page_title: Korean mythology
section_title: Silla and Gaya
hierarchical_section_title: Korean mythology / Literary mythology / State-foundation myths / Silla and Gaya
caption_attribution_description: English: Geumgwedo (Painting of Golden box) drawn by Jo Sok in 1656, depicting the birth legend of Kim Alji, the founder of the Gyeongju Kim clan during the Silla kingdom period. 한국어: 금궤도(金櫃圖). 1656년 효종 7년 조선 후기시대의 북종화 화가 조속 (趙涑)이 경주김씨의 시조인 김알지 설화를 그린 고사인물화(故事人物畫)이다. 닭과 관련된 설화로 김알지가 태어난 곳인 계림의 모습을 담았다. 대한민국 서울시 국립중앙박물관 소장 중이며, 그림 위쪽에 어제(御製)를 김익희(金益熙)가 해서체로 다음과 같이 적었다. “御製此新羅敬順王金傅始祖 金櫃中得之 仍姓金氏者 金櫃揭于樹上 其下白鷄鳴 故見而取來 金櫃中有男子 繼昔氏爲新羅君也 其孫敬順王入高麗嘉其來順謚敬順 歲乙亥翌年春 命圖見三國史 吏曺判書臣金益熙奉 敎書 掌令臣趙涑奉 敎繕繪)” 정보 (한국민족문화대백과)
context_page_description: Korean mythology is the body of myths told by historical and modern Koreans. It is divided into two distinct corpuses: the literary mythology written in traditional histories, mostly about the founding monarchs of various historical kingdoms, and the much larger and more diverse oral mythology, most of which are narratives sung by shamans in rituals invoking the gods and which are still considered sacred today.
  The state-foundation myths that represent the bulk of the literary mythology are preserved in historicized form in Classical Chinese-language works such as Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa. They are divided into northern-type myths such as that of Goguryeo, in which the founding king is the son of a celestial male figure and an earthly female figure, and southern-type myths such as that of Silla, in which the founding king descends from heaven via an object and marries an earthly woman himself. One state-foundation myth, that of Dan'gun, has come to be perceived as the founding myth of the Korean nation as a whole. Other literary myths include the origin myths of descent groups written in traditional genealogies.
context_section_description: The ancient Silla kingdom was originally dominated by three clans: the Bak, the Seok, and the Kim. At some point the Seok were eliminated from power, and all Silla monarchs from then on were children of a Kim father and a Bak mother. All three clans have associated founding myths.
  The Bak foundation myth is given in the fullest detail in Samguk yusa. Six chieftains of the Gyeongju area convene to found a united kingdom. They see a strange light shining on a well. When they go there, they see a white horse kneeling. The horse ascends to heaven, leaving a large egg behind. The chieftains break open the egg and find a beautiful boy inside, who they name Hyeokgeose. Some time later, a chicken-dragon gives birth to a beautiful girl with a chicken beak from its left rib. When they wash the girl in a nearby stream, the beak falls off. When the boy and the girl are both thirteen years old, the chieftains crown them as the first king and queen of Silla and give the king the clan name of Bak. Hyeokgeose rules for sixty-one years and ascends to heaven. Seven days later, his dead body drops from the sky. The queen dies soon after. A giant snake prevents the people from holding a funeral until they dismember the body into five parts, which is why Hyeokgeose has five different tombs.
  The Samguk yusa also records the Seok and Kim foundation myths. In the first, a ship surrounded by magpies lands on the Silla coast after sailing away from Gaya for unspecified reasons. There is a giant chest in the ship, and when they open it they find slaves, treasures, and a young boy inside. The boy, Seok Talhae, reveals that he is a prince of a country called Yongseong (lit.  'dragon castle'). When he was born in the form of an egg, his father put him inside the chest and sent him away to found his own kingdom abroad. Having settled in Silla, Seok steals the house of the aristocrat Hogong through deceit and marries the eldest daughter of the Silla king, a descendant of Hyeokgeose. He succeeds his father-in-law as king and founds the Seok clan. After his death, he becomes the patron god of a local mountain. A village-shrine bon-puri very similar to the Seok Talhae myth is transmitted by modern shamans in the southern island of Jeju.
  Hogong appears prominently in the Kim foundation myth as well. One night, Hogong sees a great light in the woods. When he goes closer, he discovers a golden chest hanging from a tree and a white rooster crowing below. He opens the chest and discovers a boy, who he names Alji. Alji is brought to court and made the Silla king's heir, but he later abdicates his position. Alji would become the mythical founder of the Kim clan, which would later monopolize the patrilineal line of the Silla kings.
  Until their conquest by Silla in the sixth century, the delta of the southern Nakdong River was occupied by the Gaya polities. The Samguk yusa preserves the foundation myth of one of the most powerful Gaya kingdoms, that of Geumgwan Gaya. The nine chieftains of the country hear a strange voice announce that heaven has commanded it to found a kingdom there. After singing and dancing as commanded by the voice, a golden chest wrapped in red cloth descends from heaven. When the chieftains open it, they find six golden eggs. The eggs hatch into giant boys, who fully mature in merely two weeks. On the fifteenth day, the six each become kings of the six Gaya kingdoms. The first to hatch, Suro, becomes king of Geumgwan Gaya.
  Later, Suro is challenged by Seok Talhae, the founder of the Seok clan whose Silla-related myth is given above. According to the history of Gaya given in Samguk yusa, the two engage in a shapeshifting duel, after which Seok acknowledges defeat and flees to Silla. A beautiful princess named Heo Hwang'ok then arrives on a ship with red sails, bearing great wealth from a distant kingdom called Ayuta. Heo tells Suro that Shangdi has commanded her father to marry her to Suro, and the two become king and queen. They both live for more than 150 years.
  The foundation myths of Silla and Gaya are of the southern type, with the found
caption: The Golden Chest, painting by Jo Sok, 1656
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