Park Hyeokgeose Geoseogan was a legendary founder of the Silla Dynasty who ruled from 57BCE to 4CE.
At the foot of the beautiful Yangsan Mountain was a well called Nakjeong. Lord Sobeol, the village chief of Koheo, saw a peculiar sight. He saw a white horse kneeling and neighing between the trees close to the well. He decided to inspect it further, but he didn’t see the horse anywhere. Instead, he saw a giant egg. As he approached the egg, it trembled with a gentle hum. Suddenly the eggshell broke open, a child laid sleeping. Lord Sobeol saw this as a divine sign and the child a divine being. He decided to take the child home and raised him as his own.
Even at an early age, the child was extremely gifted and grew to be a strong young man. Because people believed his birth to be supernatural, the village leaders decided to enthrone him as their king. He took the last name of Pak, meaning gourd because he came from a large egg. He was named Hyeokseosa. Hyeok meaning bright and enlightened. Geose meaning great. People gave him the title Geoseogan, meaning ‘king’ in Jinhan language they used at the time. The thirteen-year-old king name the country Sorabeol.
During the King’s fifth year, an old woman saw a dragon from the Aryeong well one spring morning. The old woman approached the auspicious being slowly. Out of the dragon’s rib cage, a baby girl was born. The woman seeing this as divine sign, took the girl and raised her.
The old woman named the baby girl, Aryeong after the well where she was found. The baby grew to be a beautiful and virtuous woman. The King hearing of the young woman’s beauty and virtue installed her as his Queen.
During King’s reign, foreign invaders withdrew fearing of the King’s divine power. The King and Queen showed great wisdom by traveling to all six districts of his kingdom to promote agriculture and taught people how to use the land properly. Even the nearby kingdom of Pyeonhan surrendered to the King after hearing of the King’s gently divine rule.
During the King’s thirty year on the throne, Lelang troop marched to invade Sorabeol. Upon arrival, the leaders of the troop were surprised to find large open fields full of grain and the houses were unlocked even as people slept. People of Sorabeol lived peacefully and full of trust for their neighbors. Lelang decided to withdraw their troops for fear of being seen as thieves rather than honorable conquerors.
The great King worked tirelessly to maintain peace with the neighboring kingdoms. He would often send his envoys with greeting and gifts. One day a Sorabeol envoy, Lord Ho, suffered a great insult by the Mahan King. The Mahan King was upset because he felt he didn’t nti receive enough tribute from Sorabeol. The King wanted to kill Lord Ho, but he was prevented by his ministers. A year later, the Mahan King died. Sorabeol Ministers urged the King to invaded to pay back for the insult, but the King refused. The King replied that the kingdom should not take advantage of another kingdom during its mourning period however great the insult may have been. The King’s wisdom and compassion spread throughout the land and envoys throughout the peninsula sent gifts to the King.
The Great King died on his sixty first year on the throne. The Queen followed shortly after. When the people were on their way to bury the royal pair, a giant snake appears and stopped the process. Therefore, the people stopped and turned the area into the burial ground. They name the tomb the Snake Tomb because of the appearance of the giant snake.
Shultz, Edward J.; Kang, Hugh H.W.; Kane, Daniel C. (2012). ‘The Silla Annals of the Samguk Sagi. Seongnam-si: The Academy of Korean Studies Press. p. 468. ISBN 978-8971058602.