Changing Korean Perceptions of Japan the Case of Neo-Confucian Yangban

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Changing Korean Perceptions of Japan the Case of Neo-Confucian Yangban Changing Korean Perceptions of Japan on the Eve of Modern Transformation: The Case of Neo-Confucian Yangban Intellectuals Chai-sik Chung Before the modern period, Koreans tended to view Japan with a mixture of antipathy toward a ruthless invader and condescension toward a more peripheral member of their China-centered world. As that world began to change on the eve of the modern era, some reform-minded Korean intellectuals began to view Japan in a different light, see- ing its heterodox Confucianism and its military culture as strengths rather than as marks of backwardness. By the eve of the colonial period, many looked to Japan as a model of how Koreans could adapt to the modern world without losing their national character. Korea has not been free from foreign invasions throughout its history. China and especially the northern tribal groups, such as the Khitan, the Jiirchen, the Mongols, and the Manchus have invaded Korea. But most troublesome for Korea have been the repeated threats and invasions from the Japanese in the south. The Japanese pirate raids in the late fourteenth century, and especially Hideyoshi's destructive invasions (1592-1598), have left an indelible impres- sion on the minds of the Korean people. The Koreans transmitted the memory of the tragic invasions and the profound enmity that resulted from them from generation to generation through oral tradition. Among others, the story of the heroic Zen monk Samyöngdang who led a guerrilla war against Hideyoshi's army is the best known. In addition, many stories of anti-Japanese resistance were preserved and passed on, such as Imjinnok [Record of the Hideyoshi invasions] and Kwak Chae-u chön, the biography of a heroic general who fought against the Japanese invaders. Unlike the Chinese, the Khitan, the Mongols, or Manchus, the memory of whose invasions have faded over time, Japan has always impressed the Korean people as the primary enemy country.1 Behind this special anti-Japanese feeling is the Korean attitude of cul- Korean Studies, Volume 19. ©1995 by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved. 40KOREAN STUDIES, VOL. 19 turai superiority and the habit of condescension to the Japanese. At the basis of this feeling of cultural superiority was the Korean belief in Confucianism and the sinocentric spatial symbolism and cosmology. In such symbolism and cosmology China was the natural center of ch'onha [all under heaven]. The Koreans understood that the Confucian moral ideals of the Five Relationships, the Three Bonds, and the rules of propriety dominated the sphere of Chinese culture. And Koreans distinguished China from the peripheral, barbarian world. They believed that China was the center, and all of the peripheral nations under heaven were to serve China. In terms of the spatial conception of center and periphery they associated the peripheral areas of China with the dwelling place of barbarians, beasts, and evil spirits.2 The Koreans took pride in being called by China the "little China" in the east that faithfully followed Confucianism. But they looked down upon Japan as culturally more backward than Korea because of its peripheral location, calling the Japanese barbarians and "beasts." The Koreans' historical self-understanding further reinforced such feelings of cultural superiority. They believed that it was through Korea that the Japanese had first learned of the more advanced culture from the con- tinent, such as Chinese characters, classical Chinese culture, and Mahayana Buddhism. Koreans also resentfully remembered the abduction of skilled Korean potters as prisoners of war, who had influenced the development of Korean ceramics in Japan, especially in Satsuma and Arita.3 Especially self-gratifying to the Korean scholar-officials was the fact that the Neo-Confucian philosophy of Zhu Xi was first introduced to Japan by Korean scholars. Kang Hang (1567-1618) was a prisoner of war who was captured by Hideyoshi's armies when they invaded Korea in 1592-1598. Brought to Japan, he later helped Fujiwara Seika (1561-1619) lay the founda- tion for the development of Tokugawa Neo-Confucianism. It was through Kang that Fujiwara and his fellow Confucian scholars learned to admire the systems of Confucian moral principles, rituals, and government.4 The Koreans took especially great pride in Yi T'oegye (1501-1570), the Zhu Xi of Korea, who was widely respected by the Japanese Confucian scholars. T'oegye exerted a profound and lasting influence on such Edo scholars as Fujiwara Seika, Hayashi Razan (1583-1657), Yamazaki Ansai (1618-1682), and Yokoi Shönan (1809-1869). As is evident in their travel records, the Korean envoys took special note of this fact because of their preoccupation with Confucian values. The Korean travelers in Iapan deplored Japan's lack of a civil service examination system for government officials. The lack of such a system of recruitment held back men of ability from distinguishing themselves in the world. They also noted with curiosity the lower social status of Confucian scholars compared to warriors, doctors, and monks. They attributed this to Japan's military culture that belittled Confucian literati culture.5 In contrast, it is interesting that they disregarded me more advanced chung: Changing Perceptions of Japan4 1 state of Japanese accomplishments in industry, commerce, and technology. Shin Yu-han (1681-?) visited Japan in 1719-1720 as an attaché of a Korean envoy. He was exceptional in reporting about how he was amazed to see a magnificent castle with ponds, moats, and bridges in Osaka, the old city of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). Hundreds of Buddhist temples, bridges, and luxurious homes of the nobility and affluent people deeply impressed him. He marveled over a gorgeous palace of a prince with splendid gardens and a library well stocked with the Classics and all kinds of writings from China and Korea. Stores that sold the best wines, well-advertised pharmaceutical stores, and gaudy geisha houses were eye-opening things to him. It is interesting that Shin reported that the Japanese people loved lewd and beautiful things and that men and women in the streets were all clad in silks. He noted that the Osaka region benefited from active foreign trade and had the advantages of rivers, lakes, forests, and moats. Its fertile lands also deeply impressed him. They yielded varieties of rich agricultural products and minerals not found in abundance in Korea, such as gold, silver, copper, tin, and rare lumber.6 Chöng Yag-yong (1763-1836), a foremost Shirhak (Practical Learning) scholar, is known to have transcended the sinocentric worldview of his time more than many of his contemporaries. But even he was not entirely free from a view of Japan that was greatly constricted by Confucian tradition.7 Yet, unlike many of his contemporaries who had condescending views of Tokugawa Confucianism, Chöng was more well-informed about its develop- ment. He took special interest in the scholars of the school of Ancient Learn- ing (Kogaku), such as Ito Jinsai (1627-1705), OgyO Sorai (1666-1728), and Dazai Shundai (1680-1747). These scholars tried to achieve proper morality by reading original works to understand the ideas of the sages. In search of the unadulterated teachings of Confucius and Mencius, the Kogaku scholars criti- cized the systems of Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming. Chöng appears to have found some affinities between the general orientations of the Kogaku scholars and his own wish to return to the pristine teachings of Confucius and Mencius. This is well born out in his famous critiques of the contemporary five schools of learning (Ohangnon, namely, Söngnihak, the school of Nature and Princi- ple; classical exegesis; belles-lettres; learning for civil service examinations; and divinations), which had stifled the original teachings of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius.8 Chöng wrote an important book, Annotated Commentary on the Ana- lects of Confucius (Nonö kogümju).9 This was based on his extensive study of the ancient Han and Tang commentaries and the Song commentaries of the Analects. In this work Chöng makes frequent references to the exegeses of the Analects by the Kogaku scholars such as Ito Jinsai, Ogyü Sorai, and especially Dazai Shundai. But he had some reservations about their interpretations of the Chinese Classics, which he thought were "excellent, although distorted some- 42KOREAN STUDIES, VOL. 19 times."10 Why did he think the views of the Kogaku school was "distorted sometimes?" One example, among others, is his criticism of Dazai's interpre- tation of the following passage in the Analects: "The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it."" Sharply distinguishing the Confucian junzi [gentlemen] from shaoren [petty men], Dazai maintained thatjunzi should rule shaoren. If, however, all the petty men were to become gentlemen, there would be no one left for gentlemen to govern. Thus Dazai clearly endorsed the idea that educated gentlemen should govern the ignorant masses. But Chöng thought that this was contrary to his belief that the masses were the basis of society. He judged, too, that Dazai's elitist view contradicted Confucius's view that "in teaching there should be no distinction of classes."12 Japan had been a military, or barbarian, nation without classic learning. And the Japanese had been without the moral knowledge of propriety, righ- teousness, and shame and modesty—therefore a cause for worry. But now that Japan had become a civilized nation, Chöng Yag-yong thought, there was no reason for Korea to worry about it. He reached this conclusion because the level of understanding of the Chinese Classics by the Kogaku scholars such as Ito Jinsai, Ogyü Sorai, and Dazai Shundai were now all "splendid."13 When Chöng thus expressed his optimistic view of Japan, however, he really be- trayed his lack of a fuller knowledge about the country.
Recommended publications
  • Exhibition Brochure
    KOREAN FOLK PAINTINGS, OR MINWHA, DURING THE JOSEON DYNASTY (1392-1910) REVEAL SOME ESSENTIAL VALUES OF KOREAN SOCIETY. USUALLY PLACED IN A ROOM IN FOLDING SCREEN FORMAT OR HUNG ON WALLS IN SCROLL FORMAT, THIS GENRE ILLUSTRATES VARIOUS SUBJECTS SUCH AS SCHOLARS’ EQUIPMENT, CHARACTERS RELATED TO CONFUCIAN VIRTUES, AND NATURAL THEMES SUCH AS BIRDS-AND-FLOWERS AND A RANGE OF OTHER ANIMALS. THESE MINWHA NOT ONLY DECORATED THE ROOMS OF MANY HOUSEHOLDS BUT WERE ALSO UNDERSTOOD TO BRING GOOD LUCK, WARD OFF EVIL SPIRITS, AND DEPICT MORAL VIRTUES. IN CONTRAST TO HIGHLY REVERED LITERATI PAINTING BY YANGBAN, OR UPPER-CLASS SCHOLAR-GENTLEMEN, MINWHA RECEIVED LITTLE RESPECT AS AN ART FORM BUT CONTINUED TO ENJOY STRONG SUPPORT AMONG THE GROWING MIDDLE CLASS DURING PERIODS OF POLITICAL STABILITY. AUSPICIOUS BEAUTY: KOREAN FOLK PAINTING INTRODUCES POPULAR THEMES DEPICTED IN MINWHA AND DISCUSSES THEIR MEANINGS, FUNCTIONS AND THE ROLE OF PATRONS IN THEIR CREATION. Joseon Korea faced many changes politically and socially, which brought about new experiences in cultural life as well. After overthrowing the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), the kings of the Joseon dynasty professed Confucianism over Buddhism, which had been the state religion of Goryeo Korea. Under Confucian ideology, social order, education and pragmatism became the fundamental ideas holding the nation together. As the Joseon government embarked on an ambitious plan to reform the Shin Saimdang (1504-1551); Sogwa-do (Painting of Vegetables-and- nation into an ideal Confucian society, able rulers such as King Fruit) (Detail); Korea, Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), 16th century; Ink and Sejong (r.1418-50) systematically realized this vision with the mineral pigments on paper; Loaned by Isao Saito inception of the National Code, or Kyongguk Daejon, (completed in 1474), and the invention of the Korean alphabet, hangeul, in 1443.
    [Show full text]
  • (De)Constructing Boundaries
    21st Harvard East Asia Society Graduate Conference (DE)CONSTRUCTING BOUNDARIES 9-10 February, 2018 21st Annual Harvard East Asia Society Graduate Conference (DE)CONSTRUCTING BOUNDARIES CGIS South, Harvard University 9-10 February, 2018 Abstract Booklet 1 Table of Contents Welcome Note 3 Sponsors 4 Keynote Speakers 5 Campus Map 6 Harvard Guest Wi-fi access 6 Panel Information 7 Panel A: (De)constructing Nation: Gendered Bodies in the Making of Modern Korea 7 Panel B: Urban Fabrics Unraveled 9 Panel C: Reimagining the boundary of novelistic styles in Pre-modern East Asia 10 Panel D: Transmission and Displacement in Literature 12 Panel E: Reframing Regionalism in East Asia 14 Panel F: Art and Visual Culture in Context 16 Panel G: Traversing Boundaries in Education 18 Panel H: Transnationalism in the Age of Empire 20 Panel I: Re-examining Boundaries in Chinese Politics in Xi Jinping's "New Era" 23 Panel K: Media Across Boundaries 28 Panel L: De(constructing) Myths of Migration 29 2 Welcome Note Welcome to the 21st annual Harvard East Asia Society Conference! It is our privilege to host graduate students working across all disciplines to exchange ideas and discuss their research related to Asia. In addition to receiving feedback from their peers and leading academics, participants have the opportunity to meet others doing similar research and forge new professional relationships. This year’s theme, “(De)constructing Boundaries”, critically assesses boundaries - physical, national, cultural, spatial, temporal, and disciplinary - between different spatial- temporal areas of study. As the concept of “Asia” continues to evolve, the construction and deconstruction of boundaries will enable redefinitions of collective knowledge, culture, and identity.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • 2013 ANZSI Conference: “Intrepid Indexing: Indexing Without
    Intrepid indexing: indexing without boundaries 13–15 March 2013 Wellington, New Zealand Table of Contents Papers • Keynote: Intrepid indexing: from the sea to the stars, Jan Wright • Publishers, Editors and Indexers: a panel discussion, Fergus Barrowman, Mei Yen Chua and Simon Minto • Māori names and terms in indexes, texts and databases, Robin Briggs, Ross Calman, Carol Dawber • EPUB3 Indexes Charter and the future of indexing, Glenda Browne • People and place : the future of database indexing for Indigenous collections in Australia, Judith Cannon and Jenny Wood • Indexing military history, Peter Cooke • Ethics in Indexing, Heather Ebbs • Running an Indexing Business, Heather Ebbs, Pilar Wyman, Mary Coe and Tordis Flath • Archives and indexing history in the Pacific Islands, Uili Fecteau and Margaret Pointer • Typesetting Dilemmas, Tordis Flath and Mary Russell • Can an index be a work of art? Lynn Jenner and Tordis Flath • Advanced SKY Index, Jon Jermey • East Asian names: understanding and indexing Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) names, Lai Lam and Cornelia (Nelly) Bess • Intermediate CINDEX - Patterns for the Plucky, Frances Lennie • Demystifying indexing: keeping the editor sane! Max McMaster (presented by Mary Russell) • Numbers in Indexing, Max McMaster (presented by Mary Russell) • Japan's indexing practice, Takashi Matsuura • Understanding Asian Names, Fiona Price • Indexing Tips and Traps; Practical approaches to improving indexes and achieving ANZSI Accreditation, Sherrey Quinn o Indexing Tip and Traps — slides o Practical
    [Show full text]
  • A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han
    Consensus Volume 38 Issue 1 Reformation: Then, Now, and Onward. Varied Article 4 Voices, Insightful Interpretations 11-25-2017 A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus Part of the Chinese Studies Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Korean Studies Commons, and the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Han, Christina (2017) "A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia," Consensus: Vol. 38 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol38/iss1/4 This Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Han: Reformation in East Asia A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han1 The Reformation 500 Jubilee and the Shadow of the Past he celebratory mood is high throughout the world as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Themed festivals and tours, special services and T conferences have been organized to commemorate Martin Luther and his legacy. The jubilee Luther 2017, planned and sponsored the federal and municipal governments of Germany and participated by churches and communities in Germany and beyond, lays out the goals of the events as follows: While celebrations in earlier centuries were kept national and confessional, the upcoming anniversary of the Revolution ought to be shaped by openness, freedom and ecumenism.
    [Show full text]
  • Soh-Joseon-Kingdom.Pdf
    Asia-Pacific Economic and Business History Conference, Berkeley, 2011 (Feb. 18-20): Preliminary Draft Institutional Differences and the Great Divergence:* Comparison of Joseon Kingdom with the Great Britain Soh, ByungHee Professor of Economics Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea e-mail: [email protected] Abstract If modern Koreans in the 20th century could achieve a remarkable economic growth through industrialization, why couldn’t their ancestors in Joseon Kingdom in early modern period achieve an industrial revolution at that time? This is the fundamental question of this paper. There existed several social and institutional constraints in Joseon Kingdom (1392-1897 A.D.) in the 17th through 19th centuries that made her industrial development impossible. The strictly defined social classes and the ideology of the ruling class deprived Joseon Kingdom of the entrepreneurial spirit and the incentives to invent new technology necessary for industrial development. Markets and foreign trades were limited and money was not used in transaction until late 17th century. Technicians and engineers were held in low social esteem and there was no patent to protect an inventor’s right. The education of Confucian ethical codes was intended to inculcate loyalty to the ruling class Yangban and the King. The only way to get out of the hard commoner’s life was to pass the national civil service examination to become a scholar-bureaucrat. Joseon Kingdom was a tributary country to Qing Dynasty and as such it had to be careful about technological and industrial development not to arouse suspicion from Qing. Joseon was not an incentivized society while the Great Britain was an incentivized society that was conducive to Industrial Revolution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Samurai Invasion of Korea 1592–98
    CAM198cover.qxd:Layout 1 25/3/08 13:41 Page 1 CAMPAIGN • 198 Accounts of history’s greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics and battle experiences of the opposing forces throughout the crucial stages of each campaign 198 • CAMPAIGN THE SAMURAI INVASION OF KOREA THE SAMURAI INVASION 1592–98 OF KOREA 1592–98 OF KOREA 1592–98 THE SAMURAI INVASION The invasions of Korea launched by the dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi are unique in Japanese history for being the only time that the samurai assaulted a foreign country. Hideyoshi planned to invade and conquer China, ruled at the time by the Ming dynasty, and when the Korean court refused to allow his troops to cross their country, Korea became the first step in this ambitious plan of conquest. Though ultimately ending in failure and retreat, the Japanese armies initially drove the Koreans all the way to China before the decisive victories of Admiral Yi Sunsin and the Korean navy disrupted the Japanese supply routes whilst Chinese armies harried them by land. This book describes the region’s first ‘world war’ that caused a degree of devastation in Korea itself that was unmatched until the Korean War of the 1950s. Full colour battlescenes Illustrations 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-views’ Maps STEPHEN TURNBULL US $19.95 / CAN $22.95 ISBN 978-1-84603-254-7 OSPREY 51995 PUBLISHING 9 781846 032547 O SPREY WWW.OSPREYPUBLISHING.COM STEPHEN TURNBULL ILLUSTRATED BY PETER DENNIS © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com CAM198title.qxd:Layout 1 25/3/08 10:41 Page 1 CAMPAIGN • 198 THE SAMURAI INVASION OF KOREA 1592–98 STEPHEN TURNBULL ILLUSTRATED BY PETER DENNIS Series editors Marcus Cowper and Nikolai Bogdanovic © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com CAM198 Korea final.qxd:Layout 1 25/3/08 13:53 Page 2 First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Osprey Publishing, DEDICATION Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK 443 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, USA To Richard and Helen on the occasion of their wedding, 23 August 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • Korea 1800-1860: Intellectual and Social Reactions to Western Contacts
    Korea 1800-1860: Intellectual and Social Reactions to Western Contacts Bonnie S. Kim The dawn of the nineteenth century would Sirhak, or practical learning, school of thought bring forth a new era of change, discovery and which advocated new, pragmatic historical method- challenge for the late Chosòn kingdom (1392- ologies based on "scholastic empiricism." Largely in 1910). Western Europeans first came to the response to the dismal conditions of this time, some shores of the Korean peninsula and made signifi- of the Sirhak thinkers were drawn to Catholicism cant contact with its people in this period. The (first introduced to Korea by missionaries in 1784 first such encounter happened in 1787, with the and then known as sohak, or western learning), with arrival of the French ships Boussole and its doctrine of original sin and promise of a "heav- Astrolabe, followed by "visits" by other English enly kingdom on earth." Yet the readiness to accept and French ships in 1799, 1811, 1832, 1845, the teachings of the Catholic Church on the part of 1846 and 1854. These initial Western contacts some of the ordinary people and the Sirhak thinkers coincided with radical transformations within was by no means universal. In fact, the Korean state Korean society in political, socio-economic and banned Catholicism and instituted a series of official intellectual areas. persecutions against Christian converts as well as mis- Political changes are evident in the deteriora- sionaries – in 1801, 1839 and 1866 – to rid the coun- tion of the Korean state apparatus. In 1800, the try of what the ruling élite considered the Western accession of the ten-year-old Sunjo, who was wide- corruption of the Confucianist ideal.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Contesting Seoul: Contacts, Conflicts, and Contestations Surrounding Seoul's City Walls, 1876-1919 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0sc5v176 Author Lee, Sinwoo Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Contesting Seoul: Contacts, Conflicts, and Contestations Surrounding Seoul’s City Walls, 1876-1919 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Sinwoo Lee 2014 © Copyright by Sinwoo Lee 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Contesting Seoul: Contacts, Conflicts, and Contestations Surrounding Seoul’s City Walls, 1876-1919 by Sinwoo Lee Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor John B. Duncan, Chair This dissertation explores the contacts, conflicts, and contestations surrounding Seoul’s city walls, and how they shaped Seoul’s transformation and Korea’s transition from the opening of the ports to the early colonial period (1876-1919). One of the main goals in this dissertation is to assert the inseparable connection between the capital and its city walls in the premodern period, and thereby the importance of examining various contestations and negotiations over its city walls in understanding Seoul’s transformation into a modern city. More specifically, not only was the construction of Seoul’s city walls instrumental in establishing Seoul as a capital and Chosŏn as a dynasty, but also its very existence came to symbolize royal authority and national sovereignty within the changing sociopolitical conditions of the Chosŏn dynasty as well as the diplomatic relationships in ! ii the larger East Asian contexts.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Hell Joseon' Is More Like It As Economy Flounders
    LUND UNIVERSITY • CENTRE FOR EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIAN STUDIES ‘Hell Joseon’ - Tales from a South Korean Youth Trapped Between Past and Present Author: Johan Cornelis Schoonhoven Supervisor: Erik Mobrand Master’s Programme in Asian Studies Spring semester 2017 Abstract This thesis takes its outset in the newly coined expression ‘Hell Joseon’ used by the youth in South Korea. ‘Hell Joseon’ is a comparison between today’s society and the pre-modern Joseon Dynasty. By asking “what are the main characteristics of life in ‘Hell Joseon’ from a youth perspective?”, I arrive at the following conclusion. Life in ‘Hell Joseon’ is highly characterized by discrepancies between rich and poor, old and young, men and women, global and local. This is a peculiar result of Korea’s double-compressed modernity which derives from a colonial legacy, top-down modernization in the post-war era and condensed transition to a neoliberal world economy, also known as the second modernity. Therefore, traditional and (post)modern elements coexist in Korea’s society, and is partly the reason why the youth are now drawing references to the pre-modern Joseon Dynasty. Life in ‘Hell Joseon’ thus implies frustrations over high unemployment rates, a new ‘spoon class’ class division, lack of social mobility, an education fever and a downright “gender war”. More than that, it shows traces of apathy in the fact that the young generation is giving up marriage, children, jobs, hope, housing etc., but also traces of transformation since the ‘Hell Joseon’ discourse have made the youth take it to the streets, last seen in the mass demonstrations against now impeached President Park Geun-hye.
    [Show full text]
  • BRIEF HISTORY of KOREA —A Bird's-Eyeview—
    BRIEF HISTORY OF KOREA —A Bird's-EyeView— Young Ick Lew with an afterword by Donald P. Gregg The Korea Society New York The Korea Society is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization with individual and corporate members that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea. In pursuit of its mission, the Society arranges programs that facilitate dis- cussion, exchanges and research on topics of vital interest to both countries in the areas of public policy, business, education, intercultural relations and the arts. Funding for these programs is derived from contributions, endowments, grants, membership dues and program fees. From its base in New York City, the Society serves audiences across the country through its own outreach efforts and by forging strategic alliances with counterpart organizations in other cities throughout the United States as well as in Korea. The Korea Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with the U.S. government. All statements of fact and expressions of opinion contained in all its publications are the sole responsibility of the author or authors. For further information about The Korea Society, please write The Korea Society, 950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022, or e-mail: [email protected]. Visit our website at www.koreasociety.org. Copyright © 2000 by Young Ick Lew and The Korea Society All rights reserved. Published 2000 ISBN 1-892887-00-7 Printed in the United States of America Every effort has been made to locate the copyright holders of all copyrighted materials and secure the necessary permission to reproduce them.
    [Show full text]