State and Society in Choson (Yi) Korea (1392-1910)

During that period- 2 dynasties in China, 2 regime changes in Japan; it

lasted 500+ years
Political Structure and Civil Bureaucracy
o Polity was a dynasty; Choson was one of several unified
kingdoms that dominated peninsula from 8c onward
o Began in 1392 with military coup; didnt completely reinvent
existing system
Drew heavily on existing infrastructure
Continuity in terms of who the establishment was
o Significant change in religious and ideological framework
Korea (?) dynasty preferred Buddhism
Choson dynasty thought state Buddhism caused
weaknesses of regime
Buddhism was sort of banned; became taboo to
practice it openly
In its place, over 150 years neo-Confucianism
supplanted religious Buddhism in state and society
as ideological framework
Neo-Confucianism
Emphasis on filial piety, veneration of elders, respect
and virtue
Respect for hierarchy
Confucius
o Wrote during Warring States period of
Classical Chinese antiquity
o Foundational texts for how a state should be
run, how a king should behave, moral
obligation of landlord to tenants
o Firm emphasis on moral behavior
Extreme emphasis placed on everyone
achieving their moral best; the higher
you are in the system, the more
important this principle is
King should be shining example of
benevolent ruler
King
o Even with solitary king figure, he never got
total authority to rule country
o Was no idea of divine right

o Moral cultivation stemmed from top and

radiated to his officials and families- trickledown effect
o If he overstepped his boundaries, appointed
offices (Censors Office) would put him back in
place
o Obliged to get up at dawn; royal lectures on
how to be a good ruler
o He had teachers/officials he had to listen toput a check on his power; rarely in position to
exercise complete control
o Provided moral authority rather than political
direction
o Sophisticated civil bureaucracy made most of
political decisions; king was present and could
weigh in, but he rarely dictated policy
o Kings who violated these tenants are looked
down upon in history as immoral rulers
o King Sejong the Great (1418-1450)
Features of his portrait show complex relationship
between Korea and China
Koreans regarded China as font of civilization
Royal color in imperial China was yellow; Korean
kings never appeared in yellow, because that would
be disrespectful to Chinese monarch
If Chinese monarch had name, that Chinese
character was viewed as extremely special
Prohibition against the color red in writing until
early 20c; Chinese used it to mark up documents
Seen as sage king of Choson dynasty
Appointed committee of scholars to come up with
Korean language Hangul (invented 1443-44)
o Phonetic script, easy to learn; not exactly the
same as it is today
o Made language more accessible to non-elite;
didnt take place until 1890s
o Few women received classical Chinese
education; first to adopt vernacular script
o Court language remained Chinese into late19c
o Two-language system
Educated elite were literate in Chinese
language

Vernacular was much different

Class consciousness embedded into
language
Elite men couldnt see themselves as
part of community with peasants and
women

o Factionalism
One of fatal flaws of Choson dynasty
Political purges were about kings and allies targeting
opponents
Criticism had to do with missed/incorrect ritual protocols;
court factions weighed in on whether kings protocols
were proper; one side aligned with king and judged his
actions as justified- purge of contradicting officials and
extended families
Backlashes of kingly power; posthumously criticized and
given lesser titles
State Bureaucracy
o Central, left, right state councilor (3 in all)
Position was of great prestige
o Staffed by men who successfully placed well in Civil Service
Examination
Family needed to have certain economic means as well as
academic orientation; fund years of nonproductive life
studying
Surprisingly small number of civil servants running
country; 3,000 men compared to population of 10 million
(by 1920s doubled to 20 million)
These men made almost all administrative decisions
Demonstrate mastery of Confucian texts; meet certain
social criteria
Where your family was situated (class background)needed to come from yangban background
o Perpetuation of elite status
o Departure from Chinese tablet, which was
open to any men of talent
o Listed on exam itself name of father, maternal
and paternal grandfather, somebody had to
have taken and passed exam in last 60 years
o Both sides of pedigree mattered
o Elite kept close watch on who was allowed in
its ranks; lineage requirements kept pool small

This became increasingly social issue in

18/19th centuries
Dynasty that started out with military origins shifted
towards literary backgrounds; shift towards civil rather
than military bureaucracy
19c problem when Korea needed to build up its
defensive capabilities
o Six Ministries (yukcho)
Personnel/Taxation/Rites/Military
Affairs/Punishments/Public Works
Influenced by factions and how decisions would affect
families
Based in capital of Seoul
From 15c onward, boundaries fixed based on natural geographical
lines
o Skirmishes as Koreans crossed border
o Border treaty 1895; China lost prestige, such that Korea could
ask for firm definition of Chinese-Korean boundary
o Provincial borders have basically remained; no division of North
and South provinces
Economy
o Most engaged in subsistence agriculture; not material-rich
country as late as 19c
o Some engaged in commercial activity
o Ginseng trade in one providence (look at readings for name)capitalist-like setup
o For the most part, foreign trade was restricted
Local Government
o Provinces- men assisted in taxation and punishment
o Local policemen didnt need to take civil service exam
o Governor responsible for local duties; often was corrupt;
supplemented meager incomes with bribery and embezzlement
o Targeted during peasant rebellions since they were interacted
with the most
Class Structure
o System legally disbanded in 1895; long after laws were put in
place, elite continued their leisurely lifestyles, and lower
classers found it difficult to find other modes of livelihood
despite their emancipation
o Class status determined by parents; ones mother
You could have yangban father, but if mother was not of
that rank, you inherited her social class

Explosion of non-yangbans as population expandedminimized privileged class and also created greater
social imbalance
o Yangban (aristocracy)
Some never succeeded even after taking civil service
exam; able to rely on family landownings and renting out
property to tenant farmers
Exempt from military service
Had to pay taxes, but there were ways to get around that
Goal to guarantee continuation of family name through
son; concubines, secondary wives used when first wife
was unable to produce male heir
Werent any prohibitions against polygamy in
Confucian texts- continued into 20c (not
formally/legally)
You were supposed to keep first wife, even if other
females produced sons; caused tension
Looked down upon if girl did not come from good
social background
Son needed to have equally privileged mother in
order to sit for exam
Increasingly large number of sons with fathers of
good background and mothers of lesser standing;
shut off from privileged positions
Fathers fought to integrate these sons into system,
since they received equal education and had equal
capabilities
Offspring referred to as secondary sons; among first
to embrace change in late 19c
o Materially comfortable and had access to
certain privileges; given same access to
financial resources; couldnt do anything with
them
o Created sense of frustration
o They did not benefit from old regime
o Willing to embrace major social upheaval to
gain access to careers that came with more
elite status
o Chungin (in-between; technocrats of today; middle people;
skilled professionals)
Had white collar skills that yangban felt they were too
good to engage in

Practical skills; familiarity with foreign languages

When Korean foreign interaction increased, there was
tremendous demand for their talents
Drawn into international interactions far more than
yangban
At the forefront of Korean transition into modernity
o Sangmin (commoners)
o Chonmin (base people)
People who treated leather; butchers; funerary jobs;
entertainment industry; flesh trade
o Slave class existed; wasnt quite like Western slavery
Werent enslaving other ethnic group; enslaved their own
As much as 1/3 of population had slave status
o Opportunities to buy your way out of status- successful non-elite
would swap records with less successful yangban
o Average commoner was able to survive on limited land rented
from landlord- no need to agitate for something better
No need for peasant rebellions until early 20c
o People internalized Confucian ideology of knowing your place;
skewed in favor of upper class
Failure to adapt to circumstances in late 19c; elite saw no
reason to alter a pattern that had worked for so long
Tosan Confucian Academy (sowon)
o Ambitious young men flocked there to study; ultimate goal to
learn classics and take civil service exam
o Networking with people of similar economic and social
backgrounds; relationships established there affected
government service ties and factions
o Available only to men
o Families threw money into maintaining learning environment;
academies were tax-exempt and covered huge swaths of land
Showed status of elite
o Local schools also developed
Shamanism- religious belief that coexisted with neo-Confucian
framework; no contradiction
Identification based on outwardly appearance- very materialistic
o Sumptuary laws governing what textiles and ornaments you
could wear
o Certain hairstyles could set apart low class entertainers from
aristocracy
o Hair seldom trimmed; braid worn in top knot
o Top hat style particular to Choson dynasty