Joseon People Research Articles

조선시대 공민왕 인식의 변화 과정

The Joseon government considered King Gongmin-wang (“Gongmin” from now on) of Goryeo (r.1352~1374) as the de-facto “last” leader of the late Goryeo government, and recorded the history of Goryeo - Joseon’s predecessor - with roughly the same sentiment.BR King Gongmin’s governance had a huge influence upon a group of Goryeo politicians who were instrumental in founding the Joseon dynasty later. One may say his reign inspired those officials’ reform policies in the 1380s and the ’90s. Even during the early years of Joseon people thought very highly of King Gongmin for several reasons, that he was well aware of [Joseon founder king Taejo] Yi Seong-gye’s abilities, appointed him to important seats in the government, and ‘served China well.’ Early Joseon kings even considered Gongmin’s reign as a model, and used to compare theirs with his.BR Yet such high evaluation of King Gongmin apparently began to change during the reigns of both Sejong and Sejo, and negative perception of Gongmin’s reign continued to increase during Seongjong and Jungjong’s reign as well, to the point of criticizing him as ‘king of a fallen dynasty.’ This change in Gongmin’s image was not only triggered by the passage of time. It was also being linked with the issue of ‘clarifying [rectifying] the founder king’s lineage[heritage].’ In order to resolve this issue, the Joseon government came to describe Gongmin more and more negatively. During King Hyeonjong’s reign, Gongmin even came to be compared with Gwang’hae-gun, who was an example of a dethroned king.

‘조선’ 국호로 본 여말선초의 역사인식과 이상국가론

State titles tend to reflect the mindset of the state founders themselves, and their idea of an ‘ideal state’ as well, with that kind of idea (of how to bring such idealistic visions to reality) usually revealing their own cultural traits too. Examined in this study is how the people’s understanding of Neo-Confucianism -as well as how they viewed history- changed in the late Goryeo-early Joseon period, and how they viewed their own culture, with a focus upon the state title ‘Joseon.’BR Until now, the foundation of Joseon was considered as an event that symbolized a transfer from Buddhism to Confucianism, or a result of deepened understanding of Neo-Confucianism as well as more seasoned Neo-Confucian reform ideas. Recently, foundation of the Joseon dynasty has been analyzed from a somewhat different perspective, and this study too could be categorized as one of such examples as it tried to understand the foundation of the Joseon state in terms of the founders’ perception of the world (or outside order), and how that view was reflected in the title ‘Joseon’ itself.BR Traditionally we always perceived Dan’gun and Gija as the origins of Korean culture. Dan’gun symbolizes the Korean people’s historical and cultural individuality, while Gija exemplified the Korean people’s joining of the Sino-centric East Asian universal culture. The new state which replaced Goryeo settled on the title ‘Joseon,’ claiming itself as the successor of Gija. In that regard, one may say the title Joseon meant that the Joseon people’s objective and ideal for the new dynasty was to bring the Neo-Confucian idea of “the King’s way” to reality. Meanwhile, the Chinese Ming dynasty, just like its predecessor -the Mongol Yuan imperial government-, allowed Joseon’s own efforts of civilizing itself, and at that point the people’s sense of commemorating the legacy of Dan’gun had been growing strong for quite some time as well. In other words, Joseon was part of a Sino-centric order yet an individual entity that civilized itself, and continued to pursue East Asian universal qualities while retaining cultural individuality as well. Apparently this sort of duality was the result of the Joseon people’s effort to maintain a grand vision (bringing state ideals to reality), by employing realistic methods that were available to them.

Anti-Japan Incidents and Colonial Joseon People’s Perception during the Wartime (1937-1945)―Focusing on the ‘groundless rumors’ on food supply―

Anti-Japan Incidents and Colonial Joseon People’s Perception during the Wartime (1937-1945)―Focusing on the ‘groundless rumors’ on food supply―

Paleopathological Considerations on Malaria Infection in Korea before the 20th Century.

Malaria, one of the deadliest diseases in human history, still infects many people worldwide. Among the species of the genus Plasmodium, P. vivax is commonly found in temperate-zone countries including South Korea. In this article, we first review the history of malarial infection in Korea by means of studies on Joseon documents and the related scientific data on the evolutionary history of P. vivax in Asia. According to the historical records, malarial infection was not unusual in pre-20th-century Korean society. We also found that certain behaviors of the Joseon people might have affected the host-vector-pathogen relationship, which could explain why malarial infection prevalence was so high in Korea at that time. In our review of genetic studies on P. vivax, we identified substantial geographic differentiation among continents and even between neighboring countries. Based on these, we were able to formulate a strategy for future analysis of ancient Plasmodium strains in Korea.

조선 소빙기(小氷期) 해양인식(海洋認識)과 위민사상(爲民思想) 연구 - 강릉ㆍ삼척 동해안을 중심으로 -

조선 소빙기(小氷期) 해양인식(海洋認識)과 위민사상(爲民思想) 연구 - 강릉ㆍ삼척 동해안을 중심으로 -

Historical Details about the Meat Consumption and Taeniases in Joseon Period of Korea.

Previous paleoparasitological studies of Joseon specimens established that the prevalence of Taenia infection was not much different from that of the early 20th century Korean population. As many of taeniases originally diagnosed as Taenia saginata in South Korea were revealed to be actually Taenia asiatica, which share a common intermediate host with T. solium (the pig), Joseon people must have ingested raw pork frequently. However, the current examination of extant Joseon documents revealed that the population ate significant amounts of beef even if the beef ban was enforced; and pork was not consumed as much as we thought. Considering the meat consumption pattern at that time, Joseon people should have been infected by T. saginata more frequently than T. asiatica. This may suggest a low prevalence of T. saginata metacestodes in cattle compared to that of T. asiatica metacestodes in pigs, possibly due to the traditional way of rearing pigs (using human feces). This letter gives us a chance to reconsider the existing preconception about parasitic infections in Korean history though we are still hard to accurately estimate the historical patterns of taeniases at this stage.

A Review on Joseon People s World Travel and Railway in the Modern Transition Period

조선인들이 처음 서구문물을 접하게 된 것은 중국 사행을 통해서였다. 그들은중국 사행 중 간접적으로 서구문물에 대해 체험하게 된다. 그리고 이러한 체험은이전까지 조선인들이 가지고 있던 중국 중심의 세계관에서 벗어나는 계기가 된다. 19세기 말인 1876년, 조선은 국호를 개방하고 이를 통해 공식적인 서구 사행이일어나며 서구문물의 직접적인 체험을 하게 된다. 조선인들이 이처럼 세계 기행을할 수 있었던 것은 교통의 발달 때문이었다. 이동수단으로 말이나 배를 사용했던이전과 달리 철도라는 새로운 이동수단이 생겼다. 철도는 말이나 배에 비해 속도가빠르고 안정적인 교통수단이었기 때문에 지리적 공간이 확장되었고 조선인들의 세계여행을 가능하게 한 것이다. 이러한 과정 속에서 조선인들은 자신들이 경험한 철도와 기차에 대한 놀라움과 충격을 각자의 방식대로 기록으로 남겼다. 본고는 유길준의 서유견문 , 민영환의 해천추범 , 김득련의 환구음초 , 김만수의 《일록》와 같은 저작물을 통해 근대전환기의 철도 담론을 살폈다. 처음 국호개방 이후, 세계로 나갔던 유길준은 선진화된 신문물을 국내에 알리고 이를 통해중국 중심의 세계관을 가진 조선인들을 계몽하고자 하였다. 민영환의 경우는 시베리아를 횡단하며 세계의 변화와 함께 여전히 근대화가 이루어지지 않은 조선의 현실을인지하고 고민하는 모습을 살필 수 있다. 김득련 또한 시를 통해 선진화된 서구 문물을 조선에 알리고자 했다. 김만수의 경우는 세 사람에 비해 후기에 서구를 체험한 인물이다. 이미 국내에 기차가 생긴 후라 유일하게 조선의 철도와 서구의 철도를모두 체험한 인물이다. 당시에는 근대 문명이 조선에 흘러들어와 어느 정도 자리를잡은 상태였지만 여전히 서구에는 조선에서 본 적 없는 새로운 것들이 가득했다. 철도는 조선인들에게 새로운 세상의 문을 열어준 수단이었다. 당시 세계를 체험한 조선인들의 기록에는 그들의 인식 변화와 세계관의 변화가 나타난다. 이전까지가지고 있었던 중국 중심의 세계관에서 벗어났으며 시공간이 확장되었음을 알 수있다. 또한 자신들이 체험한 새로운 문명을 조선에 알려 조선인들을 계몽하고자하는 그들의 태도와 노력들을 엿볼 수 있다.It was through China envoys that Joseon people first encountered Western civilization and culture. They experienced indirectly Western civilization and culture through China envoys. And this experience became an opportunity to escape from China‐centered world view that Joseon people had before. By the end of the nineteenth century, in 1876, Joseon opened the country s national territory, where formal Western envoys took place, leading to a direct experience of Western civilization and culture. It was because of traffic development that Joseon people could travel around the world. Unlike before, when a horse or boat was used as a means of transportation, there was a new means of transportation called the railway. Because the railway was faster and more stable than horses or ships, the geographic space was expanded and the world travel of the Joseon people was possible. In this process, Joseon people recorded their own surprises and shocks about railways and trains they experienced. This study examined the railway discussion of the modern transition period through works such as Yu Gil‐jun s Seoyugyeonmun , Min Yeong‐hwa s Haecheonchubeom , Kim Deuk‐ryeon s Hwangueumcho and Kim Man‐su s Diary Yu Gil‐jun, who went to the world after the opening of the first national opening, tried to enlighten the Joseon people with a China‐centered world view by informing the new advanced civilization and culture. Min Yeong‐hwa s case can be seen crossing Siberia and recognizing and worrying about the reality of Joseon, which was still not modernized with the change of the world. Kim Deuk‐ryeon also intended to tell Joseon about the advanced Western civilization and culture through the poetry. Kim Man‐su was a person who experienced the Western world in the latter period compared to the other three people. He was the only one who experienced both Joseon s railway and Western railway since it was after the train was already introduced to Joseon. At that time, modern civilization flowed into Joseon and settled down to some extent, but still the Western world was full of new things not seen in Joseon. The railway was the means by which Joseon people opened the door to a new world. The record of Joseon people who experienced the world at the time shows the change of their perception and the change of their world view. It was out of the world view centered on China which used to be, and it can be seen that time and space got expanded. It also gave a glimpse of their attitudes and efforts to inform Joseon about the new civilization they experienced and to enlighten the Joseon people.

병자호란에 대한 기억의 왜곡과 그 현재적 의미

Examined in this article are some distorted recollections or improper understanding of facts related to the “Byeongja Horan” war with the Manchurian troops, which we can find from the Joseon people’s own records such as the Royal edict of “Boycotting peace negotiations,” and memories of the “Three scholar-officials.”BR This royal edict, issued in March of the 14SUPth/SUP year of king Injo’s reign(1636), was in fact not an elucidation that the Joseon government would sever all diplomatic relationships with Hu-Geum, nor a declaration of an impending retaliatory strike against it. It was an order clarifying why the Joseon government refused to receive the diplomatic communique from Hu-Guem, while also urging the society to prepare itself for a war, that may or may not break. BR Similarly misunderstood were the circumstances surrounding the Three scholar-officials. Considering the fact that they were handed over to the enemy by their own government, the atmosphere of honoring them should be understandable, but a blind commemoration of them, based upon a black or white perspective that usually lacks sufficient appreciation of all the nuances and subtle details, will not only lead us to microscopic distortion of facts, but also lead us away from an objective and comprehensive review of the war itself.BR The history of the time should be reviewed with all the exaggerations and distortions filtered out, and examined with the Joseon society’s own internal situations in mind. Only by doing so the 500 years worth of peace and warfare of Joseon could be objectively reviewed and appropriately analyzed.

Estimation of parasite infection prevalence of Joseon people by paleoparasitological data updates from the ancient feces of pre-modern Korean mummies

Estimation of parasite infection prevalence of Joseon people by paleoparasitological data updates from the ancient feces of pre-modern Korean mummies

Joseon Dynasty’s Perceptions of the Qing Dynasty in the 1860s and 1870s

1860년대와 1870년대 중국의 청 왕조는 아편전쟁과 태평반란과 같은 일련의 심각한 난관들로 인해 전례 없는 통치 위기에 직면했다. 이런 상황에서 조선 왕조는 청의 통치 위기를 어떻게 인식하고 직면했을까? 그 당시 중국-조선 관계는 어떠했나? 본 논문은 조선왕조실록(朝鮮王朝實錄), 일성록(日省錄), 승문원일기(承文院日記)와 같은 정부 간행물과 김윤식의 운양집(雲養集), 박규수의 환재총서(瓛齋叢書), 김평묵의 중암집(重菴集), 이건창의 명미당집(明美堂集) 및 황현의 매천야록(梅泉野錄)과 같은 관련 인사들의 전집을 살펴보면서 서술 분석 과정에서 수직적 비교 방법을 사용해서 청나라에 대한 조선의 인식 변화를 조사하였다. 본 논문이 주장하는 바는 다음과 같다. 조선은 청나라가 내적 난관으로 인해 직면했던 위기감와 동일한 위기감을 느끼고 있었으며 양국 운명이 밀접하게 얽혀 있다고 인정했다. 또한 존중심에 대한 조선 백성의 요구가 증가하여 전통적 사대(事大)관계를 불안하게 했다.

Shenyang was Perceived by the Joseon People - Focus on the Period after Byongjahoran -

Shenyang was Perceived by the Joseon People - Focus on the Period after Byongjahoran -

Concepts of Joseon and Joseon People Represented in 『Tour Joseon』 during the Late Japanese Colonial Period

Concepts of Joseon and Joseon People Represented in 『Tour Joseon』 during the Late Japanese Colonial Period

A historical analysis of language policy and language ideology in the early twentieth Asia: a case of Joseon, 1910–1945

Using media texts from a Korean newspaper archive, this article describes the process through which the state took up the ideology of linguistic nationalism during the period of Japanese colonisation of Korea (1910–1945). This was particularly aimed at a modernisation project in order for the legacy of the Joseon dynasty, which had ruled Korea for five centuries to the end of the nineteenth century, to transform itself into a ‘modernized’ nation state. The ways in which Hangul, the Korean alphabet, was socially produced as the legitimate national writing system from one vernacular variety under the colonial regime are examined. The article contends that while the production of the national writing system functioned as a means for anti-colonial movements, it also naturalized differential socioeconomic resource distribution among Joseon people according to literacy skills in Joseon’s transformation into the modern Korean nation state. The article discusses the limitations of mobilizing linguistic nationalism as a means of political emancipation.

제국일본의 문화산업과 식민지조선의 ‘향토완구’

This study aims to identify Joseon toys’ cultural values by reviewing how Joseon acculturated and accepted the ‘folk characteristic’ given in Imperial Japan’s culture industry. Especially, the folk toys’, the target of this study means Korean traditional toys showing the folk color and reflecting a local area’s folk life or costumes. The campaign of ’Folk Toys Promotion’ in such an atmosphere was one of main activities carried out by the Office of Commerce & Industry Encouragement, an organization under the Japanese Government General of Korea. The Office of Commerce & Industry Encouragement took the responsible collecting, selling and advertising various goods from all regions of Joseon, and especially set specific plans for the campaign of ‘Folk Toys Promotion’ with setting the improvement of local products in Joseon as the office’s primary task and actively carried out job educations in each school and encouraged each home to earn more money through sidelines. Looking at some articles about Joseon folk toys written at that time, they referred the ‘folk toys’ as Joseon’s unique toys. To the Joseon people selling Joseon toys to some western and Japanese purchasers, ‘Joseonness’ might be an urgent problem to be understood. Such ‘Joseonness’ might be realized through the pursuit for uniqueness and the ‘pure Joseon clothes’ at the same time.

Infection patterns of trematode parasites among Joseon people

다양한 환경조건에 따라 기생충 감염의 종류와 그 감염률 이 끊임없이 영향을 받아 변화한다는 것을 감안하면, 시대의 변천에 따른 기생충 감염 실태에 대한 과학적 자료를 축적 하는 것은 사람 기생충에 대한 전반적 이해에 있어 매우 중 요하다고 할 수 있다. 다만 이에 대한 객관적 사실을 명확히 구명하기 위해서는 현대적인 기생충 감염예방 및 치료법이 나오기 이전 시대의 기생충 감염실태에 대한 정보가 필요한 데, 이는 전통적 기생충 연구기법만으로는 만족스러운 결과 를 얻기 어렵다. 이런 의미에서 볼 때 고고학 발굴 현장에서 수습된 시료 에 대하여 기생충학적 연구를 수행하여 과거 기생충 감염실 태를 과학적으로 구명하고자 하는 고고기생충학적 연구기 법(paleoparasitological study)은 매우 중요하다. 이에 따르 면 기생충학자는 고고학 발굴 현장에서 얻어진 시료에 대하 여 다양한 분석을 시행하여 과거 기생충 감염실태에 대한 객 조선시대 흡충류 감염기전에 대한 고찰

Stable isotope analysis of Joseon people skeletons from the cemeteries of Old Seoul City, the capital of Joseon Dynasty.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis reveals the diets of different human populations in history. In this study, we performed stable isotope analysis on human skeletons from Joseon-period cemeteries discovered around Old Seoul City (Hansung). Our data clearly showed that Joseon individuals consumed more C3-based than C4-based foods as the main staples, and that the proteins they ate were mainly of terrestrial, but not of marine origin. Stable isotope values exhibited unique patterns in each of our sample subgroups. Whereas the δ13C values did not show any statistical differences among the subgroups, significantly higher values of δ15N were found in males than in females, which might reflect dietary differences between the sexes. For a fuller understanding of the dietary patterns of pre-industrial (pre-20th century) Koreans, additional studies on Joseon samples from Korean archaeological sites will be necessary.

The Law and Society of late Joseon reflected in its lawsuits

In this article, the nature and aspects of the Joseon lawsuits are examined in comparison with the Chinese cases. Also examined are the primary perception toward lawsuits in the Joseon society, how the local officials processed the lawsuits(which are described in the lawsuit institution and also the local officials’writings[“Mokmin-seo, 牧民書”]), and the estimated number of actual lawsuits confirmed in a text called 『Minjang Chi’bu-chaek/民狀置簿冊』.<BR> Results of the examination shows that in the local communities during the latter half period of Joseon there were frequent filing of lawsuits among people who were determined to protect their rights and properties. This is a phenomenon similar to the one described in Japanese scholar Huma Susumu(夫馬進, Kyoto University)’s “Litigious Society(訴訟社會)” theory, which counteracted the general assumption regarding the Chinese Ming & Qing dynasties and established that both societies witnessed their fair share of lawsuits. We can assume that a previous belief that the traditional Korean society had a culture wanting to stay away from lawsuits was, as it was in the case of Chinese history, either a misunderstanding or preconception.<BR> The things said above can be summarized into three points.<BR> First, the“Sa/Dae’bu”officials of the Joseon dynasty did not like the notion of lawsuits very much, based upon Confucianism’s general stance of thinking “lawsuits are not desirable(“Mu’song, 無訟”).”<BR> Second,in spiteofsuch primary sentiment toward lawsuits, the government continued to refine the process and relevant institutions concerning lawsuits and courts for practical reasons, and as a result lawsuits continued to serve as an effective method for the people to relay their frustrations to the government or bring private conflicts to public courts, in the latter half period of the Joseon dynasty.<BR> Third, analysis of the 9 regions mentioned in 『Minjang Chi’bu-chaek』 shows a literal ‘flooding’ of civil “Minjang/民狀” petitions.’We can see thatthe Joseon people never hesitated to fight for their rights, and as a result the local officials were under heavy stress and workload to process all those incoming lawsuits.<BR> In short,the fact that the legal system of Joseon was mainly composed of penal regulations designed to control the public does not mean that there were not enough regulations concerning lawsuits and courts, or there was not any legal platform to resolve civil conflicts,or there would have been not that many conflicts and lawsuits among the Joseon people. These preconceptions should all be rectified in the near future.

A study on figure paintings in JAE, and an analysis of painters from JAE to KAE and their works

In JAE period, that is, in section 1, I dealt with the establishment process of the JAE and its system; in section 2 with classification method of the range and types of figure painting, and the shape and its features of the figure painting in the period; in section 3 with it’s reformation process through JAE in our Joseon painting circle and analysis of paintings representative artists at JAE Oriental painting part. As the result, 1) in the category of ‘a beautiful woman(or women) painting’, I found that Kim, Eun Ho’s <GanSeong(看星)> showed that by the influence of Japan’s beautiful woman painting the fuocs was more on the outer beauty than upon the inner, and a more decorative and sensational beautiful woman(or women) was painted; 2) in the genre figure painting, as we saw in Lee, Yong Ill’s <Farm Girl(農村の少女)>, painters present the tragic aspects of the Joseon people in reality rather than our higher culture of the country. 3) in ‘figure in history painting’, as we saw in Choi, Woo Seok’s <General YiChungMooGong> <General Euljimoonduk> to depict historical man like General Yi, Sun shin or General Euljimoonduk, they show expression of figure painting based upon racial consciousness.<BR> In the chapter 3 I analysed paintings of representative painters of JAE, Kim, EunHo, Jang, Woo Sung, Kim, Ki Chang that creation activities was continued from JAE to KAE and investigated creation activities and their influences on after painting circle. As the result, I found that Kim, Eun Ho that followed tradition of painting academy as a disciple of An, Jung Sik and Cho, Seok Jin received a modern Japanese figure painting through studying in Japan, opened up way of our modern color figure painting in Korea Art History, and they used line of ‘g?o-g?-yous?-mia(高古遊絲描)’.<BR> After KAE was established, Jang, Woo Sung was chosen as a member of judges and invited artist, and then served as a professor of Department of Oriental Painting at Seoul National University(1946.to1961), especially, it is conspicuous by introduction of the accurate human anatomic portrayal in Western painting as a primary measure of figure painting’s portrayal in oriental painting which seemed to be influenced by curriculum of Department of Western Painting. Kim, Ki Chang secured the position as a painter of figure painting in JAE and after the liberation of Joseon, was a personal painter to expand and develope possibility of the area of Korean painting to Christian painting as well as ‘idiot landscape painting’.<BR> Production of Catholic paining which was derived from Jang, Bal continued to production of “Madonna and child” to wear white clothes by Jang, Woo Sung to there is a meaning of condolence and to Un Bo(Kim, Ki Chang)’s 30 pieces of “Biography of Jesus”. Expressing Christian holy pictures as technique and language of ‘Korean painting’, moreover, in Koreans, Korean costume, Korean style house, he then drew a stroke for Christian holy pictures in Korea to settle.<BR>

Historical Study on Factors Inducing Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infection among People of Old Seoul City during Joseon Dynasty

In a series of paleo-parasitological investigations, we have been able to obtain invaluable data on parasite infection patterns prevalent among the Joseon (1392-1910) people in Korea. Thus far we have established that the Joseon people were in fact heavily infected by various species of parasites, though precise patterns and exact statuses of infection in specific town and cities have proved elusive. In the present study, relevant historical documentation was obtained and examined, shedding light on some of the operative socio-cultural factors that might have played a role in inducing a high infection prevalence of Ascaris, a soil-transmitted roundworm, in Joseon society. On this evidentiary basis, we could confirm that the recycling of human feces as fertilizer and the habit of eating raw vegetables were both closely related to infection. These factors were sufficient to maintain the life cycle of Ascaris, there by perpetuating a cycle of infection and reinfection among the Joseon inhabitants. Overall, this study demonstrated the value of close medical-scientist / historian interdisciplinary collaboration infacilitating comprehensive and meaningful paleo-parasitological findings and interpretations.

Collaboration of Archaeologists, Historians and Bioarchaeologists During Removal of Clothing from Korean Mummy of Joseon Dynasty

Recently, experts from various research fields made an interdisciplinary collaboration on well-preserved cultural or human remains discovered in fifteenth- to nineteenth-century Joseon tombs of Korea. The academic information acquired under the interdisciplinary collaboration was significant to researchers in Korea because it is entirely original and not to be commonly found in any library resource for historians. This report is the first of full, detailed descriptions about the research on Joseon tomb, by which the vivid glimpse of Joseon people’s lives could be reconstructed, based on the clear archaeological, historical and biological evidences.