This dynasty seemed to have lasted forEVER. In the last blog about the history of Korea I got through a lot. Perhaps this time I will do a better job of summarizing up through the 17th Century. I would also like to categorize the information so that it better suits my thought process and end of the year paper.
Part of the last section ended with talking about the Yangban. They are the Koreans in the highest social status during the Choson Dynasty. Following the Yangban is the Chungin, then Yangmin, lastly the Chonmin. The Chungin included citizens who were scientific, medical or fluent in foreign languages. This section was mainly known as the academics of society. Thirdly was the Yangmin, the commoners/peasants as farmers/craftsmen/fishermen/merchants. Interestingly enough, they all wore IDENTIFICATION TAGS which showed name, DOB, class, status and county of residence. This was to reduce the ability of their abandoning their land. The Chonmin were the outcasts of society, lowlifes I suppose they were called. They included butchers, tanners, wickerworkers, entertainment (exotic) women and shaman healers.
There were more peasant rebellions - 1467, 1510 1562, (plot of 1589) 1624.
Confucianism institutes the marks of new familial and social status by the show of 4 separate ceremonies-
1. Fresh stylish up-do's show coming of age
2. Marriage (usually arranged)
3. Funeral
4. Sacrificial rite for the dead
**Every household was required to establish a family shrine
WOMEN (during the Choson Dynasty)
- could only to come out at night
- no allowed to see male non-relatives
- wore veils
- worked on the inner part of the home
- not given names
MARRIAGE
- mostly at ages 13/14
- Wife belongs to the husband's family
- usually arranged
ECONOMY
- invention of better agricultural tools (rain gauge, wind strength gauge, measurement of land elevation
and distance (and CALENDARS!)
*no more slash and burn technique but more fertilization techniques
- cultivation of cotton
- use of wet broadcast of rice = less weeding & less labor
Standing Markets:
disappeared around the 13th Century
a few remained around the 15th Century
made a resurgence by the 16th century due to agriculture advancements
Medium of exchange: COTTON (rather than coins, but coins were still used to pay taxes to the Gov't)
POPULATION
- one strain on the previous economy was the decreased birth rate that barely allowed the Korean population to replace itself (less than 3 children per family due to high child mortality rate)
- the population did end up DOUBLING during the 15th century:
1400: 5,700,000
1511: 10,000,000
MEDICINE
- because of the high child mortality rate, the Koreans chose to pursue better medicines. From the 11th century to the 13th century great improvements were made - enough to put them on a level playing field with China at the time
LANGUAGE
- Sejong orders the scholars to creat a Korean alphabet/script based on the sounds of the spoken Korean language = HANGUL 1446 AD
WAR, UNREST and FACTIONALISM
JAPANESE INVASION in 1592 & 1597
Choson saved by 3 factors:
1. The admiral Yi Sun-Sin's navy ("Turtleships")
2. The angry peasants who harrassed and stood off the Japanese
3. Ming sent 50,000 reinforcements
MANCHU invasion and NEO-CONFUCIAN uprisings
1498, 1504, 1519, 1545
FACTIONALISM 1575
The country split into factions:
First --- WEST vs. EAST
Secondly --- WEST OLD vs. WEST YOUNG vs. NORTH EAST MEN vs. SOUTH EAST MEN
ALL must "toe the party line"
The affiliation was 1 inherited (factional strife was inextricably linked to families) + 2 academic loyalty
these two requirements dictated faction membership and ultimately political viewpoints
I could see this being a good idea for my comparison paper. The Japanese also have this problem in their country right now. Has Korea fixed this problem entirely and could Japan learn from Korea's success in eradicating factions? Will Japan be able to resolve their factionalism now or in the near future?
Questions with answers to be discovered...
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