Hwanung, the son of Hwanin who was the Lord of the Heavens, looked down longingly at the Earth below. How beautiful it seemed with mountains and valleys hued blue and green! He observed the humans on Earth curiously.
“Father,” he said, “I would so much like to go down there and live among men.” Hwanin smiled at his son. He knew that Hwanung would only bring happiness to the mortals. He looked down to the earth and chose Mount Taebaek as a suitable spot for his son to go.
And so Hwanung came down to Mount Taebaek, accompanied by three thousand loyal kinsmen. He also bought with him three heavenly seals his father had given him. The Cloud Master, the Rain Maker and the Wind Leader also came with him as divine ministers.
Together they arrived at a spot under a sandalwood tree on Mount Taebaek and it was here that Hwanung decided to build his city he called Sinsi or the City of God. He gave himself the title Cheong Wang or Heavenly King.
Hwanung was a model king, giving humans lessons in right living. He taught them as many as three hundred and sixty areas of responsibility like how to sow grain, heal illnesses, justice and punishment, death, goodness and truthfulness and many, many more. Invaluable lessons all, how life was to be lived upon Earth. And time passed…
Now in a cave near the sandalwood tree lived a bear and a tiger. Every day, they would come to the sandalwood tree and offer prayers to Hwanung, the Divine King. They prayed that they too could become human beings. Hwanung heard their prayers and took note of their desire. “So you two are not happy with your animal forms and wish to be humans?” he asked them. “Yes, my Lord, very much!” they chorused together for there was nothing else they wanted in this world.
“All right! You shall be granted your wish provided you fulfil the conditions I put before you,” said Hwanung. The two animals drew close. “What do you wish us to do, Your Divine Majesty?” asked they. Hwanung gave them a bundle of sacred mugworts (a kind of herb) and twenty cloves of garlic and told them, “If you eat only these and spend a hundred days without seeing sunlight, you shall become human!”
Excited, the bear and the tiger returned to their cave and began practising the rigorous discipline the Divine King had set out for them.
Of course, it was tough! After all can a bear survive without sweet nectar or a tiger refuse meat? Days passed slowly, very slowly. The tiger and the bear shut themselves in their cave and did not step out into the daylight. As the days dragged themselves endlessly, the tiger grew impatient. How long could he do this? It was not long before he finally gave up in despair. “I can’t go through with this, Bear! I’m leaving,” he said and walked out into the warm sunshine. But the bear continued the routine. A hundred days finally passed and on the hundred and first day, the bear was transformed into a beautiful maiden. The grateful maiden honoured Hwanung with offerings. Since everyone knew her story, no one was willing to marry Ungyo, the ‘bear’ woman. Lonely and sad, the maiden prayed to Hwanung for a husband so that she could have a son. So Hwanung made her his wife and they had a child. The boy was named Tangun, meaning ‘sandalwood’. Tangun succeeded his father as the king. He came to Pyongyang and ruled Korea for a thousand five hundred years becoming the founding father of that country. After this time, he retreated to the Taebaek to become a mountain god.
A Korean Myth