The myth of foundation of Daegaya is as follows. The founder of Daegaya is King Yijinasi and this state existed for around 16 generations (520 years). According to Seogli-jeongjeon written by Chi-won Choi, “Jeonggyun-moju, the Gayasan god, born Noejiljuil (a king of Daegaya) and Noeijilcheong-ye (a king of Geumgwangaya) by the response of Yibigaji (the heavenly god).”

Noejiljuil is another name of king Yijinasi and Cheong-ye is another name of King Suro. However, this old documentary record cannot be believable because it is unfounded. According to Seogsun-eungjeon, “Prince Wolgwang of Daegaya is the tenth generation descendant of Jeonggyeon, and his father is King Yinoe who was married a daughter of Bijibae and born the prince.” Hence, King Yinoe is the eight generation offspring of Noejiljuil.

The Analysis of the Myth

The myth of Jeonggyeon-moju is recorded in Sinjeung-dongguk-yeojiseunglam, the most synthetic geography book among old Korean geography books. Seogli-jeongjeon and Seogsun-eungjeon which were written by Choi Chi-won and were quoted in this book existed until the early Joseon period, but do not remain.

The geography book introduces the founder of Daegaya, the final king of Daegaya, its period of duration and the tales of the founders of Daegaya and Geumgwan-gaya. From this myth, we can know that the founder of Daegaya was King Yijinasi and his other name was Noejiljuil or Naejinjuji. The founder’s mother was Jeonggyun-moju (the Gayasan god), and his father was Yibigaji (the heavenly god).

The compiler of Sinjeung-dongguk-yeojiseunglam quoted the myth of Daegaya, but he took a negative position on its reliability. However, Samguksagi (Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms) describes that King Yinoe married a daughter Bijibae and Ilbonseogi (Chronicle of Japan) accounted the reason why the marriage was broken. Given these facts, the myth of Daegaya is totally unfounded.

Jeonggyeon-moju (the Gayasan god) has a strong Buddhist character. Jeonggyeon, which means a right view, is the first one of the eight virtues of Buddhism. In addition, the term moju was originated from a sacred mother. In the Yeongnam region, there are many myths that a mountain god is called a sacred mother. The sacred mother of the Jirisan and the sacred mother of the Seondosan are such examples.

The sacred mother of Seondo is very famous for the sacred mother of the Seondosan which has a relation to the birth of Baghyeoggeose, the founder of Silla. In a similar context, the Gayasan god was originally called a sacred mother, and then was called Jeonggyun-moju due to the influence of Buddhism.

This myth was considerably transformed from its original form because it was after the fifth century when Buddhism was introduced in Daegaya. However, it may also be regarded that, there is a worship thought of the mountain god in the myth, for the mountain gods in Korea are goddesses. Even nowadays, in several regions, there is a place to perform a sacrificial rite for a mountain god on certain high mountain due to such a custom.

Noejiljuil and Noejilcheong-ye, the two sons of Jeonggyeon-moju, became a king of Daegaya and a king of Garaguk, respectively. Noejiljuil was also called Yijinasi or Naejinjuji. All of the names mean “a noble person which governs the world.” Noejilcheong-ye is the same person as King Suro of Garaguk.

According to Garagukgi (Record of Garaguk), King Suro came down from the heaven with five other eggs which were being contained in a gold box. Then, he became a man. However, in the myth of Daegaya, he was born with his elder brother (Noejiljuil), after Jeonggyeon-moju responded with Yibigaji (the heavenly god).

Then, why was the word Noejilcheong-ye produced? And, what does it mean Cheong-ye? There is a view which connects Cheong-ye with Soho Geumcheonssi, a legendary king in China. That is, in an ancient Chinese legend, there was a man whose name is Cheongyang. He was the eldest son of the king whose name was Heonwon and was called Soho Geumcheonssi.

The word Cheong-ye came from ‘Cheongyang-ye’ which has the meaning of the offspring of Cheongyang. The fact that the royal family of Garaguk is the descendant of Heonwon and is the offspring of Soho Geumcheonssi is identified from the inscription of Kim Yu-shin quoted in the serial biographies of Kim Yu-shin in Samguksagi (Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms) Vol. 41. This legend had already existed in the Unified Silla period in the mid-seventh century.

It is believed that the myth of Daegaya is one which embellished an old Chinese myth to make it one of its own. This means that Daegaya people tried to more consecrate their myth of founder by adopting Chinese culture and borrowing its authority. It is assumed that such an embellishment was made in the Unified Silla period when the import of Chinese culture was very active. However, it would appear that the prototype of this myth did not change its quality.