By Mark Peterson





In my previous installment, I argued that the so-called traditional family system of Korea, that was marked by Confucian ideology and practices, and called the "bugye family system" (patrilineal system), is of fairly recent ancestry. Many people in Korea assume that the system is ancient, dating back to at least the founding of the Joseon Kingdom in 1392, if not before.



While it's true that some elements of Confucianization took place at the start of the Joseon Kingdom, there were elements of Confucianism adopted as early as the late Three Kingdoms period, and certainly by the Unified Silla period ― there were famous Confucian scholars, Seol Chong and Choe Chiwon, from the Silla period. But the ultimate practice of Confucianism, with all of its attendant ceremonies (ancestor ceremonies particularly) was not achieved until the late Joseon period.



When we look at the hallmarks of the fully articulated Confucian society, there are several items that we can isolate as having changed in the late Joseon period, specifically, in the late 17th century. I will list seven of them ― seven social changes that took place as part of the Neo-Confucian "revolution" of the late 17th century. These seven were interconnected and were all inspired or channeled by Confucian ways of dealing with the world.



1. Disinheritance of daughters. Prior to 1660 in some families, 1680 in others and 1700 in still others, daughters received an equal inheritance with sons. The eldest son did NOT get the largest share ― until after this time frame.



2. Son preference. After daughters were disinherited, the desire, often ultimate desire, to bear a son came into being. Prior to the late 17th century, if a couple had only daughters, that was fine ― they could be heirs. But after this point, one had to have a son as an heir.



3. Adoption of a son. Prior to this transition, sons were adopted only if there were no children, and sometimes childless couples would adopt a daughter as an heir. After the transition, as many as 15% of male children were adopted as heirs to the lines of brothers or cousins who had no children, or who may have had daughters, but no sons.



4. Daughters excluded from jesa (ancestor ceremonies). Prior to the transition, daughters hosted ceremonies on an equal footing with sons. Ceremonies were hosted in rotation with each child, son or daughter, taking a turn. After the transition, daughters were excluded and only the eldest son had responsibility for the ceremonies, with younger sons in attendance.



5. Changes in the jokbo (the printed genealogical books). Before the transition, daughter and daughters' lines of descent were recorded in as full detail as that of the sons. After the transition, daughters' entries were limited to a citation of who the daughter married, and their descendants were dropped from the record with the rare exception of mentioning a prominent son or grandson.



6. Changes in marriage practices. Prior to the late 17th century, marriages were on an equal footing, that is to say, men would sometimes take up residence in their wives' home village, and sometimes women would take up residence in the men's village. After the transition, "patrilocal marriage" becomes the rule ― that is, men stay home, and women marry in. The earlier practice is still preserved in linguistics ― women marrying will say "sijip ganda," and men will say "jangga ganda."



7. Changes in village settlements. Prior to the transition, there were villages of people having various surnames; but after the late 17th century, you start to see "single-surname villages" where everyone in the village has the same surname and are indeed related to one another. Such villages were the hallmark of the aristocratic "yangban" society.



When we talk about the male-dominated, Confucian society ― what in Korean is referred to as "bugye sahoe" _ the markers of that society are exactly these seven categories mentioned above. Most people, when they define this bugye society, do not list all seven of them, but they will list two or three or four, saying those things are what are meant by the traditional family system of Korea. They tend to note that it was "Confucian" in nature, generally, and are sometimes laudatory, but more often critical of such a tradition for its inequities and suppression of women.



My argument is that Korean society should realize that these things that happened, these "Confucianizations" were linked to each other, and that they all took place at the same point in the late 17th century.



Why is that important? If we can understand that "traditional" Korean society ―what usually refers to this "Confucianized" society ― is really only 300 years old, and that it is NOT the true Korean society ― rather it is an aberration imported from China. That the true Korean society was what preceded the late 17th changes ― a more-equal society with women holding property, participating in ceremonies, being recorded in genealogies, owning a house that the husband could move in to, and living in a village that was not dominated by her husband's kinsmen. This change in society is knowable, and yet it is not in the textbooks and is a secret known only by a handful of historians. Unfortunately.





Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is associate professor of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.

