A 350-Year History of a Chungin Family Line Interwoven with Genealogical Records and Oral History

Abstract

A 350-Year History of a Chungin Family Line Interwoven with Genealogical Records and Oral History* Jung Byung Joon (bio) Translated by Choi Hye Eun The History of the Chungin Miryang Pak A Family of No Prominence: The Descendants of Pak Tŏkhwa and the Birth of Modern Korea narrates the 350-year history of a family that was chungin (“middle people”), a distinct social status group in Korean history. It is the author’s second monograph, and sources on the status system were utilized as extensively as in his first monograph.1 Chungin, which indicates a social status group occupying special technical positions in the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392–1910), has gained the attention of [End Page 257] historians as a research subject. However, there has been difficulty in producing concrete research outcomes. Thus, most studies have been limited to examining either the characteristics of the chungin status in comparison to that of aristocrats (yangban), commoners, or slaves (nobi), or to studying a specific chungin family during a given period. One can tell from the title of the book, A Family of No Prominence, that the primary reason that studies on chungin have not demonstrated much progress can be ascribed to the fact that existing sources are not as varied or rich as those left by royals or aristocrats. Of course, this does not mean that written documents related to chungin are nonexistent. The main individuals studied in this book might not have left as many documents of their own as royals or aristocrats, but they left more clues in written documents than commoners or slaves, who usually left none. Official historical records as well as private family records such as written genealogies (chokpo) are also available for reference. Thus, this study can be considered an account of an expedition across the history of a chungin family using the broken fragments of remaining sources. Further, this book not only explores the Miryang Pak line of chungin, but also ranges extensively over related chungin families. In doing so, the book demonstrates the highest achievements in the fields of chungin history, family history, and genealogical study that one could reach at the present stage in the study of Korean history. The main content of A Family of No Prominence comprises six chapters, excluding the prologue and epilogue. This only amounts to 137 pages, whereas 99 are set aside for endnotes (45 pages), works cited (28 pages), a list of characters (13 pages), and an index (13 pages). Many notes contain even more fascinating information and challenging arguments than the main part of the book. Since the author has already presented the contents of his work at the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, it will suffice here to sketch a brief outline of the book’s chapters: 1. From the Mists of Time 2. Living with Status Ambiguity: Guardsmen, Merchants, and Illegitimate Children 3. As a Middle People: Military Officers, Jurists, and Calligraphers 4. Long Live the Korean Empire: Hopes, Fulfillment, and Frustrations 5. Fortunes that Rose and Fell with Imperial Korea: the Tanyang U In-Laws 6. Vignettes: Colonial Subjects of Imperial Japan Chapter 1 identifies the Pak line’s obscure origin in the period between 1590 and 1700 before the Miryang Pak formed a chungin family. The early history of [End Page 258] the subject family of Pak Tŏkhwa through the first four generations is murky. Also, the families of their wives are evidently untraceable. Chapter 2 covers the period between 1700 and 1800, during which the Miryang Pak chungin family laid the groundwork for upward mobility. This chungin family, starting from a family of lower-level army officers, advanced to specialist chungin status by the eighteenth century through marriage to families of other lower-level army officers, Han River merchants, and illegitimate children from the aristocracy. In the meantime the Paks became affluent by means of managing royal estates in Kyŏnggi province and acquiring profitable ramie fields in Ch’ungch’ŏng province. Chapter 3 addresses the process by which the social status of the Paks solidified as chungin between 1800 and 1880. With its accumulated wealth, the Pak family situated itself as specialist chungin, and developed a...