Hwarang
| Hwarang | |
| Hangul | 화랑 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Hwarang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwarang |
| Hwarang | |
|---|---|
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Hwarang, also known as Flowering Knights, were an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture as well as religious teachings stemming mainly from Buddhism. Chinese sources referred only to the physical beauty of the "Flower Youths". Originally, the hwarang were known for their use of make-up and cosmetic decorations and accessories. The history of the hwarang was not widely known until after the liberation of 1945, after which the hwarang became elevated to a symbolic importance.
The Hwarang were also referred to as Hyangdo (fragrant ones or incense men), the word hwarang and its colloquial derivatives being used for everything from playboy to shaman or husband of a female shaman. The word remained in common use until the 12th century but with more derogatory connotations.
Information on the Hwarang are mainly found in the histories Samguk Sagi (1145) and Samguk Yusa (ca. 1285), and the partially extant Haedong Goseungjeon (1215), a compilation of biographies of famous monks of the Three Kingdoms.
All three of these works cite primary sources no longer extant, including: 1) a memorial stele to Nallang (presumably a Hwarang based upon the suffix nang) by the 9th–10th century Silla scholar Choe Chiwon; 2) an early Tang account of Silla titled the Xinluo guoji by the Tang official Ling Hucheng; and 3) Hwarang Segi (화랑세기, 花郞世記, Chronicle of the Hwarang) by Kim Daemun, compiled in the early 8th century. In the late 1980s, an alleged Hwarang Segi manuscript was discovered in Gimhae, South Korea, which a scholar Richard McBride regards as a forgery.
According to the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, two bands of females called Wonhwa (원화, 源花, "original flowers") preceded the Hwarang. The precise nature and activities of the Wonhwa are also unclear, with some scholars positing they may have actually been court beauties or courtesans. However, considering that they were trained in ethics, this may be a later patriarchal reading into the Wonhwa. Women played a much more prominent social role in pre-Joseon dynasty Korea, especially in Silla, which had three reigning queens in its history.
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