Korea, which borders on China in the northeast, has adopted more Chinese cultural contents than other states in the East Asian cultural region, despite its marked development of autochthonic cultural elements. According to historical myths, a Korean state that later came to be called the Old Joseon kingdom (Chinese: Chaoxian) was supposedly founded in 2333 BCE in the Manchurian-Korean border region by a ruler named Dan-gun. The annals of the Chinese Han dynasty historian Sima Qian report that ar…