By Mark Peterson
I suppose most who see the reference to two wars would assume I'm going to write about the Korean War and World War II, but no, ― put on your history hat ― I'm writing about the Japanese Invasion of 1592, and the Manchu Invasion of 1636.
This has come to my attention from comments that have been left under videos on my YouTube channel where several subscribers have referenced the term "yangnan."
I'm embarrassed to disclose my poor vocabulary in Korean by admitting I didn't know the term and had to look it up. It means "the two wars" and refers to the Japanese and Manchu invasions. But it's the conclusion drawn in the use of the term that has stirred me to write today.
The terms are used to refer to the changes in society post-war. And those who are generally aware of the great "Confucianization" that took place in roughly this time frame tend to assume and aver that the Confucian reforms and the swing to male dominance by accepting a Chinese style of Confucianism occurred as a result of the war.
The previous sentence has a lot to "unpack" and it assumes one has read my previous articles about the Confucian transformation that took place late in the Joseon Kingdom. The point is that Korean society changed from one that treated women somewhat fairly, to one of male domination.
The most obvious element of the change was the disinheritance of daughters; whereas once they had, by law, equal inheritance with sons, they lost that right. And with it the right to host the ancestor ceremonies on a rotational basis. And marriage practices changed.
Formerly, one could choose to live at the wife's home or village, or one could choose to live at the husband's, but after the transformation it was only at the husband's village. And thus village structure changed and we see the formation of the single-surname village where all residents had the same surname and were related to each other.
Okay, that is a quick and dirty summary of the Confucianization issue. The point of this article today is the question of the timing. Because there is a sense that some changes took place as a result of the wars, the "yangnan," it has been facile to link the two together. I think that is wrong. The timing is off by about 100 years, well, maybe 80, but the timing is off.
The responses to my YouTube videos include this facile assumption ― that the war caused the social change. My position is that something else, more important, was happening. In my view restoration from chaos is one of the traits of Korean culture over the centuries.
We see it most immediately after the Korean War when, remarkably, the Korean economy grew from extreme poverty (per capita income at about $100 per annum) to one of the strongest economies in the world (with per capita income of about $30,000).
But we see there was rapid recovery in the past as well. Recovery from the Mongol invasion and the "son-in-law kingdom" status was rapid and strong ― the creation of a new dynasty. And ― to the point of this article ― I see the recovery from the Japanese invasion of 1592 as similarly miraculous. The Japanese destroyed nearly everything. Hardly a building survived. Palaces, Buddhist temples, homes ― everything was burned. Near total destruction.
By comparison, the Manchu invasion was not destructive at all ― in terms of property. It was destructive of national prestige and esteem, but it was not such a bloody or destructive war.
The recovery from the "two wars" was the first goal. Homes were rebuilt. Buddhist temples were rebuilt. When you visit Buddhist temples the historic buildings often have plaques that state it was destroyed during the Japanese invasion and subsequently rebuilt. Palaces were rebuilt.
Society returned to normal. This was the hallmark of the Joseon Kingdom, its longevity. Other dynasties around the world lasted 200 years or so on average. There were plenty of reason for Koreans to overthrow the king ― he ran off to the Chinese border ― and create a new dynasty. But that's not Korea. Stability! Restoring things as they were. Those were the motives.
And the king became the king again, the officials became officials again, farmers became farmers again, and slaves became slaves again. Korea, a slave-holding country could well have seen the slaves rise up, farmers rise up, military rise up and start a new dynasty. But no. The old order was restored. That is the key.
Confucianization ― disinheriting of daughters, formation of the male-dominated lineage groups, and all of that did not take place for another 80 to 100 years. After those who had seen the wars were all dead.
Joseon should get its credit for restoring the old order first. Stability was primary. Society had to first be restored. And then over time, with economic and population forces behind the changes, then ― and only then ― did society see change. It was not caused by war. Japan, even indirectly, does not get the credit for the changes in Korea. Korea did it on its own in its due time.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
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This has come to my attention from comments that have been left under videos on my YouTube channel where several subscribers have referenced the term "yangnan."
I'm embarrassed to disclose my poor vocabulary in Korean by admitting I didn't know the term and had to look it up. It means "the two wars" and refers to the Japanese and Manchu invasions. But it's the conclusion drawn in the use of the term that has stirred me to write today.
The terms are used to refer to the changes in society post-war. And those who are generally aware of the great "Confucianization" that took place in roughly this time frame tend to assume and aver that the Confucian reforms and the swing to male dominance by accepting a Chinese style of Confucianism occurred as a result of the war.
The previous sentence has a lot to "unpack" and it assumes one has read my previous articles about the Confucian transformation that took place late in the Joseon Kingdom. The point is that Korean society changed from one that treated women somewhat fairly, to one of male domination.
The most obvious element of the change was the disinheritance of daughters; whereas once they had, by law, equal inheritance with sons, they lost that right. And with it the right to host the ancestor ceremonies on a rotational basis. And marriage practices changed.
Formerly, one could choose to live at the wife's home or village, or one could choose to live at the husband's, but after the transformation it was only at the husband's village. And thus village structure changed and we see the formation of the single-surname village where all residents had the same surname and were related to each other.
Okay, that is a quick and dirty summary of the Confucianization issue. The point of this article today is the question of the timing. Because there is a sense that some changes took place as a result of the wars, the "yangnan," it has been facile to link the two together. I think that is wrong. The timing is off by about 100 years, well, maybe 80, but the timing is off.
The responses to my YouTube videos include this facile assumption ― that the war caused the social change. My position is that something else, more important, was happening. In my view restoration from chaos is one of the traits of Korean culture over the centuries.
We see it most immediately after the Korean War when, remarkably, the Korean economy grew from extreme poverty (per capita income at about $100 per annum) to one of the strongest economies in the world (with per capita income of about $30,000).
But we see there was rapid recovery in the past as well. Recovery from the Mongol invasion and the "son-in-law kingdom" status was rapid and strong ― the creation of a new dynasty. And ― to the point of this article ― I see the recovery from the Japanese invasion of 1592 as similarly miraculous. The Japanese destroyed nearly everything. Hardly a building survived. Palaces, Buddhist temples, homes ― everything was burned. Near total destruction.
By comparison, the Manchu invasion was not destructive at all ― in terms of property. It was destructive of national prestige and esteem, but it was not such a bloody or destructive war.
The recovery from the "two wars" was the first goal. Homes were rebuilt. Buddhist temples were rebuilt. When you visit Buddhist temples the historic buildings often have plaques that state it was destroyed during the Japanese invasion and subsequently rebuilt. Palaces were rebuilt.
Society returned to normal. This was the hallmark of the Joseon Kingdom, its longevity. Other dynasties around the world lasted 200 years or so on average. There were plenty of reason for Koreans to overthrow the king ― he ran off to the Chinese border ― and create a new dynasty. But that's not Korea. Stability! Restoring things as they were. Those were the motives.
And the king became the king again, the officials became officials again, farmers became farmers again, and slaves became slaves again. Korea, a slave-holding country could well have seen the slaves rise up, farmers rise up, military rise up and start a new dynasty. But no. The old order was restored. That is the key.
Confucianization ― disinheriting of daughters, formation of the male-dominated lineage groups, and all of that did not take place for another 80 to 100 years. After those who had seen the wars were all dead.
Joseon should get its credit for restoring the old order first. Stability was primary. Society had to first be restored. And then over time, with economic and population forces behind the changes, then ― and only then ― did society see change. It was not caused by war. Japan, even indirectly, does not get the credit for the changes in Korea. Korea did it on its own in its due time.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
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