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| I. THE BEGINNING OF THE HISTORY
OF KOREA |
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| 1. Life and Culture in the Prehistoric
Age |
| (1) Origin of the Nation |
Since the prehistoric age, the ancestors of the Korean
people lived widely dispersed on the Korean peninsula
throughout Manchuria, and the Gulf of Bohai in East Asia.
People lived in these areas from the Paleolithic age,
but they had little direct bearing on the formation of
the Korean nation. The basis of the Korean nation is believed
to have formed from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
Ethnologically, the Korean people belong to the Mongoloid
family and the language is derived from the Altaic language
family. The Yemaek and Han tribes recorded in early China
formed the main ethnic background of the nation as they
developed the Bronze culture. |
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| (2) Paleolithic and Neolithic Cultures |
The Paleothic culture in Korea began 600,000 years ago.
The most famous relics have been unearthed in: Sokjang-ni,
Kongju county; Kulp'o-ri, Unggi county; and Chongok-ni,
Yonch'on county. The Paleolithic people lived in caves.
They used bones and horns to catch wild beasts and fish
and plucked fruits from trees for their sustenance.
The Neolithic culture began about 8,000 years ago. Relics
from this age are largely found along the seacoasts and
river basins. The Neolithic people used ground stone implements
and earthenware with comb-shaped figures. In earlier stages,
they caught fish and beasts, but in the later stages they
began to engage in primitive forms of agriculture. They
gathered in clans, and as such, formed clan societies.
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| (3) Bronze Culture and Social Change |
| Around the 10th century B.C., people who used figureless
earthenware appeared. Thus, beginning the formation of
the Bronze culture. This culture began to develop along
the Liaoning of Manchuria and in the northwestern areas
of the Korean peninsula, and it later gradually spread
throughout the entire country. |
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Dolman on
the island of Kanghwado, circa 20th century B.C.
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Prehistoric remains in chongok-ni, Yonch`on district
Kyonggi province
Comb-pattern ware dating from 3,000~2,000 B.C.,
excavated from prehistoric remains in Amsa-dong,
Seoul.
Paledithic age remains in Sokjang-ni, Kongju district,
South Ch'ungch'ong province
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In the early Bronze Age, the northern Bronze culture
introduced a type of bronze sword known as the Pip'a.
However, the Pip'a-type bronze sword eventually evolved
into a slender type of the bronze sword, and bronzeware
also began to be made in Korea. Thus, developing a unique
bronze culture.
The people of the Bronze Age lived in hilly areas, engaging
chiefly in agriculture and even began rice farming. They
began to build dolmens and stone-coffin tombs. At this
stage, the power of the patriarchs strenghtened, and they
made their advent as rulers, thus forming the early tribal
states in the patriarchal society. |
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