Foreign Perspectives of Joseon Religion and Women
from 1876 to 1905
Shin Hijung
advisor Ganse
I. Introduction
1.Purpose of Study
They say there are three
ways to define oneself―the one I think I am, the one others
think I am and the one I think others would think I am, and the
three definitions do not necessarily agree. The same applies for one's country.
Foreigners may have a point of view about a nation that is different from that
of its citizens. This study attempted to gain a more complete view of the
history of Korea by comparing and contrasting the image of Joseon
held by foreigners who have visited and written about the country during its
opening years (from 1876 to 1905), with the Korean interpretation of the society
at that time.
1876 is the year when Joseon was forced to open up by signing the Treaty of Kanghwa with
1905, the year when
Religion and women were
two aspects that allowed Westerners, many of whom came from a Christian
society, to view Joseon from a different standpoint.
Foreign perspectives of Joseon, regarding its
religion and women, at the time period 1876 to 1905 hold both prejudice and
objectivity, which can lead us to a better understanding of Korean history and
2.Sociopolitical Circumstances
of Joseon from 1876 to 1905
In the later half of the nineteenth century, foreign attempt
to open up the closed gate of the
"The barbarians beyond the sea have
violated our waters, and invaded our land. If we do not fight we must make treaties
with them. Those who are in favor of making a treaty, sell their country. Let
this be a warning to ten thousand generations"(translation from The
Tragedy of Korea, 1908).
Despite her indomitable
will, Joseon could not hold on to its lock against
the current of the times for long. In February 27th 1876, Joseon
made a treaty with
As Joseon
could no longer ignore the foreign interference in domestic affairs, the period
following 1876 until 1905, when
II. Religion
The Want of a Religion
"Nothing to show that religion has any hold on the popular
mind, constitute a singular Korean characteristic" (Isabella Bird Bishop, Korea
and Her Neighbours, 1897).
"There is not a single religious building in
the whole of Soul, nor is any priest ever allowed to set foot within the city's
gates; and what is true of Soul is true of every walled city of the land
(Percival Lowell, Choson: The Land of the
Morning Calm, 1886).
One of the striking features of Joseon
that puzzled the foreigners entering
This may well be
understood; the Joseon administration adopted a
policy of promoting Confucianism while oppressing Buddhism, the most dominant
religion until then. The systematic oppression led by the government brought
about a significant decrease in the size of the Buddhist order. By the
sixteenth century, the Buddhist order ceased to exist in the institutional
system and Buddhist monks and nuns were literally chased into the mountains,
forbidden to enter the capital.
Depraved Spirit of
Buddhism
Tourists who have visited
the surviving Buddhist temples in the far off mountains described even those
few remaining Buddhist orders as corrupt and doubtful. The following is an
account of Buddhist monks from Gilmore's Corea
of To-day (1894).
"Men with shaved heads longing about, doing
nothing that looks at all like either military or religious duty, except that a
number may be found at a dingy temple, in which are disreputable images, before
which attendants mumble or chant prayers unintelligible even to themselves.
Diligent inquiry would show that these monks are not such upon deep conviction
and from religious principle, but that the rice given from the pubic stores
suffices to make this mode of life attractive to them."
It appears to be that the monks had a poor
reputation among foreigners for their deceptive practices and weak conviction.
Savage Landor, an English tourist, even went as far
as to say, "[Bonzes] are a very depraved lot, body of men, shrewd, it is
true, yet wicked and entirely without conscience, whose only aim is to make
money at the expense of weak-minded believers" (quoted from Corea or Cho-sen: The
Land of the Morning Calm, 1985).
Yet, the extent
to which these claims are reliable is debatable. Many of the accounts on the
rapacity and indifference of the monks seem to have been taken from another
persons' report, rather than from one's own acquaintance. A few unfavorable
reports, including anecdotes from personal experiences, may have been spread
out and overstated to bring charges of gross atrocity against the monks. Angus
Hamilton also expressed his doubt about these criticisms: "I confess
myself sorely puzzled to discover any substratum of truth in the charges of
gross profligacy and irreverence which the agent of an American Missionary
Society brings against the monasteries of the Keum-kang-san"
(quoted from
"Shin-ki-sa is a
small monastery. Perhaps its temples have never been comparable with the
shrines of Yu-chom-sa in grace and beauty. […] One looks for
vain for the courtly dignity of the aged Abbot of Yu-chom-sa,
whose humanitarian spirit was so impressive. The principles of consideration,
politeness, and devotion that govern his conduct are sadly lacking in the
Abbot, the priests, and monks attached to Shin-ki-sa."
As for the
claim that monks have only a shallow knowledge about the Buddhist principles,
and mumble prayers unintelligible even to themselves, it may be
attributed to several reasons. In terms of official structure, Joseon Buddhism, which had started off under the so-called
"five doctrinal and two meditational"
schools system of the Goryeo, was eventually
condensed down to a single school of Seon(禪). Thus,
while keeping much of the common earlier characteristics, the Buddhism of the
late Joseon had to come up with occasional new
interpretations of methodology and practices unlike that seen in some Japanese
or Chinese Zen tradition. In such a condition, diligent inquiry may have
led to miscommunication between the questioner and the respondent.
It is also
possible that the strictly religious services of the early Buddhist ritual
gradually secularized with the pass of time, first into solemn chanted
renderings of historical music, then eventually into liturgies incomprehensible
to even the monks themselves.
Then again, the Joseon
administration's strongly held demands for the expulsion of Buddhism and
following oppressive policies made it difficult for the monks and priests to
commit themselves to meditation and self discipline. In fact, there was a
significant decrease in the number of Buddhist literature published by monks or
priests compared to the Goryeo period.
Upper Confucianism, Lower “Daemonism”
Most of the sources commenting on the culture of Joseon refer to three religions Buddhism, Confucianism and
Shamanism (or “Daemonism”) as the
prevailing beliefs. Among these, Confucianism stands out as the belief which
had a profound influence on the admirable practices of Joseon.
"The main point in the religion of the
educated Korean, as of the Chinese, is ancestor worship, and in the courtyard
of every large house, where are the tablets of two or three generations"
(Emily Georgiana Kemp, The Face of Manchuria, Korea, and Russian Turkestan, 1910).
"One of the best features of Confucianism is
the inculcation of respect towards parents and old people, in which respect
both monks and nuns do a deal of good ; though, otherwise, I think the country
might advantageously be without these institutions" (Savage Landor, Corea or Cho-sen: The Land of the Morning Calm, 1985).
Nonetheless, considering its firm establishment
as the political ideology of Joseon, and the many
centuries in which it penetrated deeply into the lives of each family, foreign
account on the Confucianism of Joseon takes only a
small part of the subject. As Landor correctly
pointed out in the passage quoted above, Confucianism, despite its moral
lessons, lacked practical applications (or at least it seemed so to the
foreigners). What the moral guidance and strict laws of Confucianism could not
provide, ordinary people sought from Shamanism or “Daemonism”. The counselor and foreign
secretary to the Korean Special Mission to the
Indeed, what roused the curiosity of the tourists
most was neither the corrupt Buddhism nor the aristocratic Confucianism, but
the widespread practices of Demon worship, as they called it. Foreigners
investigated into Daemonism, which had immense power
over the people of Joseon, with great interest; they
took much effort to write about the legions of spirits and the mu-tang's performances in full detail. At the same time,
however, they regarded Daemonism as primitive or
superstitious, refusing to accept it as a serious religion, and sometimes even
declared the practice injurious or immoral. The following passage
is Landor's view of the mu-tang,
female shamans.
"[Mu-tangs] are
generally people well-informed on the state, condition, and doings of
everybody. Acting on this previous knowledge, they can often tell your past to
perfection, and in many cases they predict future events-which their judgment
informs them are not unlikely to occur. When ignorant, they work pretty much on
the same lines as the Oracle of Delphi; they give an answer that may be taken
as you please. Then, if things do not occur in the way they predicted, they
simply make it an excuse for extorting more money out of their victim under the
plea that he has incurred the displeasure of the spirits, and that serious evil
will come upon him if he does not comply with their request" (Corea or Cho-sen: The
Land of the Morning Calm, 1985).
Contrary to the first impression of Joseon, which was characterized by its want of religion,
now, the country seemed to be over-possessed with spirits;
"The very wind itself is supposed to be the
breathing of a god-spirit with extra powerful lungs; and rain, lightning, war,
thirst, food and so on, each possesses a special deity, who, if not invoked at
the right moment, and in the right manner, may, when least expected, have his
revenge against you" (Corea or Cho-sen: The Land of the Morning Calm, 1985).
A notable thing about this Demon worship is that,
in spite of its omnipresence, or rather, because of its omnipresence, there was
no orderly arrangement about it. In other words, something that could
rightfully be called "religious doctrines" was missing. Truly, the
people of Joseon were quite sure that daemons dwelled
in all matter and pervaded all space. When sick, the poor half starved themselves to pay for their exorcisms. Even the queen, who
was officially committed to Confucianism, occasionally resorted to shamans in
order to anticipate what was to come. The legions of daemons, however, existed,
as Bishop put it, as "a horde without organization, destitute of genus,
species, and classification" (Korea and Her Neighbours,
1897). There was no single word for Daemonism.
Buddhism was referred to as Pulto(佛道),
Confucianism as Yuto(儒道), and
Taoism as Sundo(仙道), but the
termination To(道), which stands for
"doctrine" had not been affixed to Damenoism.
Perhaps, this
lack of systematic order is natural in the Oriental way of thinking. Whereas
Western thinking understands reality as a sequence of static moments, East
Asian thinking envisions reality as a constant flow. The Joseon
people considered reality in a synthetic way; spirits, or daemons were
perceived intuitively. Thus, there was little or no attempt at their
arrangement. But, to the westerners, who were used to the dialectic process of
analysis, Joseon Daemonism
did not seem to be logical and rational. From the point of view of the Western
mind, daemons, created out of Korean fancy, debased Buddhism, and
Chinese mythical legend, laid a heavy yoke upon Joseon,
hampering its modernization.
II. Women
Women Do Not Exist
"In somewhat extensive
Korean journeys I never saw one girl who looked above the age of six, except
hanging listlessly about in the women's rooms" (Isabella Bird Bishop, Korea
and Her Neighbours, 1897).
Regarding the women of Joseon,
absolute seclusion was the custom of centuries. Women were seldom allowed to go
out, and when they did they wore the chang-ot, a thin
white or green cloak, with which they veiled their faces. Then there was the women's hours at night after dark, during
which time women were given the privilege to walk about the streets of the
town, and pay calls on their parents and lady friends, while the men were
confined to the house. In those days, when the reputation of the masculine
"foreign devil" had yet to be proved, woman also had the right to
open and enter any door of a Joseon house when she
saw a foreign man appearing on the horizon. As such was the case, it was only
too natural for foreigners to see but little of the shy sex.
Many foreigners felt that Joseon
women were subject to restraint and seclusion, far beyond the reasonable point.
According to Percival, in Joseon, women
practically did not exist. Materially, physically she was a fact; but mentally,
morally, socially she was a cipher.
Yet, these words are not sufficient to fully
express what the women of Joseon actually felt. For
example, in one instance, a Joseon woman talking to
Bishop, a female English tourist, said, "we think
that your husbands don't care for you very much." It may be that some of
the Joseon women believed that they were cared for
and protected by being closely guarded.
Ill-bred, Unmannerly Women of Joseon
"The unique fashion of their dress, and its
general dissimilarity to any other form of feminine garb the world has ever
known, renders it sufficiently characteristic of the vagaries of the feminine
mind to be attractive" (Angus Hamilton, Korea, 1904).
It was mostly the women of the lower class, to
whom fewer restrictions were imposed, that foreigners had access to. Perhaps it
was the clothes that these women were wearing that first caught the eyes of the
foreigners. These clothes had a gap between the upper and lower garments,
leaving both breasts uncovered, certainly a very curious fashion. Despite their
almost instinctive interests in this quaint costume of the lower class
women, not many foreigners understood correctly how this style came to be, or
what it implied.
Since the women had to nurse their babies, while being occupied
in some other kind of housework, the costume was devised to suit that purpose. Not only that, but it was
a privilege accorded only to women who had given birth to sons; the mothers
of daughters were not allowed to expose their breasts proudly.
It is doubtful to what extent we can count on the
foreign description about the nature of Joseon women,
most of which were derived from observations, rather than personal
acquaintance. Still, it must be noted that many of the foreign sources portray
them as coarse, rude and violent in temper. Landor
recalled that the women of the lower classes seemed to be in a constant
state of excitement and anger.
A typical lower class women of Joseon would most likely be uneducated, naive, and know
little about the western manners, if at all; she might possess a rough temper,
as well, after all the years of domestic suffering she has bore. Taking these
into consideration, it is not surprising that Bishop described the women of the
lower class as "ill-bred and unmannerly, far removed from the gracefulness
of the same class in
Laundress of the nation
Slight as was the visible part played by woman in
Joseon, yet there was one thing that made her
presence essential in the national life―housework. Despite the contempt
with which she was treated, foreigners admired her activity and diligence.
The sight of a Joseon
woman kneeling down and pounding white clothes upon the stones, must have made
quite an impression to the foreign passerby. Here is Landor's
description of the scene.
"[…] the poor
things on the coldest days and nights of winter, smashing the thick ice in the
rivers and canals and spending hour after hour with the fingers in the freezing
water, washing the clothes of their lords and masters, who are probably
peacefully and soundly asleep at home. […] you soon get
familiar with the quick tick, tick, the time as regularly marked as that of a
clock, heard from many houses" (Corea
or Cho-sen: The Land of the Morning Calm, 1985).
Laundry symbolized the women's diligent
integrity, as well as their miserable suffering. That the position of women in Joseon was more deplorable than in any other civilized or barbaric
country was a commonly held view by the foreigners. It was a wonder how women
could forbear such a wretched state, comparable to
slavery, and even seemed to enjoy some of it. The popular explanation for this
(although never directly referred to as) was masochism on the part of the Joseon women.
"There is nothing which will make a woman
happier than the opportunity of showing with what resignation she is able to
bear the weight and drudgery of her duty. If to that she can add complaint of
ill-treatment, then her happiness is unbounded" (quoted from Corea or Cho-sen: The
Land of the Morning Calm, 1985).
III. Conclusion
One of the major misrepresentation
of Joseon, on the part of the foreigners, comes from
their failure to acknowledge the role played by Confucianism in the lives of
the Joseon people. It is true that Confucianism,
although the only official religion of the country, coexisted with Buddhism and
Daemonism (or Shamanism). It may also be said that Daemonism had a greater influence on the daily lives and
psychology of the common Joseon people. Nonetheless,
it must be understood, that Confucianism had been practiced ever since the
advent of the Joseon dynasty, and had its root deeply
in the whole of the Joseon society, from the lowest
peasant to the king, whether they felt it or not.
For example, the Confucian philosophy can be
applied to understand the peculiar costume of the lower class women mentioned
above. Confucianism did not, from the first, discriminate between genders. But,
Neo-Confucianism, developed in the Song dynasty, classified all things as yin
or yang, and placed yang above yin, introducing the concept of female (yin)
subjection to male(yang). Joseon introduced Neo-Confucianism
as its political ideology, and adopted a patrilineal
system to put the philosophy into practice. This explains why the mother of the
son, who would carry on the family line, could, at that time when exposure of
any kind was forbidden to women, proudly show her breasts, while the mother of a
daughter could not.
As is generally the case for travelers, the
foreigners in Joseon lacked the cultural sense which only comes
from accumulated experience, and had difficulty perceiving what lied beyond the
surface. Then again, there is always the distinctive personal quality, that renders a subjective viewpoint.
Yet, despite its prejudice and
misinterpretations, foreign perspective of Joseon has
a meaning of its own. Whether we approve it or not, or whether it is right or
wrong, the way we are presented to the outside viewers is an integral part of
ourselves. By undertaking studies of how we were depicted by foreigners and
why, we may come closer to achieving the maxim "know thy self".
References
[1] Griffis William Elliot, Corea, the Hermit Nation,
[2]
[3] George William Gilmore, Corea
of To-day,
[4] Savage Landor, Corea
or Cho-sen. The Land of the Morning Calm,
[5] Louise Jordan Miln, Quaint
[6]
[7] Emily Georgiana Kemp, The
Face of
[8] Isabella Bird
[9] F. A. McKenzie, The Tragedy
of
[10] 한국종교연구회(Korean Religion Society), 한국 종교문화사
강의(Lecture on the Religious Culture of Korea), 청년사, 1998
[11] 한국여성연구소(Korea Institue
for Women), 새 여성학 강의 (New Lecture on Women's
Studies), 동녘, 1999
[12]한국여성연구소 여성사연구실(Korea Institue
for Women), 우리 여성의 역사(The History of Korean
Women), 청년사, 1999
[13]신복룡(Shin Bok
Ryong), 이방인이 본 조선 다시 읽기(Reading Joseon in the Eyes of the Foreigners), 풀빛, 2002