Five Commandments
Two youths, Gwisan (귀산,貴山) and Chwihang (취항, -項), approached the Silla monk Won Gwang (원광, 圓光) seeking spiritual guidance and teaching, saying “We are ignorant and without knowledge. Please give us a maxim which will serve to instruct us for the rest of our lives.”
Won Gwang, who had gained fame for his period of study in Sui China, replied by composing the Five Commandments for Secular Life (SeSok OGye; 세속 오계; 世俗五戒). These have since been attributed as a guiding ethos for the Hwarang:
- Loyalty to one's lord (sagun ichung; 사군이충; 事君以忠; 나라에 충성하고)
- Love and respect your parents and teachers(sachin ihyo; 사친이효; 事親以孝; 부모님께 효도하고)
- Trust among friends (gyo-u isin; 교우이신; 交友以信; 믿음으로 벗을 사귀고)
- Never retreat in battle (imjeon mutwae; 임전무퇴; 臨戰無退; 싸움에 나가서는 물러서지 않으며)
- Never take a life without a just cause (salsaeng yutaek; 살생유택; 殺生有擇; 살아있는 것을 함부로 죽이지 않는다)
The Samguk Yusa also records that Hwarang members learned the Five Cardinal Confucian Virtues, the Six Arts, the Three Scholarly Occupations, and the Six Ways of Government Service (五常六藝 三師六正).
Read more about this topic: Hwarang
Famous quotes containing the word commandments:
“Not for nothing does it say in the Commandments ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any image’ ... Every image is a sin.... When you love someone you leave every possibility open to them, and in spite of all the memories of the past you are ready to be surprised, again and again surprised, at how different they are, how various, not a finished image.”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)
“If you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes...then...Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all peoples.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Kings 9:6-7.