Women and Confucianism in Choson Korea: New Perspectives

by Youngmin Kim (Editor), Michael J. Pettid (Editor)

Overview

This volume offers a fresh, multifaceted exploration of women and Confucianism in mid- to late-Chosoán Korea (mid-sixteenth to early twentieth century). Using primary sources and perspectives from social history, intellectual history, literature, and political thought, contributors challenge unitary views of Confucianism as a system of thought, of women as a group, and of the relationship between the two.

Much earlier scholarship has focused on how women were oppressed under the strict patriarchal systems that emerged as Confucianism became the dominant social ideology during the Chosoán dynasty (1392–1910). Contributors to this volume bring to light the varied ways that diverse women actually lived during this era, from elite yangban women to women who were enslaved. Women are shown to have used various strategies to seek status, economic rights, and more comfortable spaces, with some women even emerging as Confucian intellectuals and exemplars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438437767
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	07/02/2012
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Youngmin Kim is Associate Professor of Political Science at Seoul National University. Michael J. Pettid is Associate Professor of Premodern Korean Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He is the author of Korean Cuisine: An Illustrated History and cotranslator (with Kil Cha) of Unyoáng-joán: A Love Affair at the Royal Palace of Chosoán Korea.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Chapter 1 Introduction Michael J. Pettid Youngmin Kim 1

Chapter 2 Portrait of Two Women: Multiple Layers of "Confucianism" in Late Choson Korea Youngmin Kim 11

Chapter 3 The Exemplar Wife: The Life of Lady Chang of Andong in Historical Context Lee SoonGu 29

Chapter 4 Confucian Educational Works for Upper Status Women in Choson Korea Michael J. Pettid 49

Chapter 5 Neo-Confucianism as Free-floating Resource: Im Yunjidang and Kang Chongildang as Two Female Neo-Confucian Philosophers in Late Choson Youngmin Kim 71

Chapter 6 The Rights of the Eldest Daughter-in-Law and Strengthening of Adoption of Lineage Heirs in the Mid-Choson Period Lee SoonGu 89

Chapter 7 Questions Concerning Widows' Social Status and Remarriage in Late Choson Jung Ji-Young 109

Chapter 8 Devalued Bodies, Revalued Status: Confucianism and the Plight of Female Slaves in Late Chospn Korea Milan Hejtmanek 137

Glossary 151

Bibliography 157

Index 163