Oct 15 2008
Pattern in sight
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“Hwarang” is most often translated as “Flower Knights” or “Flower Youths.” Hwa is the Sino-Korean (hanja) character for flower or the act of blooming. Rang means man, sometimes used as a suffix in Silla official titles.
The Hwarang were an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. They were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture steeped in Buddhism and Taoism. These groups developed into a more military organization as the Silla court centralized political power and battled to unite the Three Kingdoms.
According to the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, two bands of females called Wonhwa, “original flowers” preceded the Hwarang. Women played a much more prominent social role in pre-Confucian Korea, especially in Silla, which had three reigning queens in its history.
Both sources record that during the reign of King Jinheung, groups of beautiful girls were chosen and taught filial and fraternal piety, loyalty, and sincerity (no firm date is given for this, and some scholars express doubt this even occurred during Jinheung‘s reign). However, the leaders of the two bands of Wonhwa, Nammo and Junjeong, grew jealous of one another. When Junjeong murdered her rival the Wonhwa were disbanded.
At some point thereafter, according to the Samguk Yusa, the Silla king, “concerned about the strengthening of the country … again issued a decree and chose boys from good families who were of good morals and renamed them hwarang.” This suggests that the Hwarang were not originally military in character, as the Wonhwa were not soldiers.
Two youths, Gwisan and Chwihang, approached the Silla monk Won Gwang seeking spiritual guidance and teaching, saying “We are ignorant and without knowledge. Please give us a maxim which will serve to instruct us for the rest of our lives.”
Won Gwang, who had gained fame for his period of study in Sui China, replied by composing the Five Commandments for Secular Life (Sae Sok O-Gye). These have since been attributed as a guiding ethos for the Hwarang:
Loyalty to one’s lord (sagun ichung)
Love and respect your parents and teachers(sachin ihyo)
Trust among friends (gyo-u isin)
Never retreat in battle (imjeon mutwae)
Never take a life without a just cause (salsaeng yutaek)
Asma Maryam Ali