" The Flower Boys of Silla ( Hwarang ), Notes on the Sources.

Those who demonstrated strong natural aptitude were selected as trainees in the new special warrior corps, called the Hwarang.

The guiding principles of the Hwarang warriors were based on Won Gwang's five codes of human conduct and included loyalty, filial duty, trustworthiness, valor and justice.

This suggests that the Hwarang were not originally military in character, as the Wonhwa were not soldiers.

Hwarang groups were usually led by a youth of aristocratic standing, and the state appointed a high ranking official to oversee the organization.

The Hwarang were greatly influenced by Buddhism and Taoism ideals.

Two handwritten manuscripts of a text titled Hwarang segi were found in 1989 in Gimhae, South Korea.

One of Korea's ancient Three Kingdoms, the Silla kingdom, featured ' Hwarang ', or ' flower youth knights ', who were famed for their intelligence, courage, and beauty.

The Hwarang were, basically, voluntary child soldiers consisting of older children, teenagers, and young adults who came mostly from aristocratic families, and who were educated in artistic, academic, and martial fields of study.

It was named after the Hwarang, a buddist elite youth order of the Silla kingdom during the Three-Kingdoms Period, in what is now Korea.

It was around this time that the people of Silla formed an elite officers ' corps called Hwarang.

The Hwarang set up a military academy for the sons of royalty in Silla called Hwarang-do, which means " the way of flowering manhood.

All three of these works cite primary sources no longer extant, including: 1 ) a memorial stele to Nallang ( presumably a Hwarang based upon the suffix nang ) by the 9th – 10th century Silla scholar Choe Chiwon ; 2 ) an early Tang account of Silla titled the Xinluo guoji by the Tang official Ling Hucheng ; and 3 ) Hwarang Segi ( 화랑세기, 花郞世記, Chronicle of the Hwarang ) by Kim Daemun, compiled in the early 8th century.

With the consolidation and expansion of Silla and intensification of military rivalries among the Three Kingdoms in the 6th century, the Silla court took a more active interest in the Hwarang.

" The Silla Society and Hwarang Corps.

" Silla Buddhism and the Hwarang.

Incidents such as this kept the Tang in awe of the Hwarang, and meant that in later years, when asked by the Tang emperor to attack Silla, the Tang generals refused, claiming that although Silla was small, it could not be defeated.

For those who argue for the authenticity of the manuscripts, the importance of Hwarang segi is that is one of the scarce historical works about Silla by a person of Silla himself, and it is free from Confucian dogma and morality.

" Silla Buddhism and the Hwarang segi Manuscripts.

" Silla Buddhism and the Hwarang segi Manuscripts.

Ribbon of the nowadays Hwarang Medal ( South Korean Order of Military Merit, Fourth Class )

* A South Korean cigarette brand issued to the armed forces was called " Hwarang ".

* The modern Hwarangdo is a Korean martial art inspired by the Hwarang.

* Mohan, Pankaj N. “ Maitreya Cult in Early Shilla: Focusing on Hwarang in Maitreya-Dynasty .” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 14 ( 2001 ): 149-174.

The Donghak ideology was a mixture of elements from Korean Confucianism, Buddhism and Songyo ( teachings of Silla's Hwarang ), modern humanistic, class-struggle ideas that today may be considered Marxist.

The Hwarang segi survived to the time that Kim Busik 金富軾 ( 1075 – 1151 ) compiled the Samguk sagi, but is believed to have been lost since the 13th century, because no reference to the Hwarang segi was made after reference to the text found in monk Gakhun's 覺訓 Haedong goseung jeon 海東高僧傳 ( Lives of Eminent Korean Monks, ca.

The historical validity of these Hwarang Segi manuscripts is a subject of great controversy among scholars of early Korea and Korean studies.

The first nine, which are required for 1st degree black belt, are named after significant Korean historical figures or concepts: Chonji, Dangun, Dosan, Wonhyo, Yulgok, Junggon, Toegye, Hwarang, and Chungmu.

It was originally used by the medieval Shilla warriors, the Hwarang.

These warriors then became known as the Hwarang.

" The Hwarang studied taekkyeon, history, Confucian philosophy, ethics, Buddhist morality, social skills and military tactics.

Taekkyeon was spread throughout Korea because the Hwarang traveled all around the peninsula to learn about the other regions and people.

The Japanese concept of Bushido was thought to have been modelled after the activities of the Hwarang.

Information on the Hwarang are mainly found in the histories Samguk Sagi ( 1145 ) and Samguk Yusa ( ca.

In the late 1980s, an alleged Hwarang Segi manuscript was discovered in Gimhae, South Korea, which some scholars regard as a forgery.

According to the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, two bands of females called Wonhwa ( 원화, 源花, " original flowers ") preceded the Hwarang.

The establishment of Hwarang took place in the context of tightening central state control, a complement to the golpum system and a symbol of harmony and compromise between the king and the aristocracy.

The Hwarang in the later 6th and 7th centuries trained in horsemanship, swordsmanship, archery, javelin and stone throwing, polo, and ladder-climbing.

The Samguk Sagi, compiled by the general and official Kim Busik, emphasizes the military exploits of certain Hwarang, while the Samguk Yusa emphasizes the group's Buddhist activities.

The biographies section of the Samguk Sagi describes young Hwarang who distinguished themselves in the struggles against the Gaya confederacy and later Baekje and Goguryeo.

A Chinese official recorded, " They choose fair sons from noble families and deck them out with cosmetics and fine clothes and call them Hwarang.

Today, Hwarang is often used in the names of various schools, organizations and companies.