HISTORY 386A
Introduction
Land
Journey to Korean peninsula
People
Topics of Korean History
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Crossroad
Unity-division
Contrasts/extremes
Center-periphery
Korean peninsula
under attack
Arena of conflicts
Continuity and change
Kim Jong Un, 2012
Kim Il Sung, 1945
History as national narrative
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Multiple histories, affected by nationality, period in
history, power, ideology (North-South)
History as identity, myth, and political agenda
Myth and Archeology
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Tang’un, Kochoson, 2333 BC, mythological racial
origin
First recorded reference to Kochoson during the
first century BC; first record of Tang’un in Samguk
Yusa (13th century)
Korea’s national spirit (minjokhon) and its ongoing
historical struggle defines Korea’s national identity
as a homogenous race (tan’il), unified state, and
indigenous culture distinctly separate from those of
China and Japan
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Racial history of suffering: Korean identity was
formed by instilling a collective sense of destiny as
victims of superpower politics and foreign
invasions since time immemorial
Prehistory
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First pottery on the peninsula from 8000 BC
Jeulmun (comb-patterned) Pottery Period, 8000BC2000BC: decorated vessels; hunting, gathering, and
small-scale cultivation of plants
Mumun (plain-patterned) Pottery Period, 1500 BC –
300 BC: plain cooking and storage vessels; smallscale shifting cultivation ("slash-and-burn") was
practiced in addition to a variety of other subsistence
strategies; origins of intensive agriculture and
complex societies
Classic Jeulmun vessel, 3500 BC
Storage vessel, Middle Mumun, 8 c. BC
Kochoson 108 BC
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Kochoson (Ancient Choson) civilization: evidence
during the transition from Jeulmun to Mumun
periods, around 1500 BC
Archeological findings point to 7th-4th centuries BC
Kochoson, confederation of walled cities; Puyo 2nd
century – 494 AD, Manchuria and parts of North
Korea
Groups of semi-sedentary small-scale
agriculturalists occupied most of the Korean
Peninsula
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Proto Three Kingdoms period, between Kochoson
and the maturation of the three kingdoms; 108 BC,
Puyo, Koguryo, Okcho, and Tongye
Koguryo was established in 37 BC; absorbed the
last Chinese commandery in 313
In the south, loose confederacies Jinhan, Puyohan
and Mahan (Samhan)
Proto Three Kingdoms
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Paekche was founded in 18 BC in Mahan territory
and began to overtake it
Silla was founded by the unification of six
chiefdoms within the Jinhan in 57 BC
Kaya confederacy absorbed Puyohan and later was
annexed by Silla
Lelang commandery, 108 BC – 313 AD
Korean states
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The process of state formation on the Korean
peninsula was initiated by Han invasion and the
establishment of Lelang commandery (108 BC –
AD 313)
Foundation for inter- and intra-regional dynamics
in the exchange of goods and information;
economic exchange and competition between
Lelang and Samhan
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Peer polity interaction (Renfrew): state formation
is intelligible only in terms of multiple units and
regions; in China Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties
probably overlapped one another rather than
succeeding one other through warfare and
annihilation
Three kingdoms are the first entities historically
and archeologically that can be regarded as states
on the Korean peninsula: Koguryo, Paekche and
Shilla
Koguryo: 37 BC-668 AD (476)
Silla: 57 BC-935 AD (576)
Koguryo tomb mural
Silla, 57 BC-918 AD
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The authority of the throne was generally
restricted by the vestiges of a tribal type council,
the most prominent example of which was the
hwabaek council of Silla
Silla unified most of the three kingdoms after
defeating Koguryo in 668
Even after unification, Silla kings had to deal with
the “bone-rank” aristocrats, powerful local
magnates, and regional military commanders
Koryo: 918-1392 (1374)
Founder Wang Kon
Koryo, 918-1392
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Despite the development of centralized
administration, kings were subjected to the
influence of strong aristocratic clans
Wang Kon’s strategy was to ally himself with other
powerful and prestigious groups through marriage
ties. He contracted marriages with no fewer than 29
daughters of important strongmen and old Silla
aristocrats
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After 1170, military men seized power, and from
1196 to 1258 Koryo kings were hardly more than
puppets of in the hands of military-aristocratic
Ch’oe family, which passed its shogunal type
authority down hereditarily though four
generations
From the mid-13th century the royal house reached
the nadir of subjugation under the rule of the
Mongol invaders who lowered the royal prestige
Koryo - tributary state of Yuan dynasty, 1259-1392
Confucianization of Korea
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United Silla introduced examination system in 788,
influence from Tang
Wang Kon surrounded by Confucian advisors;
examination system in 958 with Chinese assistance
Coexistence of Three Teachings like in China:
Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism
Confucians started to advocate reforms beyond school
system: Confucian values to shape society
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Tolerance toward Buddhism ended in the 14th
century
Yuan Confucians occupied themselves with
practical matters; Yi Che-hyon and the new creed
of “concrete (solid) learning,” sirhak
Choson: 1392-1910
Founder Yi Song-gye
From Koryo to Choson
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The creation of Choson dynasty was culmination of
effort to create centralized bureaucratic polity (since
the 10th century)
Toward the 14th c. reform-minded yangban realized
that they dependent on strong and effective central
regime, as their power derived from status as officials
Yi Song-gye and his associates integrated into
yangban through political alliances and marriage ties
Access of state to greater share of resources, Rank
Land Law (1391)
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Rank Land Law did not alter the basic pattern of
yangban estate ownership, but sharply reduced the
amount of land given out as sajon (private field,
lands whose tax receipts went to officials who
provided services to the state)
Greatly increased the amount designated as
general revenue kongjon (public field, lands whose
tax receipts went to the government)
Confiscation of lands and slaves owned by
Buddhist temples
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Enhancement of throne’s authority; abolition of
Todang (deliberative council) and dispersal of
bureaucratic power among several independent
agencies represented substantial enhancement of
the throne’s authority
But the kings were unable to break the old tradition
of aristocratic control over land and people; early
Choson kings had to secure support from strongly
aristocratic yangban class (for example, Ming T’aitsu created new ruling class in China)
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Strengthening local administration by highranking governors
Triumph of central bureaucratic aristocracy over
local hyangni-based system of Silla-Koryo
transition
Yangban (two ranks – munban, scholarly, and
muban, martial) – nobility: hereditary nature and
landed base, but also mixed with examinations and
civil service system; yangban consisted of scholar
officials and local gentry
Neo-Confucianism
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Neo-Confucianism/Chen-Chu Learning: Chu Hsi
(1130-1200) and Chen I (1033-1107): Tao is expressed
by principle li which is perfect but mixed with matter
qi
More practical observational science, investigation of
things
Ancient Style Learning with its emphasis on a strong
state and knowledge of the classics was also popular
in Koryo
Choson founders did not favor a program of social
reconstruction through self-cultivation and local
autonomy (promoted Chen-Chu Learning)
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Influence of Chu Hsi’s ideas of moral leadership
of king; revitalizing Confucian learning
Activist state (reforms through state institutions) –
well established Ancient Learning tradition in
Koryo and Northern Sung
Neo-Confucian Transformation
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Human nature can be perfected without regardless
whether it is originally good or bad; it can be purified
with action
Rites and rituals are key transformatory factors
Li rites (Chou li) created ideal society by sage kings in
China (ideology looking to the past for inspiration)
Yangban found support for their aristocratic traditions
in Confucianism’s emphasis on bloodline and
genealogies
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Patrilinial lineage system became foundation of
Confucianization
Ancestral cult became ideological ground for
transformation: clarified the lines of descent
Lineages as expression of status and prestige (in
China built on property)
Neo-Confucians (sa) in early Choson claimed
social and political eminence in quest for power,
and became officeholders (sadaebu)
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Yangban derived their power and prestige from their
status as officials of the state: further
bureaucratization
Mixture of ascriptive status criteria (lineages) and
meritocracy through state-sponsored examination
system
“Social passport” – the four ancestors (sajo), three
lineal ascendants and his maternal grandfather; if
only “clean” on maternal side gave access to the
official world; that is why sadaebu refused to take
primary wives from lower classes
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Korea’s “spinal cord” model: senior line persists
During Choson 750 descent groups in the civil
examination; only 39 lineages represented 53
percent of all passers
Lineage system prevented complete centralization;
aristocratic lineages largely determined the
political tenor of the dynasty
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Social stratification: yangban, sangmin (commoners),
and ch’onmin (lowborn people, including slaves);
fourth group chungin (middle class)
Social discrimination intensified in the 16th century:
line between yangban and commoners became more
rigid
Choson literati, Writing poem
Gang Hui-an (1417-1464)
Literati house, Choson Korea
Ingok Retreat
Chong Son,1676-1759
Women on Tano Day, by Shin Yun Bok, early 19 c.
Scenes from Daily Life,
Kim Hong Do, 1745 - ?
Korean beauty
Spinning and weaving
Horsemen
Traveling by boat
Local musicians
A dance
Drawing water from a well
Recording an event
Evening Bell from
Mist-Shrouded Temple
and Autumn Moon over
Lake Dongting , 15 c.
Landscapes
Dance with two knives, by Shin Yun Bok, early 19 c.
Kisaeng women, Yu Un Hong, 19 c.
Kisaeng Hwang Jin-i, 16 c., played
by South Korean actress Ha Ji Won
ID Questions
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1. Yangban
2. Civil Service Examination System
Discussion group
Neo-Confucian Transformation of
Korea
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What is the significance of Confucianism in
politics and daily life in Choson Korea?
What feature(s) do you find fundamental in
defining Korea’s Confucianism?
Is there a link between Confucianism and
modernity?