Korean Worldview

Question 1

Patrilineal Ideology

Answer 1

-family oriented, focused

-only a man ah the had of the family

-patrilineal kinship

-strict hierarchy among men according to generation. birth order, age

-Korean language observes hierarchy eg: 작은집, 큰집

Question 2

Separation and Inequality

Answer 2

-the bride is expected to leave her own family → marry to their husband’s family

-most important duty: give birth to male off-spring

-ideologies of 남뇨유별 男女有别, 남존여비 eg: 사랑방, 안방

Question 3

Widowhood

Answer 3

-the virtuous widow was to remain faithful to her husband until death

-the faithful widow was a cultural icon, a credit to her family

Question 4

Inheritance and ancestral services

Answer 4

-since Joseon dynasty: properties were disproportionally divided only to male members

-oldest son received the most, daughters were excluded

Question 5

Exogamy

Answer 5

-people couldn’t marry descendants of the same ancestors or members of the same kin

-valid until 1997: people with the same family name could not marry

Question 6

Adoption

Answer 6

-enormous importance accorded to blood relations

-in the past: if one of the big houses could not bear a son, ideally one of the younger’s brother secondary sons would be adopted

-lack of sons → constituted legal grounds for divorce → taking on secondary wife to bear a son

-nowadays adoption is still taboo, frequently hidden from society, even from adopted children

Question 7

족보

Answer 7

-a genealogy book
-firstborn son of each family inherits the original book → continues the family line

Question 8

Shamanistic worldview

Answer 8

Nature-centric worldview
- everything alive
- close relations with nature
- conciliate these gods → to ward off impending evils → get blessings
- superstitious → similar to modern psychiatry (a kind of regulation of human psychology)

Question 9

Buddhistic worldview

Answer 9

Humanistic worldview
- nothing can remain unchanged → everything is temporary
- birth, aging, disease, death = major sorrows
- desires = main cause of suffering
- more practical and pragmatic way → for deliverance from human sufferings
- often integrated with Shamanistic and Taoistic worldviews

Question 10

Taoistic worldview

Answer 10

Inter-connected worldview
- nature creates human
- something undifferentiated and yet complete → existed before heavens and earth
- it depends on nothing & does not change, soundless, formless
- Oneness produced Duality→ Duality produced Trinity → Trinity evolved into the myriad of things
- a human is regarded as a miniature of nature → society corresponds to a part of nature

Question 11

Confucian worldview

Answer 11

Relationship based worldview
- every man had his place in society
- society consists: small units of people: family, village, state // each has leaderd and followers according to their seniority
- it is natural for society to have different classes → bc human beings are not inherently equal
- 3 cardinal principles:
1. filial piety to their parents
2. loyalty to his sovereign
3. fidelity to her husband

Question 12

Christian worldview

Answer 12

God-centic worldview
- God is the creator of the nature and man, sovereign, transcendent, omniscient, suppressing all goodness
- nature is not an object of worship → an object of understanding
- from its creation and fundamental beliefs, different from the other traditional worldviews of Korea

Question 13

Patrilineal

Answer 13

kinship principle

Question 14

Patriarchal

Answer 14

the organisation of power within families

Question 15

Familistic

Answer 15

he boarder social, political and economic distribution of power is intimately tied to kinship ideologies and the family system

Question 16

Confucianism is an ideological system in two sense

Answer 16

• Social behaviour and human values
• Tool of the ruling classes

Question 17

Filial piety

Answer 17

• Children must obey and respect parental authority
• The family is not independent
• The lineage continues with the birth of a son
• The lineage is traced with men

Question 18

The separation of sexes

Answer 18

• Young women must not have any contact with men
• Woman is only considered in the lineage through a man
• Women marry to continue another man’s lineage
• The maternal grandfather is not part of the family

Question 19

Lineage exogamy

Answer 19

• Not marry someone from the same lineage
• Marriages between people with the same surname are not legal
• A marriage is a family union

Question 20

Traditional marriage

Answer 20

• The couple’s relationship is secondary
• The father-son relationship is at the heart of the lineage
• If the couple has no sons, their lives have no value

Question 21

Village systems

Answer 21

-Villages: were themselves often clusters of households of affinal kin.

-Village social relations: accord with the patrilineal principle and hierarchy

-Systems: of control and of distribution – keeping order and sharing wealth – follow patrilineal hierarchy

-In villages: competing status and power hierarchies → made for complex social organizations, conflict, and enormous local variation

The Joseon period → were years of political tumult, economic restructuring, and social mobility

Question 22

양반

Answer 22

-late Joseon period: society was dominated by Yangban → a literati group of civil and military officials, who passed the civil military exam
-Chinese-inspired examinations: tested for the mastery of Confucian texts and learnings
-Possible to purchase Yangban title
-Status: lineage and Confucian ideologies

-Confucian academies: 서원
-Local Agencies and state-owned lands → administered by 양반
-Village contracts & social organisations → also directed by 양반

Question 23

Social hierarchical classes

Answer 23

• 양반: Minority around 10 %
• 중인: “Middle people”, highly educated
• 상민: freeborn commoners, tilled Yangban land
• 천민: low borns, out-resident slaves, agriculturist, ⅓ of population

Question 24

Confucianisation

Answer 24

-16-17th century: Confucian social and cultural life was legislated
-Regulating: marriage, inheritance, adoption , funerary practices, widowhood

Pre-Confucian social and organisational structures and cultural practices:

• Daughters and offspring considered integral member of family
• Inheritance divided equally between sons and daughters
• Ancestral services were conducted by women
• Maternal kin were commemorated equally alongside male ancestors →Bilateral kinship system

-Funerary practice: Severely legislated→ Discontinue Buddhist practice of cremation

-1421: women should not show their faces (장옷)

Question 25

Cultural resistance

Answer 25

-Empowered women: adhering to Confucian ideals &subverting traditional gender roles → to empower themselves and their families

-Joseon society’s rapid changes → were shaped by the careful preservation of Confucian values: genealogy-keeping and virtues: chastity and virtue.

-some groups: landless peasants and slaves: didn’t fully embrace the Confucian ideals, despite the influence of economics and culture

Question 26

Cultural complexity

Answer 26

Bilateral Ancestral Worship in Shamanistic Rituals:
- Women’s natal kin and in-law kin coexist in shamanistic rituals.
- This bilateral approach challenges the patrilineal dominance associated with Confucianism

Influence of Neo-Confucianism and Ritual Contrasts:
- Neo-Confucianism’s societal influence: linked to issues requiring shamanistic rituals→ difficulties in bearing sons and family wealth problems
- Contrasting styles of rituals: Confucianism being formal ↔ shamanistic “kut” ceremonies being lively and humorous