Sharon Prasad (170473)

Q. Critically analyze the influence of Neo Confucianism on the structure and nature of yangban
society in the Joseon period.

Korea is a peninsula and is strategically located in East Asia. Its neighbours are Russia, China
and Japan. Though they are separated from the peninsular region by seas, rivers and mountains,
all of them consider that a hostile Korea is a sword pointed at their hearts. Since time
immemorial therefore, these states have been attempting to intervene in Korean affairs at the
slightest provocation. Following the end of the second world war USA has also got itself
involved in Korean affairs because of strategic reasons. Korea was divided at the dawn of the
civilization into several independent principalities. The country was united under a single
political authority. However, the political disunity did not stand on the way of emerging an
identical culture, language and civilization of all Korean people. It was perhaps due to the
identical ethno-lingual genesis of the people. The Koreans developed their own culture and
civilization, but they did not hesitate to borrow from their neighbours-china and japan.

Situated at the northeastern edge of the Asian continents, Korea is endowed with natural beauty
and charms. About 4th century B.C. there arose a magnificent civilization known as ‘Choson’
which reached its peak of prosperity around eighth century A.D. By that time the whole of the
nation had been unified into a kingdom by a ruling dynasty known as ‘Silla’. It was during the
reign of Silla that the groundworks of long lasting culture of Korea were laid. Remarkable
achievements were gained in the spheres of art, literature, science and architecture. Buddhist
doctrines, Confucian ethics and Chinese technologies were incorporated into the native culture
which enriched the Korean civilization. Later on, during the reigns of Koryo and Yi dynasties,
moveable printing type and an indigenous writing system based on Sanskrit phonetics were
invented. Indian and Chinese influences on the Korean society gave a humanistic touch to its
culture which found its expression in the form of ‘Confucian Humanism’ during the rule of
Sejong. With its vast Buddhist monasteries and temples strewn all over the land, Korea also
came to be known as a ‘hermit kingdom’. At the same time, the increasing affluence of the
country made its rulers lax and complacent. The nobility became arrogant and divided into
various factions who began to fight each other over the spoils of power and wealth.
Consequently the interests of the common people were neglected who became poor and
oppressed. At the apex of the Choson state was the king. Under him was a complex set of
bureaucratic institutions to carry out his rule. The highest organ of the government was Uijongbu
(state council). It was similar to the privy council of Koryo except that it had fewer members.
Members reviewed important matters then gave their opinion to the king. After receiving his
decision the state council then transmitted it down to the bureaucracy. Gradually during the long
yi dynasty the state council decline in importance.

Taking advantage of the laxity of their rulers, the feudal lords and aristocrats of Korea expanded
their private estates and powers. In order to strengthen their position against the growing
influence of the aristocracy, the Yi dynasty rulers took some important steps which affected the
entire structure of the country. Firstly they adopted the Neo Confucianism as the state creed
which emphasized hierarchical relationship between rulers and subjects. This led to a
stratification of the society and dividing it into four classes-aristocrats, middle-class, commoners
and the low-born. At the highest level were the aristocrats known as ‘yangban’ who dominated
the political as well as economic life and treated the commoners and low-born as their slaves.
Wealth was important as a distinction between yangban and commoner, but yangban status was
determined primarily by ancestry, and demonstrated by a display of learning and virtue. The
most oppressed among the commoners were farmers who did not own the land but tilled the land
as tenants. They had to pay high rents to their landlords and taxes imposed by the government.
Secondly, the Yi rulers sought the diplomatic favour of the paramount power of the Chinese
empire. For this purpose, they accepted the Chinese suzerainty over Korea in accordance with
the Confucian percept of ‘sadae’ (subservience to the elder/great). But this undermined the
sovereign status of Korea and opened the way for outside intervention in her domestic affairs.
Thirdly, as Confucianism looked down upon trade and business, there was no encouragement to
the economic and industrial development of the country up to the mid-nineteenth century or so.
Fourthly, the Korean leaders also followed a policy of isolation from the outside world except
china for about 300 years. They wanted to remain aloof from the international complications
because of their past experience of recurring foreign invasions. This obstructed the flow of new
ideas into the Korean society. As a result, the gap between the ruling class and the commoners
widened in the Yi dynasty. The society as a whole became immobile and the socio-economic and
political institutions of Korea became obsolete.

The creative era in ancient Korea came to an end around the middle of the 15 th century.
Meanwhile, scientific and technological advances in Europe had given tremendous economic and
military powers to the western nations. They were utilizing these powers for establishing their
vast empires and the wave of western expansionism threatened the whole of Asia. But Korea was
still oblivious of what was happening beyond its frontiers. However, there were pressures of
change building up slowly. People were beginning to question the unjust order. The criticism of
the prevailing system came from some of the members of the yangban class. Although
Confucian precepts helped yangban to maintain their privileges, impose social stratification and
extract loyalty from the common people, their own condition became miserable with the passage
of time. Any other profession except the royal service was considered a disgrace on the yangban
and his family. Therefore those yangban who failed to obtain government posts remained idle
and became poor. Moreover, there were two bases of selection for the government posts: social
status and success in a national examination requiring mastery of Confucian classes. As a result,
a new class of Confucian literati, belonging to yangban and aspiring for royal service, emerged.
Those who were unable to achieve their goal also joined the ranks of impoverished aristocracy.
This gave them a chance to identify their own miserable conditions with the suffering of the
commoners. Gradually they became aware of the necessity of change. They began to propagate
the ideas of human dignity, equality, freedom, public welfare and economic advancement by
adopting the western science and technology. Another feature of the Yi dynasty was the
significant role of the state historians. They too promoted Neo-Confucian ideals. The monarchs
and the officials took history seriously as a guide to statecraft. Choson era Koreans regarded
history and the role of the historian as matters of great importance.

Education in traditional Korea was valued as a means of personal self-cultivation and as a way of
achieving status and power. An individual could become virtuous through the study of ethically
oriented Confucian classics. Basic education was provided by village schools known as sodang
and by private tutoring. A system of hyanggyo existed to prepare students for the civil
examinations. Literacy in Korea among males was probably high by premodern standards, and
most likely increased in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Literacy among females was
very low and largely confined to a small number of elite women. It was the duty of the scholar to
criticize the actions of the government, including the king; since Confucianism perceived the
universe as a moral order, improper behavior on the part of officials or rulers threatened that
order.

The Choson state was based on an agricultural society. The prosperity of the state was a result of
the improvements in agriculture which eventually resulted in population increase. Farmers were
beginning to use fertilizers greatly. New land was brought under cultivation. There was
expansion of agriculture during the early Choson period.

With potentially dangerous tribal people to the north and Japanese raiders on the coast, the yi
rulers were aware of the need for a strong military. In the early years of the dynasty, members of
the royal family maintained personal armed retainers. Later, the era of private armies came to an
end in Korea. In the fifteenth century Korea maintained a policy of military vigor. But with the
frontiers secured, the army and the navy went into a decline. The rise of Neo-Confucianism also
contributed to this decline. Confucian officials tended to take less interest in military affairs and
viewed military men with contempt. Yangban avoided the military, while the soldiers were
recruited primarily from the peasantry and treated poorly. The decline in the military forces led
to the disastrous defeats when Japanese invaded in the late sixteenth century and the manchus
invaded in the early seventeenth.

Korean science, technology and religion were variants on traditional Chinese science, technology
and religion. Koreans adapted ideas and practices borrowed from china to fit Korean needs. Most
of those who focused on the relationship between technology and the natural world did not
concern themselves with the grand theories of Neo-Confucianism. They shared the Neo-
Cofucian concern for process over substance, but were more interested in the specifics of how to
use mathematics for accurate measurement of celestial movements or how to determine
auspicious and non-auspicious sites on a landscape. Technicians were called chungin and they
inhabited a different intellectual universe from the yangban and were placed on a lower rung of
the social ladder. Mathematics was one of the skill which yangban were supposed to have a basic
acquaintance, but they would never work as a mathematician. Astronomy during the Choson
dynasty revealed more creativity, more indigenization of ideas and technologies imported from
china to better fit Korean needs and conditions. Professional astronomers did not come from the
yangban class. Like official mathematicians, they also were chungin and took a government
examination in order to gain a government post.

The religious culture of Korea was strongly influenced by china, though Koreans had indigenous
religions. The greatest influence is seen in Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism. Neo Confucianism
so dominated both intellectual and ritual life during the entire Choson dynasty that it should be
treated as a religion, even though neo Confucians did not worship a God. It determined the limits
of activities by other religions including what rituals they could perform and who could perform
them. Both Buddhism and indigenous that combined animism and shamanism had to operate
within constraints applied by the Confucian state. Christianity and Tonghak fared worse.
Buddhism has been present in Korea since the late 4 th century. It had enjoyed significant
government support. This changed when Choson adopted Confucianism as its guiding religion.

Marriage in Choson Korea was characterized by extreme exogamy and a strong sense of status.
Concern for status meant that marriages remained confined within a social class. Weddings
underwent changes in Korea as the result of the impact of Neo-Confucianism. Strict rules
prohibiting kin marriages were enforced. Child marriages were practiced mainly by the poorer
members of the society who needed child labor and who could not afford costly weddings. In
short, Korean families during the Yi dynasty became increasingly patriarchal in that the authority
of males was enhanced. They became patrilineal in organization in that property was inherited
through males. The habit of residence in the groom’s family home after marriage reinforced male
dominance. Families and lineages were exclusive; non-members could not be adopted into the
family.

According to Youngmin Kim, Confucianism had not only deprived women of their basic rights
but also promoted a strict social structure that was not conducive to the recognition of women’s
talents or dignity. This was because Neo-Confucianists stressed direct male descent and the
subordination of women to men. Books written for women emphasized chastity, faithfulness,
obedience and frugality. Widows were no longer allowed to remarry since they had to be faithful
to their husbands even after their partner’s death. Daughter’s share of inheritance for reduced or
eliminated. Women could not divorce their husbands but husbands could. They had not only lost
their right to divorce, to property, to participating in public life, they had also lost any identity of
their own. There was a clear gender division in ritual responsibilities. There were also some
exceptions to the restricted roles of women. Mudang or women shamans were an important part
of life. Majority of shamans were women, although their status declined as a result of the official
Confucian disdain of traditional religions. Some women became entertainers. These were
generally from outcaste and slave families from whom attractive young girls were often
purchased to be trained as entertainers known as kisaeng.
Slavery was a major social institution in Korea until 1894. Slaves were classified into sanobi
(private slaves) and kongnobi (government slaves). The former were owned by royal households,
the officials, private citizens and by Buddhist temples, while the latter were owned by central
and local government agencies and by the royal family. Slaves could purchase their freedom or
win free status through military status or government favour. Government slaves were an
important source of income and labor for the state. Many slaves were descendants of prisoners in
wars and rebellions and of criminals. Choson regulations strongly reinforced the permanent
hereditary nature of slavery. Hereditary slavery was not abolished until 1886. Besides slaves,
various categories of outcastes existed. These included innkeepers, ferrymen, prostitutes,
entertainers and people involved in unclean professions such as leather working and butchering.
Outcastes lived apart from society and occupied a place similar to the untouchables in India.

Choson dynasty marks the ascendancy of Neo-Confucianism as the dominant system of social
governance. During the 518 years of Korea’s Choson dynasty, many things changed and many
things remained the same. Although Confucianism’s grip on Choson weakened somewhat at the
end of the 19th century, it nevertheless continued to provide the basic framework for how
government officials and most of the educated elite conceptualized ethics, religion, nature and
technology. Korea’s Confucianism was imported from china. Koreans, however, “Koreanized”
what they adopted from china to make it their own. Although Neo-Confucianism grew out of the
long tradition Confucian thought, it was revolutionary in its insistence that the state and society
be structured according to the moral principles that governed the universe. While the initial
changes were not revolutionary, eventually under the influence of Neo-Confucianism Korean
society and culture underwent profound changes. As a result, it saw changes in family, the role
of women, the conduct of yangban and art and literature. These changes however took place
gradually over several centuries. Only by the eighteenth century did Korea become the model
Confucian society that most modern Koreans see as ‘traditional’. Therefore the dynasty
inaugurated profound change, but in a more evolutionary fashion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Michael J. Seth – A history of Korea

2. Youngmin Kim and Michael J. Pettid – Women and Confucianism in Choson Korea

3. Don Baker – Science, Technology and Religion in Choson Korea

4. IGNOU Notes