한 민 족 연 합 선 교 회

The author points out that despite all the excellent study results on the Tangun Mythology,

still the Tangun studies have not been so much productive. Not because the theme itself is unattractive,

but because the previous studies have focused on the canonized points of view. Such as,

the historical approaches, ideological descriptions on the theme, HanMinJok (korean people) centered

 explanations and unfruitful debates on the fake theory made by the Il Yon himself, and so on.

The author tries to approach the Tangun Mythology as a myth-tale.

 It means that the text of Tangun needs to be examined as a literature and especially a myth-tale.

 In the second chapter of this paper,

the author shows the inadequate approaches with the western oriented theories of mythology.

 In the third chapter, the author analyzes the myth-tale as a structure of epic poems.

Maybe the Tangun myth-tale is not merely a myth of opening a country of korean people.

 It could be a whole story of an ancient empire from her foundation to the decay.

 Finally the author tries to compare the similarities between the Tangun-myth tale and the Geser of the Mongolian Buryats.

The two stories share almost the same story structure and the cultural system(it could be calles as shamanism).

 If we can prove that Tangun story was recorded earlier than any of Geser editions,

 the author urges, we may assume that around the 13-14 centuries

 Tangun-like-stories were and could be the first written edition of Geser epics in the Eastern Asia and Central Asia.

 Tangun myth-tale could be a valuable study material not only on the korean people's

mythology but also the mythologies and folklores - cultures of the above mentioned areas.

The author also points out the trend of epic poems after the 10th century

in the Central Asia and the study on this theme could be a fruitful approach on the study of Tangun also.