Lady Saso (Korean: 사소부인; Hanja: 娑蘇夫人) is said to be the mother of Hyeokgeose of Silla first introduced in Samguk Yusa. Also known as the Sacred Mother of Mt. Seondo (Hangul: 선도산), legends say she was a princess from the Buyeo royal family.[1][2][3][4] She gave birth to Hyeokgeose of Silla. Later, she was honored as great king (queen regnant)[a] by King Gyeongmyeong.[1]
| Lady Saso | |
| Hangul | 사소부인 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 娑蘇夫人 |
| Revised Romanization | Saso Buin |
| McCune–Reischauer | Saso Buin |
Outline
editThe following description is from the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the three Kingdoms), volume 5, clause 7.
名娑蘇。早得神仙之術。歸止海東。久而不還。父皇寄書繫足云。隨鳶所止為家。蘇得書放鳶。飛到此山而止。遂來宅為地仙。故名西鳶山。神母久據茲山。鎮祐邦國。靈異甚多。 The Sacred Mother was called SaSo and she was born in the buyeo royal family. She got sacred power and came to Hae Dong (해동/Korea), lived there and stayed there for long time. She tied a letter to the foot of a kite saying “Let's build a house where the kite stops”. Once she wrote the letter and released the kite, it flew to Mt. Seondo (West mountain of Gyeongju/慶州) and stopped there. She decided to live there and became Xian (仙) of the land. That mountain was named as West Kite mountain and the Sacred Mother SaSo stayed there as her base for quite a long time and protected the country. There are a lot of miracles around that mountain as well.
其始到辰韓也。生聖子為東國始君。蓋赫居閼英二聖之所自也。故稱雞龍雞林白馬等。雞屬西故也。嘗使諸天仙織羅。緋染作朝衣。贈其夫。國人因此始知神驗。 She came to the Jinhan confederacy in the beginning, gave birth to sacred children and became the first king of the eastern country. Probably those children were Aryeong and Hyeokgeose of Silla. That's why they are called Gye-Nong (계농), Gye-Rim (계림), Baek-Ma (백마) and so on: because Gye (계) belongs to west side. One day, SaSo made a fairy of the heavens weave silk cloth, dye it in scarlet and make a Korean garment. She sent this garment to her husband. This was the first time people in the country knew of her miracles.
Criticisms surrounding her origins
editChinese accounts
editHistorians have long questioned the origins of Lady Saso noting the case of Kim Bu-sik, a Goryeo bureaucrat whom authored the Samguk Sagi (not to be confused with Samguk Yusa), who had been oblivious to these "tales and rumors" (as he puts it) of Lady Saso prior to his visit to Song dynasty China. During Kim's visit to the kingdom (circa 1111–1117), his Chinese guide, "Wang Fu" (Traditional Chinese: 王黼) explained to Kim Bu-sik who saw the statue of a woman in "Wuxingwan" (Traditional Chinese: 佑神館) as someone who was "a legendary figure (Lady Saso) of your country who was a daughter of an ancient Chinese emperor who fled east after being exiled for becoming pregnant without a husband" and that he (Wang) and his followers worshipped said individual.[6]
Kim Bu-sik later remarked about the rather peculiar encounter and questioned the validity of such claim made by a foreign Chinese who was heavily invested in a legend that neither he (Kim) or his people had any knowledge of. Therefore, he did not include the myth in his history- and fact-focused Samguk Sagi.[6]
A century later, it is said that Il-yeon took note of the experience of Kim Bu-sik and included it in his collection of folktales and legends, the Samguk Yusa.[7] But much like most claims made in Samguk Yusa, historians are very skeptical as to whether or not such individuals truly existed.
Another criticism focuses on these tales as being no different from mere deifications that stems from ideas such as Sinocentrism or Buddhism, which claims unidentified individuals of foreign origins (such as Chinese or Indians) as supposed ancestors of past royals with no grounded evidence.[8][b] Such claims have also been made by Il-yeon within Samguk Yusa, in regards to the origins of Heo Hwang-ok being ancient India.[9]
Claims made by Samguk Yusa (the source material Lady Saso is first mentioned in) is presumed to be the result of Chinese Sinocentrism, aligning with the claims that the Japanese were descended from Xu Fu (徐福), the Xiongnu were descendants of Lü-Gui (履癸王) the last king of Xia (夏) and that the case of Gojoseon (古朝鮮) and Gouwu (句吳) all revolve around China and its cultural significance.
However, despite finding multiple claims in numerous texts across East Asia (and even Southeast Asia), modern historians have a difficult time cross-referencing and deducing on concrete evidence which back the legitimacy of such assertions, later stating that the claims made in the past were mostly hearsay.[6] As such, the story of Lady Saso is mostly considered as fiction, which was published under the guise of a non-verfiable legend told in a third-person experience that happened over a century ago prior to its publication.
Following Kim Bu-sik's initial encounter with the legend, Il-yeon mentioned in his book that Lady Saso came from a "royal family", (not necessarily alluding to the Chinese dynasties),[5] which took another meaning of its own within Korea during the Japanese annexation period.
Korean accounts
editThe story of Lady Saso also revolves around a controversy surrounding false claims of her origins through nationalistic ideology in Korea which became prevalent during the Japanese occupation of Korea. According to modern Korean historians, Il-yeon's claim of “(Lady Saso) coming from a royal family” was distorted once more by a fiction oriented, pseudo-historical book, Hwandan Gogi (환단고기/ Hanja: 桓檀古記) which was first written in 1911 and later published in 1979. According to the questionable book, Hyeokgeose's mother (Lady Saso) is claimed to be Princess Paso from Buyeo.[10]
According to Samguk Yusa, the story of Lady Saso include the terms "Gye-nong (계농)", "Gye-rim (계림)" and "Baek-ma (백마)". However, the mention of the word "Gye", found in Gye-nong and Gye-rim is first introduced in the legend of Kim Al-ji and absent in the chronologically older legend of Hyeokgeose. However, using this analogy, Gye Yeon-su, a major contributor to Hwandan Gogi claimed that Lady Saso was in fact, Princess Paso of Buyeo[11] which elevated him (a person of the Gye family line) her descendant and of ancient Korean royalty. His claim (alongside the book itself) was heavily criticized and is now widely regarded as a work of fiction. However, it is thought that these false claims found in Samguk Yusa and Hwandan Gogi about Lady Saso is what caused her existence to become so controversial in recent times.
Family
edit| N/A | 사소부인 Saso | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 혁거세 거서간 Hyeokgeose | 알영부인 Aryeong | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 남해 차차웅 Namhae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ In Korean Language, a queen regnant is called a yeowang (여왕, "female king").
- ^ Wang Yang(王襄), the envoy of the Song dynasty, came to Goryeo as an envoy and offered a ancestral rites to Eastern Saint Lady(東神聖母女), and there was a phrase, "pregnant with Wise Saint(賢聖) and established the country." However, Eastern Saint Lady(東神聖母女) appears in book named Goryeo Dogyeong(고려도경/ hanja:高麗圖經). According to this book, Eastern Saint Temple enshrines Lady Yuhwa as a god. There is a suspicion that Song historian who told Kim Bu-sik a story of Lady Saso could not distinguish Goguryeo from Silla. It's presumed error by the Chinese historian who lacked an understanding of early Korean history and Korean Historian who has been blindly following the Chinese opinion.
References
edit- ^ a b Encyclopedia of Korean Culture 사소 娑蘇. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.
- ^ "국어국문학자료사전 사소 娑蘇". 국어국문학자료사전.
- ^ 野村伸一. 東シナ海周辺の女神信仰という視点 (PDF). 慶應義塾大学日吉紀要. 言語・文化・コミュニケーション No.26. 慶應義塾大学日吉紀要刊行委員会. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ 延恩株 (March 2011). "新羅の始祖神話と日神信仰の考察 ― 三氏（朴・昔・金）の始祖説話と娑蘇神母説話を中心に ―". 桜美林論考. 言語文化研究 = the Journal of J. F. Oberlin University. Studies in Language and Culture. 桜美林大学桜美林論考『言語文化研究』第2号. 2. 桜美林大学: 94. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ a b 김성호 (2000년 3월 16일). 《씨성으로 본 한일민족의 기원》. 푸른숲. 239쪽. ISBN 8971842709.
- ^ a b c 김, 성호 (2000). 씨성으로 본 한일민족의 기원: 한국의 시조는 소호김천씨, 일본은 천손단군이었다 (in Korean). 서울: 푸른숲. ISBN 978-89-7184-270-6.
- ^ 三國遺事 > 卷 第五 > 感通第七 > 仙桃聖母隨喜佛事 > 神母夲中國帝室之女. 名娑蘇, 早得神仙之術歸止海東乆而不還. 父皇寄書繫足云. “随鳶所止爲家.” 蘇得書放鳶飛到此山而止. 遂来宅爲地仙. 故名西鳶山. 神母久㩀兹山鎮祐邦國霊異甚多, 有國已来常爲三祀之一, 秩在群望之上. 第五十四景明王好使鷹, 甞登此放鷹而失之. 禱於神母曰, “若得鷹當封爵.” 俄而鷹飛来止机上, 因封爵大王焉. 其始到辰韓也生聖子爲東國始君, 盖赫居·閼英二聖之所自也. 故稱雞龍·雞林·白馬等雞属西故也. 甞使諸天仙織羅緋染作朝衣贈其夫, 國人因此始知神驗. 又國史史臣曰. 軾政和中甞奉使人宋, 詣佑神舘有一堂設女仙像. 舘伴學士王黼曰, “此是貴國之神, 公知之乎.” 遂言曰, “古有中國帝室之女泛海抵辰韓, 生子爲海東始祖, 女爲地仙長在仙桃山, 此其像也. 又大宋國使王襄到我朝祭東神聖母女, 有娠賢肇邦之句.” 今能施金奉佛爲含生開香火作津梁, 豈徒學長生而囿於溟濛者哉.
- ^ 三國史記 > 卷第十二 新羅本紀 第十二 > 敬順王 > 論曰. 新羅朴氏·昔氏皆自卵生, 金氏從天入金樻而降, 或云乗金車. 此尤詭怪, 不可信, 然丗俗相傳, 爲之實事. 政和中, 我朝遣尚書李資諒入宋朝貢, 臣富軾以文翰之任輔行. 詣佑神舘, 見一堂設女仙像. 舘伴學士王黼曰, “此貴國之神, 公等知之乎.” 遂言曰, “古有帝室之女, 不夫而孕, 爲人所疑, 乃泛海, 抵辰韓生子, 爲海東始主. 帝女爲地仙, 長在仙桃山, 此其像也.” 臣又見大宋國信使王襄祭東神聖母文, 有“娠賢肇邦” 之句. 乃知東神則仙桃山神聖者也, 然而不知其子王於何時.
- ^ Il-yeon (tr. by Ha Tae-Hung & Grafton K. Mintz) (1972). Samguk Yusa. Seoul: Yonsei University Press. ISBN 89-7141-017-5.
- ^ "STB Broadcast, Hyeokgeose's mother Paso is Princess Buyeo" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ Jang, Shin (2020). "Yi Yu-rib's Invention of a person named Gye Yeon-su.(捏造記)". Quarterly Review of Korean History (in Korean). 115: 383–416. doi:10.35865/YWH.2020.03.115.383.