Haemosu
Also known as: Son of Heaven (Cheonja)
Mythological Narrative
The Son of Heaven who descends in a five-dragon chariot, seduces Yuhwa, daughter of the River Earl, by the Amnok (Yalu) River, and becomes the father of Jumong, founder of Goguryeo.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## The Son of Heaven
In Kim Busik's *Samguk Sagi* (1145), Yuhwa tells King Geumwa of East Buyeo that a man calling himself Haemosu, son of Heaven, lured her to a house by the Amnok (Yalu) River beneath Mount Ungsim, lay with her, and never returned; her parents, ashamed, banished her. Yi Gyu-bo's *Lay of King Dongmyeong* (1193), quoting a lost older history, describes Haemosu's descent more grandly: he comes down in a chariot drawn by five dragons, with a hundred followers riding swans, wearing a crown of crow feathers and a sword of dragon-light, going up to heaven at evening and descending in the morning.
## The contest with the River Earl
In Yi Gyu-bo's version, Haemosu meets the River Earl's daughters bathing, captures Yuhwa, and then asks her father, Habaek, for her hand. Habaek tests his divine claim with a contest of transformations: Habaek becomes a carp and Haemosu an otter; Habaek a deer and Haemosu a wolf; Habaek a pheasant and Haemosu a hawk. Convinced, Habaek holds a wedding feast, but Haemosu leaves Yuhwa and returns to heaven alone.
## Other sources
The *Samguk Yusa* also names Haemosu as a Son of Heaven who founded North Buyeo. The Gwanggaeto Stele (414 CE) simply calls Jumong the son of the Heavenly Emperor, without naming Haemosu.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Haemosu.
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