Sources of Korean Tradition
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Women's Life During the Chosŏn Dynasty
International Journal of Korean History(Vol.6, Dec.2004) 113 Women’s Life during the Chosŏn Dynasty Han Hee-sook* 1 Introduction The Chosŏn society was one in which the yangban (aristocracy) wielded tremendous power. The role of women in this society was influenced greatly by the yangban class’ attempts to establish a patriarchal family order and a Confucian-based society. For example, women were forced, in accordance with neo-Confucian ideology, to remain chaste before marriage and barred from remarrying once their husbands had passed away. As far as the marriage system was concerned, the Chosŏn era saw a move away from the old tradition of the man moving into his in-laws house following the wedding (男歸女家婚 namgwiyŏgahon), with the woman now expected to move in with her husband’s family following the marriage (親迎制度 ch΄inyŏng jedo). Moreover, wives were rigidly divided into two categories: legitimate wife (ch΄ŏ) and concubines (ch΄ŏp). This period also saw a change in the legal standing of women with regards to inheritance, as the system was altered from the practice of equal, from a gender standpoint, rights to inheritance, to one in which the eldest son became the sole inheritor. These neo-Confucianist inspired changes contributed to the strengthening of the patriarchal system during the Chosŏn era. As a result of these changes, Chosŏn women’s rights and activities became increasingly restricted. * Professor, Dept. of Korean History, Sookmyung Women’s University 114 Women’s Life during the Chosŏn Dynasty During the Chosŏn dynasty women fell into one of the following classifications: female members of the royal family such as the queen and the king’s concubines, members of the yangban class the wives of the landed gentry, commoners, the majority of which were engaged in agriculture, women in special professions such as palace women, entertainers, shamans and physicians, and women from the lowborn class (ch’ŏnin), which usually referred to the yangban’s female slaves. -
Traditional Legal Thoughts in Korea
Journal of Korean Law, Vol.2, No.3, 2003 Traditional Legal Thoughts in Korea Chongko Choi * Abstract In spite of the scarcity of research related to traditional Korean law, this article attempts to offer a general overview of traditional Korean legal concepts for Western readers. It surveys the legal history of Korea, from ancient times to the reception of Western law in the 19th Century. Due to Korea’s geographic location--between China and Japan--Korean law holds many similarities to that of “East Asian Common Law.” However, Korea has continuously endeavoured to indigenize imported foreign laws. The Tangun mythology offers the archetype of the Korean concept of law and justice. On the subject of medieval legal concepts influenced by Buddhism, Wonhyo, Choe Chiwon and Chong Mongju are mainly analysed. In regard to early modern legal concepts, the Neo-Confucianists Chong Tojon, Yi Hwang (Toegye) are discussed. When discussing the legal concepts of the late modern period, the Sirhak School, namely Yi I (Yulgok), Yi Ik (Songho), Chong Yakyong (Tasan) are analysed. Kang Hang, Yi Chinyoung and Yi Maegye are included due to their contribution towards “East Asian Common Law”. Each period had dominant morals and values that were enforced by the law. Whilst analysing the dominant legal values during the different periods, the article tries to offer a philosophical foundation of traditional Korean law and East Asian jurisprudence. * Professor of Law, College of Law, Seoul National University; 1970 BA; 1972 LLM at Seoul National University; 1979 Dr. Jur. at Freiburg University; 1987-88 Visiting Scholar at Berkeley and Harvard Law Schools; 1996 Visiting Professor at Freiburg University; 1997 Visiting Professor at University of Hawaii; 2002 Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara University Law School; Author of 20 books on Legal History, Jurisprudence, especially on the History of East Asian Legal Thoughts. -
Open Torrey.Dissertation.Pdf
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Comparative Literature SET APART BY MIND AND SOUL: SUBJECTIVITY IN THE WRITINGS OF EARLY KOREAN CATHOLICS A Dissertation in Comparative Literature by Deberniere J. Torrey 2010 Deberniere J. Torrey Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2010 The dissertation of Deberniere J. Torrey was reviewed and approved* by the following: Thomas O. Beebee Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and German Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Ronnie Hsia Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of History Alexander C.Y. Huang Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Chinese, and Asian Studies Richard Nichols Professor Emeritus of Theater Arts Donald Baker Director, Centre for Korean Research Associate Professor, Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia Special Member Cho Sung-Won Professor of English Language and Literature, Seoul Women’s University Special Signatory Caroline D. Eckhardt Head, Department of Comparative Literature Director, School of Languages and Literatures *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT In Korean intellectual historiography, engagement with Western Catholic thought is cited as one of several influences contributing to the epistemic change that marked the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, studies of this influence have thus far been limited to intellectual and social historiography. This project helps to complete the general picture and to -
Comparison Between Confucian Democracy of Dasan Jeong Yak-Yong and Modern Democracy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Korea Journal, vol. 57, no. 1 (spring 2017): 153–174. © Korean National Commission for UNESCO, 2017 Comparison between Confucian Democracy of Dasan Jeong Yak-yong and Modern Democracy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau YI Jongwoo Abstract One salient feature of modern democracy is that people elect their head of state, either directly or indirectly. This popular democracy is the result of revolutions in England, the USA, and France. However, this feature is also present in Confucian democracy as assert- ed by the Korean thinker Dasan Jeong Yak-yong. As such, this article presents a compara- tive analysis of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a founding framer of modern democracy, and Dasan, a Korean Confucian and democratic thinker. Rousseau argued that the people had the right to elect their sovereign directly and dismiss him if he harmed peace and equality in the city-state (in this case, Geneva). However, Dasan claimed that lords cho- sen by the people had the right to elect the ruler and remove or even execute a tyrant if it were justified. Although Dasan and Rousseau did not influence each other, they made the common argument that the people had a right to elect and remove their chief. Rousseau stated that the people could elect their ruler directly, but that they should remove that ruler in a peaceful way through an assembly. Dasan suggested that the people elect their ruler indirectly and remove a tyrant through justified revolution. Their respective concep- tions of democracy both presuppose that the ruler should act on behalf of the people. Thus, this article analyzes the claims of these two thinkers when a ruler causes misery to the people. -
The Politics of Gender in Colonial Korea
1p.Yoo, Politics 9/10/07 12:43 PM Page 15 chapter one Women in ChosQn Korea If the family of a scholar’s wife lives in poverty and destitution, there is no reason why she should not work a little if it serves as a means of survival. In so far as raising chicken and ducks, buying and selling soy sauce, vinegar, wine, and oil . securing [her] family’s livelihood should not be her only reason; after all it is one of [her] many sugong [tasks for women]. Yi TQng-mu, SasojQl (A scholar’s minor matter of etiquette), 1775 Innaech’Qn; sa-in yQch’Qn Every human being is an embodiment of heaven; serve every human being as you would serve heaven. Ch’oe Che-u, Yongdam yusa (Hymns from Dragon Pool), 1860 In his 1895 memoir, Henry Savage-Landor describes his first encoun- ters with Korean women upon his arrival in the capital: “I remember how astonished I was during the first few days that I was in Seoul, at the fact that every woman I came across in the streets was just on the point of opening a door and entering a house.... The idea suddenly dawned upon me that it was only a trick on their part to evade being seen.”1 Under the leadership of Yi SQng-gye (1335–1408), the founders of the ChosQn dynasty (1392–1910) had launched a series of social, economic, 15 Copyrighted Material 1p.Yoo, Politics 9/10/07 12:43 PM Page 16 16 / Women in ChosQn Korea and political reforms designed to transform the kingdom into a male- dominated neo-Confucian society. -
The Ahn Changho Controversy: Rescuing a Patriot from Colonial and Postcolonial Myths
The Ahn Changho Controversy: Rescuing a Patriot from Colonial and Postcolonial Myths Jacqueline Pak Cornell University The Journal of Northeast Asian History Volume 9 Number 2 (Winter 2012), 181-227 Copyright © 2012 by the Northeast Asian History Foundation. All Rights Reserved. No portion of the contents may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the Northeast Asian History Foundation. The Ahn Changho Controversy: Rescuing a Patriot from Colonial and Postcolonial Myths The “Ahn Changho Controversy” was sparked by new documentary evidence which challenged the earlier conventional views concerning the preeminent Korean nationalist leader, Ahn Changho (1878-1938). The Controversy arose from the historical mystery and enigma which long surrounded Ahn Changho, who was a leader of the transnational independence movement during the Japanese colonial rule, 1905-45. As one of the most spirited and enduring controversies in Korean Studies over the past decades since the 1990s, the Ahn Changho Controversy revealed theoretical divisions or ideological cleavages in the interpretations and re-interpretations of Korean colonial history: 1) gradualist pacifism vs. radical militarism; 2) a new view of “revolutionary-democracy” vs. the old view of “tripartite division” of Korean nationalist movement; 3) revisionism of “cultural nationalism” vs. neo-revisionism of revolutionary nationalism; 4) patriotism vs. collaborationism in the colonial period and the complicated legacy of the issue thereafter; and 5) the origins of Korean democracy, including the origin and drafter of the Korean republican constitution. In this regard, the Ahn Changho Controversy touched upon the highly complex and potentially explosive issues of patriotism vs. collaboration by probing into the previous revisionist binaries arising from the reductive matrix of the bipolar Cold War alignments. -
Beyond Yi Sun-Shin and the Ming 45 the Weak Korean Army
44 Lee Beyond Yi Sun-Shin and the Ming 45 the weak Korean Army. 2 Another major perspective, which is often found in Korean historical records, is that the Ming army played a major role in defeating the Japanese, because the Ming had more advanced weapons, especially large firearms. The best example can be found from the record of the Korean King Sonjo, who rnled Korea during the entire war period. After the war, while discussing the distribution of awards of the Korean generals, the king said, "This war was mostly led by the Ming mmy. Our troops KYEONG-BOK LEE were just following after the Ming army, and we won the battle by a fluke. In our own strength, we could not solely kill or capture one single Japanese soldier and their base." 3 Internationally, American On April 13th, 1592, about 20,000 Japanese soldiers came historian, Kenneth M. Swope, also overemphasizes the ashore at the southeastern region of Korea, hoping to conquer the contribution of the Ming army in his book, A Dragon 's head and a new land for the Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. This was Serpent's Tail, although it provides fairly accurate descriptions of the beginning of the brutal warfare betvveen the Joseon Dynasty in the Korean army in the early war period. In the book, the author Korea and Hideyoshi Japan, which was later named as the "Imjin says "the Koreans thanked the Ming profusely by defeating the War" in Korea. Later, Ming China also joined in the skirmish by Japanese, and in acknowledgement of their services, living shrines sending troops to support Korea. -
Reassessment of the Late Joseon Neo-Confucian Scholar Yi Ik's
Korea Journal, vol. 56, no. 2 (summer 2016): 111-133. © Korean National Commission for UNESCO, 2016 Reassessment of the Late Joseon Neo-Confucian Scholar Yi Ik’s Attitude toward Western Learning: With a Focus on His Perception of the Lord of Heaven* CHOI Jeong-yeon Abstract This article aims to investigate how Yi Ik, a late Joseon Neo-Confucian scholar, formed his view toward Christianity and the concept of the Lord of Heaven (Cheonju). Yi viewed Seohak (Western Learning) postively, but his attitude toward Christianity remained very selective. For instance, while he agreed with the Jesuits’ claim that the biblical Lord of Heaven was equivalent to the Confucian Sangje, he rejected the ideas of heaven, hell, and spiritual immortality based on his Neo-Confucian convictions. Although Yi agreed with the Jesuit assertion that “the Lord of Heaven is the same as Sangje,” he modified this concept of god according to his Neo-Confucian philosophy and perceived it as something analogous to the Principle of Heaven (cheolli). This essay will show that Yi’s attention to Christianity originated from his academic objective of enrich- ing the study of Neo-Confucianism. Therefore, the majority of scholars of Korean studies may need to reassess the established theory that Seohak motivated Yi Ik to go beyond Neo-Confucianism and advance toward modern Silhak (Practical Learning). Keywords: Yi Ik, Cheonju (Lord of Heaven), Sangje, Seohak (Western Learning), Silhak (Practical Learning), Seongnihak (Neo-Confucianism), modernity * All English translated quotations from the primary sources are by Ahrum Yoo, with assistance of Ji-Hyun Lee, based on this writer’s own Korean translation (and comparative proofreading) of the original texts. -
The Hwadam Jip and Seo Gyeongdeok’ S Place in the Intellectual History of Joseon Isabelle Sancho
What Master Hwadam Loved to Learn: The Hwadam jip and Seo Gyeongdeok’ s Place in the Intellectual History of Joseon Isabelle Sancho To cite this version: Isabelle Sancho. What Master Hwadam Loved to Learn: The Hwadam jip and Seo Gyeongdeok’ s Place in the Intellectual History of Joseon. THE REVIEW OF KOREAN STUDIES, 2020, 23, pp.55 - 88. 10.25024/review.2020.23.1.55. hal-02903511 HAL Id: hal-02903511 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02903511 Submitted on 21 Jul 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives| 4.0 International License Special Feature What Master Hwadam Loved to Learn: The Hwadam jip and Seo Gyeongdeok’s Place in the Intellectual History of Joseon Isabelle SANCHO The Review of Korean Studies Volume 23 Number 1 (June 2020): 55-88 doi: 10.25024/review.2020.23.1.55 ©2020 by the Academy of Korean Studies. All rights reserved. 56 The Review of Korean Studies Introduction Seo Gyeongdeok 徐敬德 (1489-1546), better known as Hwadam 花潭 or Master Hwadam, is seen today as a respected scholar of the Joseon period. -
Manchukuo Perspectives
Manchukuo Perspectives Transnational Approaches to Literary Production Edited by Annika A. Culver and Norman Smith Hong Kong University Press The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road Hong Kong https://hkupress.hku.hk © 2019 Hong Kong University Press ISBN 978-988-8528-13-4 (Hardback) All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound by Hang Tai Printing Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, China Contents List of Illustrations ix Foreword by Karen THORNBER x Acknowledgements xii Introduction: “Manchukuo Perspectives,” or “Collaboration” as a Transcendence of Literary, National, and Chronological Boundaries 1 Annika A. CULVER Part I: Manchukuo’s Print Media and the Politics of Representation/ Translation 1. Unpacking “New Manchuria” Narratives: Propaganda, Fact, Memory, and Aesthetics 13 LIU Xiaoli 2. Fairy Tales and the Creation of the “Future Nation” of Manchukuo 28 CHEN Shi 3. Spiritual Resistance: A Study of the Phenomenon of Resistance Literature in Supplements of Manchukuo’s Datong bao [Great Unity Herald] 44 JIANG Lei 4. Utopianism Unrealized: Ōuichi Takao’s Literary Translation in Manchukuo 64 YING Xiong Part II: Chinese Writers in Manchukuo and “Manchukuo” Writers in Japan 5. Linguistic Hybridity, Transnational Connectivity, and the Cultural Territorialization of Colonial Literature: The Case of Gu Ding 83 Miya Qiong XIE 6. -
Twentieth-Century Korean Literature - 1
Twentieth-Century Korean Literature - 1 - Twentieth-Century Korean Literature Yi Nam-ho, U Ch’anje, Yi Kwangho, Kim Mihyŏn Translated by Youngju Ryu Edited by Brother Anthony, of Taizé Twentieth-Century Korean Literature - 2 - Preface The purpose of this little volume is to offer readers some essential information and a basic framework in order to help them understand twentieth-century Korean literature. The endeavor has been funded by the Korea Literature Translation Institute, as a part of their larger project of making Korean literature known to the world at large. The works of literature produced in Korea in the course of the twentieth century are only the latest products in a historical tradition that spans over two thousand years. However, as they have been shaped by that profound transformation of society which Korean scholars generally term “Modernization,” the works of the twentieth century reveal essential differences from those of earlier times. It is partly in recognition of the significance of this break that Korean scholars often term the literature of the entire twentieth century “Modern Korean Literature.” The twentieth century was not kind to Korea. Tumultuous historical changes, including long years of Japanese rule and a devastating war that left the country divided, revolutions and dictatorships as well as the pangs of modernization and industrialization, brought great suffering to the Korean people. But it was also an era in which a strong determination to overcome the depredations of history were manifested in many areas of life. The decades of suffering gave birth to poets and writers of great vision, and to works of literature that testify both to actual Korean experience within this history and to the Korean spirit of resistance and transcendence that ever aspires to overcome oppression. -
Engaging Differences in Chosŏn Korea: a Post-Ming Context *
International Journal of Korean History (Vol.25 No.1, Feb. 2020) 157 Engaging Differences in Chosŏn Korea: A Post-Ming Context * Jeong-il Lee* The Use of Confucianism in a Time of Crisis For more than half a century, modern Korean scholarship has sought to counter the colonialist narrative of Japanese historiography by tying cer- tain changes in pre-modern Korea to an orientation towards ‘the modern.’ The Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) was regarded as the endpoint of pre- modern Korea and the beginning of modern Korea.1 In intellectual histo- ry, this supposition has reinforced such themes as the discovery of proto- national identity, new streams of thought against or beyond Confucianism, and the growth of popular culture. This paradigm, however, places a pre- mium on certain intellectuals whom Korean historians expect to better represent a self-motivated consciousness towards modern Korea. Some scholars underscore the intellectual strands of marginalized elite groups in * Research Fellow, Northeast Asian History Foundation. 1 More specifically, the Internal Development Theory (naejaejŏk palchŏnnon 內在的 發展論) characterizes late Chosŏn as the Dissolution Period (haech’egi 解體期) or the Transition Period (chŏnhwan’gi 轉換期) to enhance the empirical and theoreti- cal sophistication of the development discourse and accommodate the space of par- ticularity in Korean history. See Han’guk chungsesahoe haech’egi ŭi chemunje (I) (II), ed. Kŭndaesa yŏn’guhoe (Seoul: Hanul, 1987); Han’guksa chŏnhwan’gi ŭi munjedŭl, ed. Han’guksa yŏn’guhoe (Seoul: Chisiksanŏpsa,