Download Lecture 3 The Choson/Joseon Dynasty 1392

Lecture 3 The Choson/Joseon Dynasty 1392-1910
Impact on Korean History
Absolute rule
Neo-Confucianism
Imported Chinese Culture
Caste system
Kings Taejong and Sejong Yi
Korean Alphabet hangul vs. Chinese hanja
Neo-Confucianism
Response to Buddhism and Daoism
Affect on Korean society
Women and men
Yi administration and caste
Scholar gentry- the yangban
Technical class- the chungin
Labour class- the sangmin
The low-born- cheomin
Hideyoshi’s invasion 1592 & 1597
Manchu/Qing invasion 1627 & 1637
Gyeongbokgung Palace built
in the 4th year of King Taejo’s
reign (1395)
Bruce Cumings, Korea’s
Place in the Sun
(revisionist)
Carter Eckert Korea: Old and
New (standard)
Choson- also known as Yi
Dynasty
1392-1910
1. consolidated absolute rule
over Korea
2. entrenched neo-Confucianist
ideals and doctrines in Korean
society
3. massively imported and
adopted Chinese culture
4. created caste system
5. height of classical Korean
culture, trade, science,
literature, and technology
Yi Seong-gye AKA King Taejo ruled 1392-1398
died 1408
Moves capital to
Hanyang/Seoul
1394
Established relationship
with Ming China
Discouraged with family
infighting
Abdicates for 2nd son King
Jeongjong 1398 who
abdicates for King Taejong
1400
3rd King Taejong (1367-1422) Reigns 1400-1418
Consolidation of Power
Absolute Rule
Land registration
Reduction of private armies
Increase in Yi army
Abolishes Dopyeong Assembly
Creates State Council of Joseon
The Uijeongbu
Creates the Sinmun Ofice
3rd King Sejong the Great 1397-1450
Daemado/Tsushima Island
invaded by the Joseon 1419
conquered and returned to
Japanese control
The island became the main
point of Korean-Japanese
trade
Korean sells hemp,
lacquerware, books, rice
Japan sells minerals
(copper, tin) sulphur
medicinal herbs and spices
The Jip Hyun Jun
Hall of Worthies 1420
The sounds of our language differ from those
of China and are not easily conveyed in
Chinese writing. In consequence, though one
among our ignorant subjects may wish to
express his mind, in many cases he is unable
to do so. Thinking of these, my people, with
compassion, We have newly devised a script of
twenty-eight letters, only that it become
possible for anyone to readily learn it and to
use it to advantage in his everyday life.
King Sejong 1445, creating the Chosongul or
Hangul (1912) alphabet
The hunmin jeong-eum
Explanations and
Examples
1446
Adopted for ‘common
learning’
Left: Hanja- Chinese characters endorsed by upper class
Right: Hangul-Korean alphabet endorsed by lower classes
24 consonant and vowel letters
Letters are grouped into blocks
Neo- Confucianism
Song response to Buddhist and Daoist popularity
link man and universe
Big question- integration of Man in the Cosmos
Answers the Buddhist transcendence of the mundane by
transcendentally grounding the mundane
Way (Tao) of Heaven (Tian) is expressed in principle or li but that it
is sheathed in matter or qi.
Neo Confucianism
in Korea
education is a
duty
statecraft is a duty
decline in
Buddhism
strong caste
system
Yi Hwang aka Yi Toegye 1501-1570
12 years Analects of Confucius
23 National Academy Seoul
33 Top exam
founds Dosan Seowan Confucian academy 1549
Yi I aka Yi Yulgok 1536-1584
age 7 finishes Confucian classics
13 civil service exam
29 highest exam
His neo-Confucianism endorsed practical observation over abstract
theory
Prior to neo- Confucianism
`
Women had held property and remarried
descent calculated on both sides
After neo-Confucianism
Female control over property and children
declines
Widow remarriage prohibited
Sons of 2nd wives and concubines prohibited
from remarrying or sitting for the exams
Portrait Lady Joban 1341-1401
Shim Saimdang 1504-1551
Artist, calligrapher, poet,
mother of Yi I
Women remain important
in the inner quarters
And women retain
important ritual roles in
Buddhism and
Shamanism
1323 Women presenting Buddhist Offerings
Joseon Society
about 15-16 million
yangban --the upper class
about 30%
not strictly hereditary-lose
status if no official in 3
generations
30-40% cheonmin or lowborn -bottom of the
pyramid, and nobi slaves
40-50 % sangmin—
peasants, labourers and
fishermen
An increasingly important sub strata
Chungin the `middle people`
a small middle class of merchants and government employees
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Regent of Japan
1585-1591
His army
500,000 men
He also had the best in
Portuguese weapons and
warships
Hideyoshi's Invasions of Korea 1592 and 1597
1592 158,000 Japanese troops
Ming China sends 200,000 troops
Korean troops are not as well prepared on land but they are more powerful
than Japan at sea
Panokseon ships developed by Admiral Yi
strong hulls
20 cannon
Battle of Myeongnyang 1597 13 panokseon beat 133 Japanese
warships
Geobukseon
`turtle ship`
the globe`s first
battleship with metal
plating
Used until the 19th
century
1627 and 1636 Korea invaded by the Manchus
Korea becomes a tributary state of the Manchu/Qing
Empire
Secretly supports and reveres the Ming
Turns increasingly isolationist
The Qing Standard