Primary Source Documents for Korean Studies
목차
Introduction
This page lists various Korean Studies primary source documents in translation, with a focus on historical documents from the Joseon Dynasty. The documents are categorized into four sections: Royal Documents, Literati Writings, Social Life and Economic Strategies, and Community-Building in Local Society. Clicking on the individual texts will lead to a page which includes the the primary source document in both its translation and original form, discussion questions, further readings, and images of the original documents.
Royal Documents
| Title | Key Concepts | Year/Period | Document Type | Translator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decree Appointing Yi Sunsin to concurrently hold the position of Naval Commander of the Three Provinces of Ch'ungch'ŏng, Chŏlla, and Kyŏngsang
(敎 兼忠淸全羅慶尙等三道水軍統制使 李舜臣書) |
|
1597 (Joseon) | Decree | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
| 2 | Instructions for the Secret Tally
(密符諭書) |
|
Instruction | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program | |
| 3 | Letter of Instruction Appointing Yi Tammyŏng as Provincial Governor of Kyŏngsang province, concurrently Army and Navy Commander, Border Inspector and Magistrate of T’aegu
(敎慶尙道觀察使 兼兵馬水軍節度使 巡察使 大丘府使 李聃命 書) |
|
Letter | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
Literati Writings
| Title | Key Concepts | Year/Period | Document Type | Translator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resignation of Cho Sik in the Eulmyo year [1555]
(丹城縣監辭職疏) |
|
1555 (Joseon) | Resignation | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
| 2 | On Physiognomy
() |
|
Essay | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program | |
| 3 | An essay on bold people
(豪民論) |
|
Essay | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
Social Life and Economic Strategies
The Japanese Invasions of the Korean Peninsula between 1592 and 1598 not only brought enormous economical costs to Chosŏn Korea, i.e. through the loss of arable land, but also saw an unprecedented displacement of its people. About fifty to sixty thousands prisoners were taken to Japan, where most of them worked as slaves or were further sold to European traders.[1] However, as many prisoners brought with them the culture, skills and trades of their hometowns, their forced exchange led to a substantial transfer of knowledge. Just like Japanese prisoners of war had spurred the development of firearms in Chosŏn and Ming China, Koreans brought new techniques of ceramic production and knowledge of Neo-Confucianism with them to Japan. While in the negotiations between the Chosŏn court and the Japanese after the war the repatriation of all the prisoners was demanded, only the return of 7.500 Koreans is documented.[2]
The absence or loss of family members often presented families in Korea with the dilemma of having to rearrange succession and with it property distribution amongst the remaining family members in a state uncertainty. As Chosŏn was a predominately agrarian economy land was the most valuable property. While formally all land belonged to and was taxed by the King, increasing amounts of land were held in private ownership, mostly by Yangban families employing slaves and servants to work to fields. These families often drafted records of property distribution, in order to legally document the transfer of land to the next generation and to prevent disputes among later generations.
The following two records of property distribution document the serendipitous case of the Ha clan from Chinju, in modern day Kyŏngsangnam-do. Both documents have most likely been drafted by Confucian scholar Ch'angju Ha Tŭng (滄州 河憕) and concern his younger brother named Ha Pyŏn (河忭).
| Title | Key Concepts | Year/Period | Document Type | Translator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Record of the property distribution among brothers from March 11th, 1601
(萬曆二十九年二月初七日同生和會文記) |
|
1601 (Joseon) | Record | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
| 2 | Record of the property distribution among brothers from 1621
(天啓元年四月十九日, 同生和會文記) |
|
1621 (Joseon) | Compact | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
| 3 | Property Distribution Record from the Meeting of the Hach'an-siblings
(河鑽娚妹和會文記) |
|
1757 (Joseon) | Story | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
Community-Building in Local Society
While life in Chosŏn Korea in many ways was defined by a remarkable level of political centralization and the increasing penetration of Neo-Confucian culture into all levels of society, local communities still enjoyed a high degree of autonomy and regional distinctiveness. The two texts selected for this section exemplify ways in which village-level society maintained and carried out local forms of government.
No discussion of Late-Chosŏn local society is complete without a mention of the so-called community compact (Kor. hyangyak). Modelled after the ideas of Zhu Xi (1130–1200),[3] this institution increasingly gained popularity in Korea starting in the latter half of the sixteenth century.[4] Like Zhu Xi before them, Korean literati perceived the compact as an instrument for popular education and edification, which circumvented the need for coercive indoctrination and punitive legalism. In its simplest form, the compact consisted of an agreement entered by all community members, regardless of social status, encouraging them to help each other to act virtuously, to correct each other’s faults, to jointly participate in ritual activity, and to assist each other in times of calamity. Yet, despite the noble intentions that lay at its base, the compact came to function mainly as a tool for provincial yangban seeking to control their communities, while at the same time solidifying local autonomy.[5]
Although we should not underestimate the importance of the community compact in the late Chosŏn period, we also need to qualify the same. The texts show two examples of agreements entered by village residents. Both sought to regulate collective life, but they differed in important ways, telling us something about the complexity and reality of village life as well as the part played by the Neo-Confucian compact therein.
The first text is from Yangjwa Village in Kyŏngju, Kyŏngsang Province, and dates from 1609. It declares a village-wide prohibition on diverting water from the newly constructed dam and irrigation canal and was intermittently reaffirmed throughout the seventeenth century. Its immediate goal was the protection of common economic interests. Attached was a list twenty-two names. These were the members of the village association (Kor. tongyak) and it is apparent that they were all men of high social status, provincial yangban turned community leaders. Significantly, the overwhelming majority belonged to either the Kyŏngju Son or the Yŏju Yi, indicating the preeminent psosition occupied by these two families in the village. Furthermore, the indented names signify concubine descent, which condemned these men to a lower social status, revealing something about status hierarchies in rural Chosŏn. The origins of this form of communal regulation are uncertain, but it likely contained elements that predate the introduction of the Neo-Confucian community compact in Korea.[6]
The second text is from Tunya, 3rd village, in Yangju, Kyŏnggi Province, and probably dates from the eighteenth century. It declares a village compact concerning mutual help in times of bereavement and crisis. The nature of this document differs greatly from the first in its Neo-Confucian rhetoric and focus on ritual propriety even when discussing financial hardship. Of the two, this text most clearly reflects the ideals of Zhu Xi’s community compact.
As these two documents show, village communities in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Chosŏn Korea enjoyed some local autonomy although their politics tended toward domination by local yangban, even as their position was weakening toward the end of the dynasty.[7] They also hint at the variety of communal arrangements that existed in Korean villages, going beyond the community compact and defying straightforward categorization. Oftentimes, several provisions would overlap so that one village could have both an economic-interest association consisting of local yangban and a broader, more porous compact membership geared toward moral cultivation.[8] Yet it is seldom obvious whether a line can or should be drawn between these various forms of community-building arrangements.
| Title | Key Concepts | Year/Period | Document Type | Translator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Declaration of Prohibitions from Yangjwa Village
() |
|
1609 (Joseon) | Declaration | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
| 2 | Village Compact from Tunya, 3rd village
() |
|
Compact | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program | |
| 3 | Worried about a Disaster, Old Woman Offers (Her Granddaughter) as Concubine
(老媼慮患納小室) |
|
Story | Participants of 2016 Jangseogak Hanmun Workshop Program |
각주
- ↑ See Arano Yasunori, The formation of a Japanocentric World Order, The Wako and Change in East Asia, in: International Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 2 No.2, 2005, p. 197 f.
- ↑ See Kim Haboush, JaHuyn; Robinson, Kenneth R. (Ed.) A Korean War Captive in Korea 1597-1600. The Writings of Kang Hang, New York, Columbia University Press 2013, p. IX.
- ↑ Zhu Xi’s community compact (Ch. xiangyue) was presented in his Lü Family Community Compact, Amended and Emended (Zengsun Lü-shi xiangyue), which, as the title implies, was based on the already existing Lü Family Community Compact (Lü-shi xiangyue), written by Lü Dajun (1031–1082) a century prior.
- ↑ Ch'a Yonggŏl (車勇杰). “Hyangyak ŭi sŏngnip kwa sihaeng kwajŏng (鄕約의 成立과 施行過程).” Han'guk saron (韓國史論) 8, 1980: 189–207.
- ↑ Kwon, Nae-Hyun. “Rural Society and Zhu Xi’s Community Compact.” In Everyday Life in Joseon-Era Korea: Economy and Society. Translated by Edward Park and Michael D. Shin; edited by Michael D. Shin. Leiden: Global Oriental, 2014: 145–154.
- ↑ Kim Yongdŏk (金龍德). “Hyangyak kwa hyanggyu (鄕約과 鄕規).” Han'guk saron (韓國史論) 8, 1980: 208–227.
- ↑ Kim Hyŏk (김혁). “18–19 segi hyangyak ŭi silch'ŏn kwa sahoe kwan'gye ŭi pyŏnhwa: Ch'ungch'ŏng-do Kyŏlsŏng-hyŏn p'ogu maŭl Sŏngho-ri ŭi sarye rŭl t'onghaesŏ (18~19세기 鄕約의 실천과 사회관계의 변화: 충청도 결성현 포구 마을 星湖里의 사례를 통해서).” Han'guk munhwa (한국문화) 66, 2014: 271–306.
- ↑ Kim Hyŏngyŏng (김현영). “Chosŏn chunghugi Kyŏngju Yangjwa-dong ch'ollak chojik kwa kŭ sŏngkyŏk (조선 중후기 경주 양좌동의 촌락 조직과 그 성격).” Yŏngnamhak (嶺南學) 17, 2010: 383–410.
