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(1) Origin of the Nation
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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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