THE HOLY MOTHER AND THE SON OF GOD: A STONE CAST AT PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY IN LATE CHOSŎN KOREA

Abstract

This study analyzes the acceptance of Catholicism, centered on the Holy Mother and the Son of God, in late Chosŏn Korea from the perspective that it caused a rift in society’s patriarchal family system, based on Neo-Confucianism. First, Catholicism resurrected the divine concept of “Mother,” which had diminished under patriarchy. In Chosŏn Korea a father’s position passed on to his son, and mothers were beings who rarely attained anything as mothers (or women). However, the Holy Mother disrupted society’s Neo-Confucian framework, and people accepted her as a sacred woman and mother possessing the power to save them from all difficulties. The Holy Mother made it possible for Jesus to be born and save people from their sins. Adherents believed that the work to save humankind is achieved through the inseparable relationship between the Holy Mother and the Son of God. Differing from “father-son” patriarchy, the Holy Mother and Jesus were a new “mother-son” concept. Under society’s patriarchal system, a mother giving birth to a child was a biological phenomenon, and people saw mothers as playing a passive role in the process. They believed it was the father who actually “gave birth” to children. Therefore, a mother having a positive standing in the birth of one like Jesus was a viewpoint separate from society’s patrilineal view. Catholic teachings came as a shock to those in Chosŏn society who could not recognize a new “Son of Heaven.” The concept of a brutally punished individual being the “Savior” was far removed from the image of a sage expounding the topic of flawless human behavior. Although Catholicism may not have accelerated the breakdown of patriarchy, it did create some ruptures, which eventually led to social changes.