Mt Kuwol, one of the celebrated mountains in the DPRK, boasts distinctive beauties of mountain and valley.
The mountain has a lot of historical sites and relics conveying the wisdom and spirit of the Korean ancestors, as well as legends associated with them.
Some of the legends are concerning Tangun, the father of the Korean nation.
Typical of them is “Tangun goes to heaven by wagon pulled by winged horses” to the effect that he became a god after his death.
According to the legend, one day Tangun was looking back on his past life in a valley of Asa Peak before he decided to go to heaven just like his ancestors because he was old. And he expressed his wish towards heaven. Then a wagon pulled by five winged horses came down and took him to heaven.
Mt Kuwol has several legends about Tangun because the local people had zealously worshipped him since the founding of Ancient Joson (early 30th century BC-108 BC).
Other legends about Mt Kuwol include “Building Kuwolsan Fort” and “The Mysterious Well Annihilates Foreign Invaders” which deal with the Korean people’s patriotic struggle against foreign invasion.
“Building Kuwolsan Fort” has it that the young men in Pyongyang and Hwangju built the fort in a competitive way in the period of Koguryo (277 BC-AD 668) and “The Mysterious Well Annihilates Foreign Invaders” holds that a military officer used a drugged well to annihilate the foreign invaders who intruded into the Mt Kuwol area of Koguryo built by the local people.
Besides, there are legends which satirize the feudal rulers, praise the fine manners and customs of the Koreans and admire the natural beauty of Mt Kuwol. “A Dragon Brings Water to Mt Kuwol” tells that a dragon brought crystal-clear water to the mountain as it was charmed by the mountain’s stunning scenery with autumnal leaves in September.
As such, the legends about Mt Kuwol reflect the special attachment of the local people to the mountain and their patriotic aspiration and desire to defend and glorify it out of ardent love for its picturesque natural beauty.
They were inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in August 2025.
Ko Chol Hwa
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