The Hwarang is an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient kingdom of Korea that lasted until the 10th century. The Hwarang were not mere warriors as most people would assume, but they were a group of young men who were striving to be the best in the arts, education, martial arts, and culture. Later on, the Silla kingdom would take advantage of this elite group for their own military gains as the pressure of a united Korea takes hold of the Hwarang group.
Hwa-Rang literally means "flower youth". Hwa (花) is a Hanja term meaning flower or the act of blooming while Rang (郞) literally means "man" or "person" (the term hwarang does not always indicate youth specifically). In old Korean folklore, there are many stories of young women and men being analogous to the Lotus flower. Many of these tales depict Buddhist philosophies of becoming reborn or reanimated through life in literal or figurative fashion.
In short, the secondary definition to Hwa-Rang can mean "reborn man".
Previous to the Hwarang, there were a group of female youths called the Wonhwa (원화, 源花, "original flowers") during the pre-Confucian era of Silla. Both the Samguk Sagi (History of the three kingdoms) and Samguk Yusa (Legend of the three kingdoms) recite that King JiHeung of the Silla kingdom, hand-picked these women for the WonHwa group. However, the leaders of the two bands of Wonhwa, Nammo 南毛 and Junjeong 俊貞, grew jealous of one another. When Junjeong murdered her rival the Wonhwa were disbanded.
There are some claims that suggest that the Hwarang were like the samurai but there are no evidences that relate to this topic. The only similarities between the two would be their code of ethics.
The Hwarang strictly obeyed the following ethics:
- Loyalty to one's lord (sagun ichung; 사군이충; 事君以忠; 나라에 충성하고)
- Love and respect your parents and teachers(sachin ihyo; 사친이효; 事親以孝; 부모님께 효도하고)
- Trust among friends (gyo-u isin; 교우이신; 交友以信; 믿음으로 벗을 사귀고)
- Never retreat in battle (imjeon mutwae; 임전무퇴; 臨戰無退; 싸움에 나가서는 물러서지 않으며)
- Never take a life without a just cause (salsaeng yutaek; 살생유택; 殺生有擇; 살아있는 것을 함부로 죽이지 않는다)
Though the Hwarang are long gone, there are still martial practices around the world that take the Hwarang name and integrate it into their arts. It should not be mistaken that the Hwarang some how influenced the art, but that the art is merely saluting the Hwarang group and its historical landmark in Korean history.
Sources:
Ilyon (1972; 2006) Samguk Yusa: Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea, translated by Tae-Hung Ha and Grafton K. Mintz. Yonsei University Press: Seoul, Korea.
Kim, Kichung. "Notes on the Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa". In Kichung Kim, An Introduction to Classical Korean Literature. London: M.E. Sharpe, 1996.
Lee, Hai-soon. "Kim Pu-sik's View of Women and Confucianism: An Analytic Study of the Lives of Women in the Samguk sagi". Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, Vol. 10 (1997):45-64.
