The Historical Significance of Samgaksan Mountain

 Samgaksan Mountain, located in the north of Seoul, is a mountain where citizens can always climb nearby without spending much time, and can be said to be a symbol of Seoul along with the Hangang River. However, historically, it can be seen that Samgaksan Mountain is not just a mountain that symbolizes Seoul, but a mountain that stands tall in the middle of national history and symbolizes the spirit of our people. In other words, it can be seen that whenever a new phase is opened in the flowing national history, it appears as a meaningful mountain symbolizing that era psychologically. Samgaksan Mountain has many names according to each period. In the Three Kingdoms period, it was also named Buaak and Hoengak, and in the Goryeo Dynasty, it was called Samgaksan Mountain, Hwasan Mountain, and Hwaak, and now it is called Bukhansan Mountain, communicating with people of that period and related to the history of the times. This article aims to explain the historical names of Samgaksan Mountain, as well as how it has played a spiritual and historical function at every juncture of new history as it continues from the Three Kingdoms Period to the establishment of the Republic of Korea. The purpose of this work is to find out the true national historical meaning of Samgaksan Mountain, which has been neglected so far, to find the coordinates of the national history that should be opened today, and third, to give pride to local residents and all love of Samgaksan Mountain. 1. Baekje's founding was the first to appear in connection with the Samgaksan Mountain during the Three Kingdoms Period and the founding of Korea. According to the priest, the name of this time was Buaak. In particular, this Buaak refers to Insubong Peak, according to the Bukhanji. In other words, "Insubong Peak is the first peak of Samgaksan Mountain. It was called Buaak because a rock was added to the back of the peak when the slope was carved with pure rock, and it was also called "the place where Bua rose up" or "the place where the fire rose up." The first records related to Samgaksan Mountain and the founding of Korea appear in the History of the Three Kingdoms. According to the articles of King Onjo, the founder of Baekje, the brothers Biryu and Onjo, the sons of King Dongmyeong, the founder of Goguryeo, came down to the south with several people from Zolbonyeo and reached Hansan, now Seoul, to search for the capital city. At this time, the ten servants pleaded, "I think the land of Hanam is surrounded by Hansu to the north, and it is based on a high mountain to the east, and fertile fields are visible to the south, and blocked by a large sea to the west. It is difficult to obtain a place with these natural geographical advantages, so it would be better to set a capital here." The fact that Onjo and Biryu went south and climbed Samgaksan Mountain to determine the capital shows that Samgaksan Mountain is very closely related to the founding of Baekje. Like a mother carrying a baby, Samgaksan Mountain is a mountain that creates a new nation and appears in our national history.Although it is not the history of the founding of the country, it can be seen that Samgaksan Mountain is also recorded as a very important mountain in the middle of Silla. Baekje moved the capital to Woongjin due to the policy of King Jangsu of Goguryeo, and the 26th king of Baekje joined hands with King Jinheung of Silla to restore the Han River basin and Buaak, but the land was lost to Silla two years later. During the Three Kingdoms Period, King Jinheung of Silla established a monument in Bibong in 555 AD to take over Buaak, a strategic point, and named the northern part of the Hangang River as Bukhansanju in the administrative district, and Sosa as one of the famous mountains. In other words, Silla erected a monument on Samgaksan Mountain to announce the power of its country, and considered the aspect and meaning of Samgaksan Mountain as a famous mountain to the extent that a ritual was held. As such, the geographical aspect of this mountain also played an important role in that Samgaksan Mountain was already recognized as an important mountain indicating the founding of Baekje or the Silla River during the Three Kingdoms Period. The name Hoengak, which appears several times in Baekje's history, refers to Samgaksan Mountain. At that time, it is understood that it was called Hoengak using "horizontal crossing" depending on the situation in the region because Samgaksan Mountain was placed horizontally in the middle of the attack or defense. As such, Baekje, Goguryeo, Silla, and the three kingdoms seem to have spared no national power because it was strategically advantageous to secure this place, a military hub. In other words, it can be seen that Samgaksan Mountain appears as a very important mountain in our ancient history along with its geographical aspect and its situation. 2. Gukmangbong Peak, one of the main peaks of Samgaksan Mountain in the Goryeo Dynasty, is a peak deeply related to the founding of Goryeo. At the end of the Unified Silla Dynasty, Doseon, a national teacher and knowledgeable in feng shui, judged that Silla's national fortunes had already reached their limits, including the unstable political situation and social confusion at the time. Therefore, in order to restore the stability of the people, they longed for a new country and a new owner, and while exploring famous mountainous areas across the country to find a place to pray, they became the center of the Korean Peninsula and visited Buaak, whose power rose to the center. National Preceptor Doseon set up a prayer place on this mountain and built a thatched hermitage called Doseonam Hermitage, and prayed earnestly for a new country to achieve a new history with great care. Finally, when I climbed to the southern peak and looked at it, I found that it was Daemyeongdang, which will become a capital city in the future, because there was a royal flag in the Songak area (now Gaesong). Therefore, this peak was called Gukmangbong Peak, meaning "I looked at the country," and Doseon met Wang Yong, Wang Geon's father, and hinted at the emergence of a new dynasty. Wang Yong, who was tempted, was very happy and asked, "How long can the new dynasty go?" "It will last a thousand years," said Toshin said."As soon as I said that, I saw Samgaksan Mountain standing in front of Songaksan Mountain, and he hurriedly said, "Oh, no. It is said to have been blocked by Samgaksan Mountain for 500 years." In fact, Goryeo collapsed in 474 years and had to hand over the capital to Hanyang. King Taejo Wang Geon founded Jungheungsa Temple under Nojeokbong Peak in Bukhan-ri, Samgaksan Mountain, to pray for the revival of Goryeo. When King Hyeonjong of the 8th Goryeo Dynasty lived as a monk in Samgaksan Mountain, he sealed Jingwansa Temple in honor of Monk Jingwan and founded Jingwansa Temple in 1011, and sought to make a comeback while living in Jungheung-dong, the valley of Jungheungseong Fortress. At the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, in 1388, General Choi Young built Jungheungseong Fortress and stationed troops here to rebuild the sloping Goryeo, and Wonjeungguksa Bow rebuilt Jungheungsa Temple and built Taegoam Rock next to it to pray for the nation's reconstruction. Samgaksan Mountain, which has this history, seems to have already been called Samgaksan Mountain since the Goryeo Dynasty. According to Seo Hee-jeon, the mountain name, which had been called Buaak since the Three Kingdoms Period, began to be called Samgaksan Mountain from the Goryeo Dynasty, and it seems to have taken a firm place in the Joseon Dynasty, given that Seo-hee said to Seong-jong. According to previous geography books such as Sejong Silok Geography, Sinjeungdonggukyeoji Seungram, Donggukyeoji, Yeojidoseo, Jeungbo Munheonbigo, Bukji, and Daedongji compiled during the Joseon Dynasty, all three peaks rose up. As such, Samgaksan Mountain soared high in the sky opposite Gaesong (Songak) at the time, highlighting its symbolism, and influencing various Korean folk customs, such as the surrounding place names and customs. In addition, it was named "Three Horn" because the shape of the three peaks of Samgaksan Mountain looks like three horns. After that, over the years, these "three horns" have become the etymology of "Samgaksan Mountain" or "Seoul" that we are calling now. There is a theory that if "three horns" are used in Chinese characters, it becomes "three" → three and horns → each, and "three (stone) horns" become "sebul" = Buddha = crying, or "sebul = seoul." Another theory is that it originated from Seorabeol, and it is said to have the meaning of the capital. Considering this, it can be assumed that the common noun "Sehorn" has been transformed into a proper noun "Samgaksan Mountain," and it is more likely that it originated from "Sehorn" than Silla's "Seorabeol." In other words, the etymology of "Seoul" that we call today is located in Samgaksan Mountain. Along with this, Sam, which is enjoyed by the Korean people, may have various symbolic meanings, but it is usually related to Samjae, which consists of people who are heaven and earth. In addition, as can be seen here, the term "three gods grandmothers" in our customs is also thought to have been expressed in line with the meanings of mother mountains, childbirth, and mountain gods carrying babies along with the three peaks of Samgaksan Mountain. 3. When Yi Seong-gye founded Joseon during the Joseon Dynasty, many Goryeo retainers did not enter Dumundong, and because they returned to the distant countryside and did not bend the principles of Bulsa-gun, they decided to give up Gaeseong, the capital of Goryeo, and move the capital. Originally thought of as a new capital, Gyeryongsan Mountain was located in the area of Gyeryongsan Mountain, and Gyeryongsan Mountain was named after Muhak said, "Geumgyeporan type and Biryongcheon type." Sindoan means a new capital. However, the construction of the new plan was suspended for the first time in more than a year, as the servants suggested that the capital should be in the center and the mountain god appeared in the king's dream and said, "Don't touch a handful of soil." Even now, there are about 100 metrology and foundation stones in this area that indicate the construction of the royal palace was carried out. However, Jeong Do-jeon, who is fluent in astronomical geography, had already climbed Samgaksan Mountain and designated this place as a new capital in his heart while looking at the sunny place in the south. Therefore, the peak was named Manggyeongdae because it looked at the metropolitan area. As he claimed, it is widely known that Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty, once again placed the center of the founding of the country on Samgaksan Mountain. Lee Tae-jo sang after establishing the Joseon Dynasty, saying, "Even the towering, high-pitched sky rose. Hanyang's terrain compared his will to Samgaksan Mountain, saying, "The large continent that opened the sky supports Samgaksan Mountain, and the long river of the wide sea flows from Odaesan Mountain." Therefore, after the founding of the Joseon Dynasty in Gaegyeong in 1392, Lee Tae-jo moved the capital to Hanyang in 1394, with great ambition, but collapsed as Gyeongsul Gukchi in 1910. Samgaksan Mountain is introduced as Hwak or Jungak of Hwasan Mountain by another name in most Joseon Dynasty geography books such as Sinjeungdonggukyeoji Seungram. This is the nickname of Samgaksan Mountain and is distinguished from the real name Samgaksan Mountain. In Bukhanji, "Samgaksan Mountain is named because the three peaks of Insubong Peak, Baegunbong Peak, and Mangyeongbong Peak are like three horns that seem to have been carved out standing tall, and it is also called Hwasan Mountain or Hwaak." Even now, the Chinese people still call themselves China, which means that their country is the center of the world and its energy gathers and blooms like flowers, and it is called Volcanic Hwaak or Jungak because it symbolizes the final convergence of flowers. Yang Sung-ji, a scholar in the early Joseon Dynasty, made a true statement to use Geumgangsan Mountain as Dongak, Guwolsan as Seoak, Jirisan Mountain as Namak, Jangbaeksan as Bukak, and Samgaksan as Jungak, which means the center point and center of the whole. That's why volcanoes are usually said to be another name that calls for Jinsan in the metropolitan area. Therefore, the name Hwasan Mountain was misrepresented, and it can be seen that even in Joseon, Samgaksan Mountain is regarded as the center point of the Korean Peninsula. In Samguk Sagi, a record of "traveling to Bukhansan Mountain in October of the 16th year of King Jinheung" and engraved "Bukhansanju" on the monument of King Jinheung of Bibong were passed down to the south of the Han River in the 14th year of King Onjo of Baekje. It is believed that the generalization of Bukhansan Mountain over the original name of Samgaksan Mountain, which has been used for more than a thousand years since the Goryeo Dynasty, was due to Geum Seoryong, who served as a historical investigator of the Government-General of Joseon in 1915. He investigated the remains of Samgaksan Mountain and named the report the "Research Report on Bukhansan Mountain in Goyang-gun, Gyeonggi-do." In addition, Bukhansan Mountain is a famous mountain of Joseon that rises in the northern part of Gyeongseong, and this mountain is also called Samgaksan Mountain, and it is believed to have originated from the record that there is also a name Volcano or Hwaak. 4. During King Gojong's reign at the end of the Japanese colonial period, the national name was changed to the Korean Empire, but after Japan's 1905 Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, the annexation treaty was forcibly signed in 1910, depriving the country of sovereignty. At this time, Uiam Son Byung-hee, the third generation dogma of Cheondogyo, gathered the employees of the Central General Office of Cheondogyo without hiding his anger on his face and said, "Sadaabu is non-self-reliance, factional dictatorship is undemocratic, and national humiliation is non-democratic. In the future, I will surely restore national power within 10 years because I will have to do it, and I will practice the idea for national liberation one by one. The first launch was to set the ground at the foot of Samgaksan Mountain. The following year, in August 1911, the site was purchased in Sogwigol Valley (Udong), which was Simsan Yugok, and the following year, in June 1912, the completion of Bonghwanggak Pavilion was completed. In addition, six other buildings were built and named Sobong Hwanggak, but after the Gimimanse Movement, all of them were demolished by the Japanese police. Son Byung-hee began training Cheondogyo leaders here on April 15, when construction work at Bonghwanggak Pavilion was in full swing. The contents of the training at this time were prayers for the liberation of the country and the training of Lee Shin-hwan-seong. The leaders who participated in the training woke up at 4:30 a.m., bathed in the water of Sogwigol Valley flowing from Samgaksan Mountain, washed their hair and cleaned their bodies, and gathered at 5 a.m. to pray for the recovery of national power and soft training. Lee Shin-hwan refers to mental reform that realizes that the body is a temporary object and the Holy Spirit is an eternal subject, finds the basis of human beings, and establishes subjectivity and independence. Through these training, the emphasis was placed on solidifying the mental attitude toward the independence movement. Since then, soft training has been conducted seven times over the past three years for 49 days in turn, with a total of 483 mid-sized traders from all over the country participating in the training. After the training, they returned to forest land all over the country and thoroughly delivered their training to church members in the jurisdiction to equip themselves with mental armament so that they could engage in the independence movement with indomitable will and faith. Because of this thorough preparation, during the March 1st Movement, independence demonstrations were possible in all parts of the country. It goes without saying that the establishment of a temporary government in Shanghai, China after the March 1st Movement, was possible because of thorough preparations such as training 483 Cheondogyo leaders here in Bonghwanggak. However, whether Japan, which occupied the peninsula, thought it was unusual to see the appearance and meaning of Samgaksan Mountain, or whether it was suspicious of Bonghwanggak's training, it occupied Samgaksan Mountain by having the Japanese military police stationed in a place without civilians or soldiers. The Japanese Government-General, concerned that our righteous army or independent army would use Samgaksan Mountain as its base, burned most of the facilities and temples in Bukhansanseong Fortress. In 1927, an iron railing was installed in Baegundae to damage the national spirit and iron core was embedded. However, 35 years after liberation, it was demolished in the 1980s in search of all the iron cores that were then embedded. 5. The will for independence, which spread throughout the country through the Bonghwanggak Pavilion in Korea, finally erupted in 1919, nine years after the March 1st Movement. In the meantime, the movement, which has been cooperated in many ways, and in particular has been carried out with the help of various religions, has unprecedented in world history, and its scale has also shown an amazing record as follows. ① 15,432 rallies 5,023,982 mobilization , 23,470 casualties 48 46,948 subjects and prisoners 367 building destruction cases 3,900 grain losses. However, it was not limited to the domestic market. In 300 years, India under British rule and Korea's 31st Movement, faced with the sword of Japanese imperialism with a single Taegeukgi, became an "Eastern Torch" that lit the future of the country and people, followed by 350 million liberation. Finally, the colonial state disappeared from the earth, and indeed, the peaceful beginning of mankind originated from Bonghwanggak, so Samgaksan Mountain must be a sacred place in human history. On the side of the rock of Baegundae, where the Taegeukgi flutters at the top, the Declaration of Independence was written by Choi Nam-seon of Yukdang on February 10th, and Jeong Jae-yong led the declaration of independence at Tapgol Park on March 1st. As described above, Bonghwanggak at the foot of Samgaksan Mountain served as a spiritual cradle for the 31st Movement during the dark Japanese colonial period and also as a cradle of national spirit. If the spiritual origin of the March 1st Movement, which showed how to establish a temporary government and open the way to independence for many countries around the world, must be the roots of the founding of the Republic of Korea, as the Korean Constitution stipulates. Baekbeom Kim Gu, who was the president of the Provisional Government of Korea in Shanghai, visited Bonghwanggak Pavilion and visited Son Byung-hee's grave as soon as he arrived in Seoul when he returned home. At that time, he ran on the unpaved pass without resting. The reason why the leaders of the country, including the first President Rhee Syng-man and President Park Chung-hee, visited Son Byung-hee's grave is because it is the spiritual root of the nation and the country. In addition, 26 tombs of independent patriots, including eight temporary officials of Shanghai, are adjacent to the tomb of Uiam Seongsa Temple in the north. One of the temporary government agents asked his children to bury him under the foot of the tomb of Uiam Seongsa Temple. These people did not have the same idea, did not have the same religion, and even though they had a mountain in their hometown, they wanted to gather their will to become the cornerstone of their country, even if they were dead souls and bones. It makes me think about how we can be today, not their voice. Even looking at this fact of patriots, Samgaksan Mountain must be a famous mountain with our national spirit. At the end of the conclusion, we looked at how people at that time viewed Samgaksan Mountain.

To summarize this, *In the Three Kingdoms Period, a new country (Baekje) that could embrace the people, like a mother carrying a baby on her back (Booaak). The people who lived with Samgaksan Mountain succeeded (onjo, King Jinheung) and protected them (dominant). *In the Goryeo Dynasty, the spirit of the Korean Peninsula overcame the unstable political situation of the end of Silla and opened up a new country (Gukmangbong Peak), which was the object to trust and rely on for the revival of the country (Jungheungsa Temple, Jungheungseong). It was the mother of the country (three horns, threejae, three gods) and represented (Seoul). During the Joseon Dynasty, Samgaksan Mountain was a new sunny spot of hope (Hanyang), a symbol of the spirit of the Korean Peninsula, and a center (Hwaak). During the Japanese colonial period, it was the epicenter of national sovereignty and independence spirit (Bonghwanggak), and the invaders were the targets of national spirit (Sachal arson, iron spirit), the birthplace of the nation (Bonghwanggak), the symbol (top rock gate), and the birthplace of patriotism. As mentioned above, our national history has been connected with Samgaksan Mountain. In the thousands of years of history of the Baedal people, whenever they encountered difficulties, Samgaksan Mountain opened up a phase in the history of that period and contributed to the founding of a new country. Baekje and Goryeo were founded, Joseon was established, and it has been the main axis of leading national history while conceiving the Republic of Korea, and presented the path of independence to mankind around the world. History relies on Samgaksan Mountain, and Samgaksan Mountain has always been the center of national history as a "mountain of creation of new history," a "root of the country," a "solver of national problems," and a "sacred place of the Baedal people." In this way, Samgaksan Mountain has built a new country at every turning point in history, but it should be noted that there has also been a painful history of national collapse due to the leadership of wrong leaders. Now, Korea is a country that has not recovered its national sovereignty for less than 60 years. If national leaders forget the founding spirit and lean toward extreme greed or collective selfishness, the truth will be obscured and the nation's bright future will not be guaranteed. Therefore, we, living in this era, must use Samgaksan Mountain and Bonghwanggak as an experience center for national spirit to awaken the spirit of the nation, to strengthen the nation's roots, and to design the future of national history. Content Source: cafe.naver.com/wooee