In South Korea, in addition to Gangneung, there are also places like Danyang, Xiangyang, Hanyang (now Seoul) and Hanjiang which are the same as Chu. Check the historical data of Korean place names, which have been set for more than 600 years. On the surface, there seems to be no connection between Korean place names and Chu place names that existed more than 2,000 years ago, but I was inspired by the book A New Exploration of Ancient Jingchu Geography, which was recently published by Mr. Shi Quan, and I think there is a connection between them. According to Shi Quan's textual research, Jiangling, the ancient capital of Chu, is not in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but in Yicheng, Hubei, in the middle reaches of the Han River. According to the new theory, the Chu people were in Danyang, a tributary of the Danjiang River in the upper reaches of the Han River, and the political and cultural centers in the middle reaches of the Han River were in Jiangling (Yicheng) and Xiangyang. In addition, the source of the Hanjiang River in China is under Taibai Mountain in Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, and the destination is Hanyang in the downstream. Compare the distribution of several place names in South Korea: Danyang belongs to Chungcheongbuk-do in the upper reaches of the Han River, Hanyang belongs to the lower reaches of the Han River, Gangneung and Xiangyang in Gangwon are not far from the upper reaches of the Han River, and Dongting Lake is also in Gangwon. Most interestingly, the Han River in South Korea originated in Taibai Mountain at the junction of gangwon and Gyeongsangbuk-do. The distribution of Korean place names is almost the same as that of Chu place names in ancient China.
Not only are the place names similar, but I think there are also strong Chu cultural relics in the myth of the founding of South Korea.
Dangun myth is the founding myth of North Korea, which is recorded in many ancient books in China and North Korea. The content is like this: In ancient times, there was a god Huan who knew that his son was going down to earth and looked down on the three dangers, and gave them to three "Tianfu seals" as symbols of the gods in the sky. Xiong Huan led 3,000 disciples down to the top of Taibai Mountain and established a "holy city" under the sacred sandalwood tree. He ordered Fengbo, Rain God and Cloud God to take charge of 360 human events. At that time, a bear and a tiger lived in a cave. They asked Xiong Huan, the heavenly king, to turn them into people. The heavenly king gave them a wick of moxa and twenty pieces of garlic, telling them to hide after eating the moxa and garlic, and not to see the sun for a hundred days. The bear obeyed, and it took only 21 days to become a woman in advance; Tigers can't do it, so they can't become people. King Xiong Huan married a bear girl and gave birth to Dangen, the founding monarch of ancient Korea.
Scholars believe that the so-called bear and tiger in fairy tales live in a cave, which reflects the clan relationship with the bear and tiger as totems. The early Chu people were a tribe that worshipped bears as totems. The surname of the Chu people is Zhou, and there is another business burden missing. After the bear was killed, more than 30 monarchs took bears as their surnames, and most of the earliest residences were named after bears, such as bears, Woong San, Cave Bears and so on.
With regard to "Three Risks" and "Taibai", Korean scholars believe that "Taibai" refers to Miaoxiang Mountain in North Korea's Ping 'an Road, and "Three Risks" refers to Sanxian Mountain near Dunhuang, China. China scholars have different views on ancient Three Risks. I agree that the ancient three dangers are at the junction of Sichuan and Gansu, along the Minjiang River and in the Minshan Mountains. I think the "three dangers" in the myth of Dangen refers to the three dangers in ancient China, and "Taibai" should refer to Taibai Mountain at the junction of gangwon and Gyeongsangbuk-do. In China's historical records, the most recorded about the Three Risks is that Yao and Shun put the first-class Sanmiao people into the Three Risks in more than 2000 BC. The hinterland of Jingchu once belonged to the land of three seedlings in ancient times, which has been recognized by scholars studying Chu history. Chiyou, the tribal leader of Sanmiao, once went north to the Central Plains to compete with the Yellow Emperor. Miao people all over China regard Chiyou as their ancestor, and Chiyou, the ancestor of Miao people, is closely related to Fengbo and Rain God. Qu Yuan, a great poet of Chu State, also mentioned Fengbo, Rain Master and Lei Gong (also known as "the king in the clouds", that is, "the cloud master") in his Chu Ci. Fengbo, Rain Lord and Thunder Lord in Songs of the South, just like Fengbo, Rain Lord and Cloud Lord in Dangen mythology, are all objects that God can control.
In the myth of Dangen, the gods gave Xiong Huan three "heavenly seals", which Chinese and Korean scholars regarded as a tool for wizards to practice. Witchcraft custom in gangwon, South Korea is the most well-preserved place in South Korea, and the witch sacrifice hosted by wizards is one of the important contents of the Dragon Boat Festival. Gangwon has a special geographical position. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side. Taibai Mountain runs through the whole highway from north to south, forming a closed encirclement, which makes it relatively isolated from the outside world, and many ancient customs have been completely preserved. Witchcraft once prevailed in ancient China, especially Chu Miao in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. There are many witches in Miao areas.
In mythology, the son of the God of Heaven gave Xiong and Hu "a sigh and twenty cloves of garlic" to transform them into human beings, which is also reflected in the Chu custom. Hanging wormwood and garlic on the Dragon Boat Festival to exorcise evil spirits is a custom of Chu, which still exists today.