Abstract

Chinese hieroglyphic character ‘囧’ is an old style letter of ‘冏(shine, be bright)’ and ‘明(light, bright).’ Hieroglyphic character ‘囧’ is seen in ‘Gapgol-mun(甲骨文: inscriptions on bones and tortoise carapaces)’ and ‘Gum-mun(金文: inscriptions on bronze ware).’ But, there are three different theories about what is the meaning of hieroglyphic letter ‘囧.’ The first one says that ‘囧’ represents ‘an open window’ exposed to the shinning moon. The second one says that ‘囧’ represents ‘the ear of cattle’ that had been used in the sacrificial rites for the ‘god of brightness(明神)’ every 12 years in ancient China. The third one says that ‘囧’ represents ‘a flame in the fire.’ In this paper, the author critically reviews the old style letters of ‘冏⋅明⋅盟⋅日’ that is closely connected with hieroglyphic character ‘囧.’ Through these critical review the author suggests that Chinese hieroglyphic character ‘囧’ represents ‘a flame’ that give rise to ‘a light.’ Especially, ‘囧’ represents ‘a flame flared up inside the sun.’ Moreover the author suggests that the shape of ‘Sam Taegǔk(三太極)’ or ‘Sam-won Taegǔk(三元太極)’that is frequently seen in Korean traditional culture is also related to hieroglyphic character ‘囧.’ That is to say, the shape of ‘Sam Taegǔk’ or ‘Sam-won Taegǔk’ has its origin in ‘a flame flared up inside the sun.’ So, the author concludes as follows; At the beginning the shape of ‘Sam Taegǔk’ or ‘Sam-won Taegǔk’ represents the figure of ‘a flame flared up inside the sun.’ Therefore, original design of ‘Sam Taegǔk’ or ‘Sam-won Taegǔk’ represents the shape of sun in which sun-flame is whirling strongly.