.  Gaya was famous for a lot of natural resources, especially Iron and metal, in which they used it to make the most strongest weopons in East Asia and sell some of the resources to the Japanese.

Now, where does the name "Daehan" first get used? In October 12th, 1897, King Gojong of the Joeson Dynasty (1392-1910) decided China was to weak to give tributes to, and decided to modernize the nation so it won't fall behind huge empires. Yes, the Korean Empire in Korean is "Daehan Jaeguk", meaning "Daehan Empire". The Republic of Korea in Korean is "대한민국", "Daehan Minguk", meaning Daehan People's nation= Republic of Daehan. North Korea's government prefers to use everything as "Joeson", not "Daehan", though.

Why Hanguk is sometimes used in South Korea, is because it acts as an abbreviation for "Daehan Minguk". (That's why it's Hangook Tires, Canada's No. 1 Tire, not Daehan Mingook Tires!)
You get it? Hangook Tires actually advertised their brand like that in Canada!

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Korean Last Names Explained

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Korean last names. The first thing that comes to your mind: Kim. This is no surprise, as 21.6% (in 2000), according to the Korean Census, had the last name Kim. However, this is because of many ancestries in the Kim last name. Let's look into that.

Blue: Kim    Green: Lee    Orange: Park    Red: Choi    Purple: Jung    White: Other
Korea Stats 2000/Wikipedia (CC)

Many surnames have many ancestries in them. Uncommon surnames usually have one ancestry, like mine, Moon, which is the 23rd most common last name in South Korea (with 0.8 percent!). Then, in one ancestry, it may be divided into groups, known as 파 (Pa). It is usually founded by a person who leaves the 본관 (Bongwan, the place where the ancestry was started).

The most populous family, the Kim family, has a bit of history connecting to Korea's neighbors.

Many people with the surname "Kim" came from the Southeast side of the peninsula. Many Kim ancestries there are interconnected to one huge Kim ancestry, that founded the Shilla Dynasty.

Since many Japanese are thought to be of Korean descent, as the latest Korean immigration to Japan being in the 1940's, some Japanese "received" the last name "Kim" from former dynasties of Korea. Some are just descendants of the Koreans who immigrated there. It's complicated; in the 5-6th century Southern Korean dynasties discovered the land of Japan, taught them some stuff, in which the Japanese modified them into their own version (such as Karate and Sushi). That's when Japanese people became more closer to the other East Asians and shared their culture.

If you look at the Northern tip of North Korea, where it was occupied by many Korean and Manchurian Dynasties, South Manchuria was finally occupied forever by Joeson Dynasty of Korea in the 1400's. The Manchurian people who lived there at the time were "culturally mixed" with the Koreans there and became part of their ethnic identities. Many people then were considered to become a barely-known level of society between slaves and commoners, in which most of them were butchers. Off topic again, anyways in the Korean History Recorders, with many books recorded by royal historians at the time, shows in the 1400's, King Sejong the Great (Who made the Korean Writing system), gave some South Manchurians the last name of Kim. That's why, near the borders of North Korea, the People's Republic of China has many citizens with the surname Kum/Gum. 

Onto the Lees. it's pronounced as "E" in South Korea, because of the new pronunciation rule in the 60's and 90's, while North Korea still uses "Rhee". Yang is Liang, et cetra et cetra.  And the rest is too complicated for me to say.

But I can tell you a bit about my last name, Moon. With about 300,000~400,000 people with the last name, its only ancestry, the Hampyung Moons, originated in Hampyung District, Naju City, in Jeonla Province, founded by Dasung Moon, who later became one of the highest officials in Baekjae Dynasty. I'm 48 generations apart from him. 

The story of the Moons goes on like this. When the mayor of Naju was "playing" in the creek, he heard a baby cry. Soon, he discovered a little boy with really, really white skin (no offense!), and decided to raise him. Since the little boy was so good at recognizing most objects, his last name became Moon, which comes from Moonhwa, made up of two words, "Culture Flower". So, Moon=culture? Anyways, the Moons are divided into 6 groups, in which two of them went to the Island Province that used to be part of Jeonla at the time: Jeju Island. One group, the Namjaegongs, made by the great-great grandson of Dasung Moon, settled in Daejung, the Southwest corner of the island. And the Choongjaegongs, descendants of Ikjum Moon, probably the most famous Moon in Korea because he let cotton seeds enter into Korea (which was considered illegal in at-the-time Chinese dynasties, because they said that they wanted to keep their awesome culture inside their lands), and later Japan, settled in another part of Jeju. I said "another part", because I belong in the Namjaegongs and barely know it, through my friend who went to school with me in that island. And my grandfather lives in Illgwa Village, Daejung, which has the highest percentage of the Namjaegongs, so no wonder I know that fact. 

And also, some ancestries are "descedant" ancestries of some East Chinese ones, but since East China doesn't have one language but a lot, who cares? There's a lot of Ancestry group educational centers and meetings, too.

Summary:

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Where the Name "Korea" comes from

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Ever wondered where Korea got its name? Wonder why.

"Korea" is from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). In the 12th Century, merchants from Arabia and India "discovered" Korea when passing at the time the Chinese/Mongolian Won Dynasty (The Mongol Empire). And they pronounced "Goryeo" into something similar to "Corea". Then the Frenchies (or French Fries) came by and named us Corée. Then the English Muffins who shared a lot of cultural ties with France, named it Corea. I love giving countries nicknames.

Then the Goryeo Dynasty got wiped off the map and the Joeson Dynasty came in, however the Europeans did not change what they called the Korean Peninsula. Then the Japanese rule came in 1910, and apparently they wanted "J" (of Japan) to be in front of "C" (Of Corea) so they changed Corea into Korea. the English language called it Korea from then. The Romance Languages (Languages spoken in Italy, France, and the Iberian Peninsula) still let Korea start with a C. 

Some Korean activists want nationalism to kick in and rename the Republic of Korea into the Republic of Corea, but that's just millions of dollars wasted, and when the activists told the world that this is about nationalism, I don't get why Arabians and French people trying to write and pronounce the word "고려" (Goryeo) is a nationalistic thing, unless they're saying that we share the same heritage and ancestry (Well, we all share the same ancestry since we all have 1 or 2 common ancestors from the start of humanity, but I'm not talking that far.) This is a nice short post for the night. (Or midnight)

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Dialects/Regions of Korea Explained

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Dialects of Korea. Like the U.S. or the U.K., it is the same language however sounds different in many of their areas. However, to South Korea, one of the most homogeneous nations of the world with 95% being ethnically Korean, it may be different.

From the South:
Jeju (제주) Culture: Gray, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province
Jeonla (전라) Culture: Gold, South and North Jeonla Province, Gwangju City
Gyungsang (경상) Culture: Red, South and North Gyungsang Prov, Busan, Ulsan, and Daegu Cities
Choongchung (충청) Culture: Blue, South and North Choongchung Prov, Daejeon City, Sejong Special City
Gyungi (경기) Culture: Dark Green, Gyungi Province, Seoul Special City, Incheon
Gangwon (강원) Culture: Purple, South Korean and North Korean Gangwon Proivnces, Mt. Kumgang Tourist Region
Hwanghae (황해) Culture: Orange, South and North Hwanghae Provinces
Pyungan (평안) Culture: Lime Green, South and North Pyungan Provinces, Pyungyang, New Yiju Free Trade City, and Jagang Province
Hamgyung (함경) Culture: North and South Hamgyung Provinces, Nasun Special City

Korea has 9 different dialects with its own regional culture, dialect, and stereotypes. The languages, no matter how strange one person from Jeonla can speak, I bet that a person from Hamgyung province could understand it. In fact, Jeju is the most culturally different province from the rest of Korea. That's why there was a secession movement in the 50's. (But seriously, they can understand Korean fine, and I'm a Jeju person myself, so...) The provincial borders are very clear; the Jeonla dialect exists in the Jeonla Provinces, Gyungsang dialect in the Gyungsang Provinces, and so on. In fact, the reason there are the "North and South provinces" in South Korea, is because one nation is hard to govern with only 5 provinces (At the time Jeju was part of Jeonla.), and they thought the reasonable number would be around 10.

Some regional stereotypes I know of is putting dangke (당께) on every end of a sentence said by a Choongchung person, a dialect sounding similar to South Japanese (but many of their ancestors came from Korea) in Gyungsang, and a bunch of unknown words used by Jeju commoners.
There is also a regional variety in Kimchi, Korea's national food, which makes a great side dish, Very strange, but if you compare it to comparing German beer to Czech beer or a bunch of types of German beer INSIDE Germany, that's probably not an uncommon thing to see in the world.

Nowadays, the Gyungi cultural popularity is growing in South Korea, and the Pyungan cultural popularity is like 100% in North Korea.

In the old days where Korean dynasties used to control a huge chunk of Manchuria, (Northeast China), some North Korean cultures were there, too. Now, the place is just full of Han Chinese, Manchurians, and a Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Mao Zedong loved Koreans, too.

Also saying, the Hamgyung Culture actually is a mix of Korean and Manchurian ethnicity. The Southern half of Manchurian ethnicity is known to be "sucked in" by Korea.
Good night.

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The Great Wall of Korea(s)?

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Heard of the Great Wall of China (만리장성, 萬里長城),  where Chinese dynasties from, from the Han in B.C.E. 233 (Or the Jin in B.C.E. 770-443, the historians argue about this), where it stretches thousands of kilometers from East to Central China? Well, how about the Great Wall of Korea?

To fully understand the Great Wall of Korea(s), you must understand the Great Wall of China.
The Chinese Great Wall was made in order to stop tribes of the North (such as Mongolians and the Manchurian peoples) from invading China. The literal Chinese translated name for the Great Wall of China is the 10,000-li long castle. Li (or ri) is a form of Ancient East Asian measurement where 1 li roughly equals to 0.4 km. And since, in one point of history, the Great Wall of China was 4000 km long, so the name is quite reasonable.

Red: The Goguryeo Great Wall
Blue: The Goryeo Great Wall

Now, onto the Great Wall of Korea (천리장성, 千里長城). The first "Great Wall of Korea" I will talk about is the one built during the Goguryeo Dynasty (Red line on the map), a dynasty that lasted about 700 years. This Great Wall's literal translated name is the 1000-li long castle.  However, the Goguryeo Great Wall wasn't 400 km long; it was 700 km long! The reason they named it the 1000-li castle was just because they thought "it was so long it stretched over 400 km", but stretched even more. In conclusion: they barely estimated the distance. The Goguryeo Great Wall was built from the year 631 to 647 after the Goguryeo Dynasty and the Chinese Tang Dynasty's relations worsened. And yes, the Goguryeo Dynasty controlled VAST areas beyond the borders of current North Korea, controlling both the place where Confucius the Chinese philosopher was born and the current major Russian city of Vladivostok. That's why they could even build their Great Wall and why the People's Republic of China now operates the place.

The Second Great Wall of Korea's literal translation did almost exactly fit its description; it was about 400 km long. This Great Wall, built in the early days of Goryeo Dynasty (Called themselves the descendants of Goguryeo), is inside the borders of North Korea, and was the border of Goryeo Dynasty and a bunch of other Chinese Dynasties (and later the Mongolian Empire).

All the Korean Great Walls fit a similar purpose with the Chinese Great Wall; to protect themselves from the enemies of the North. If Korea never was divided or they still had territory up to the red line of the map, the Korean Great Walls would be better known today. However, with the Old Great Wall being in China (which has a longer Great Wall) and the New Great Wall being in the mysterious nation called the "Democratic" People's Republic of Korea, it is very unknown to many around the globe.

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What is Korea?

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Hello Internet,

If anyone asks you "Where/What is Korea?" or "Do you know what Korea is?", please stop them and tell them to read this post.

This is my first post, and since it's a first post about, well, something, I will attempt to describe Korea in a simple way (since I can't keep things simple.)

Well, if you don't know what Korea is, you can say it is 2 countries in East Asia, or a strip of land usually called the Korean peninsula with an area of 220,847 square kilometers and 75.12 million people (In 2013) living within it.

First, I'll show you where Korea is located.

I'm sad to say that I have to describe it by saying that it's close to other nations, as some of you guys don't know where Korea is, but know where Japan or China is.

"Sea of Japan Map en" by Sea of Japan Map.png: Chris 73derivative work: Phoenix7777 (talk) - This file was derived from: Sea of Japan Map.png:. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_of_Japan_Map_en.png#/media/File:Sea_of_Japan_Map_en.png

The Sea of Japan is actually the "East Sea", as in the East of Korea. Many people and groups, such as NASA, mistake it for the Sea of Japan, the name Japan gave for the East Sea. This is probably due to the "Unification" of Japan and Korea, where for 35 years, Japan colonized the Korean peninsula under their rule. (The Korean peninsula is South and North Korea.)

If you look at the map, (and you don't know a lot about the "conflict" going at that place), there are two nations with borders under the name "North Korea" and "South Korea". Why is this? 

Simply put, it is kind of a result of the Cold War, where in the start the U.S. attempted to make Korea into a democratic, capitalist nation (and have good relations with the U.S. and bad ones with the USSR), and the largest country from 1923 to 1991, the Soviets themselves tried to make Korea into a communist nation siding with them and getting filled with all sorts of propaganda about the "fat" Americans. This whole conflict eventually started the Korean War (1950-1953), which almost became the Third World War, however luckily was stopped by the Americans. It was also a mark of the start of the Cold War. More about this in future posts about the whole conflict of Korea.

South Korea only borders one country: North Korea. North Korea, in which should've been a bridge to the world for all Koreans when the two brother nations are unified, borders the People's Republic of China, the King of censorship and the most populous communist nation+the most polluted of the world, and the Russian Federation, in which is in a situation where former soviet nations are being invaded.

South Korea borders the island nation of Japan by water (of course, Japan is an island nation! Oops, I already mentioned that), with the  Korean Strait, and again, the controversial East Sea.
If you think that the East Sea-Sea of Japan conflict is the only geography conflict between the two East-Asian nations, you're wrong. In the southwestern part of the East sea, there is Dokdo (독도), which is made up of 2 major islands and 89 rock-sized islands, and was territory of Joeson Dynasty of Korea recorded back into the 1400's (and until the 1900's acknowledged by the Kingdom/Empire of Japan that Dokdo was Joeson territory, and later the Republic of Korea since 1948. However, modern Japan is trying to claim Dokdo, by stating that they "acquired" from the Joeson dynasty in the early years of the 20th century and even appeared on Japanese textbooks. And if South Korea and Japan, the two highest GDP per capita nations do not cooperate (they still economically do) well due to these conflicts, there will be trouble when a war near them breaks out. (Hint: Another Korean War?)

Anyways, that's it for now, thanks to whoever was reading this!

Oh, by the way, NO COPY/PASTING! I can connect with a personal memory when I found someone mad that their copyrighted news article was all over small newspapers all over the web.

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