Wrongful Deaths: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth-Century Korea

by Sun Joo Kim (Translator), Jungwon Kim (Translator)

Overview

This collection presents and analyzes inquest records that tell the stories of ordinary Korean people under the Choson court (1392-1910). Extending the study of this period, usually limited to elites, into the realm of everyday life, each inquest record includes a detailed postmortem examination and features testimony from everyone directly or indirectly related to the incident. The result is an amazingly vivid, colloquial account of the vibrant, multifaceted sociocultural and legal culture of early modern Korea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295804965
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Series:	Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sun Joo Kim is the Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History at Harvard University. Jungwon Kim is assistant professor of Korean history at Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Translators’ Notes

Map of Nineteenth-century Korea

Introduction Choson Korea in Its Last Century

Case 1 An Adulterous Widower Meets a Violent Death

Yang Hang-nyon (P’yongyang, P’yongan Province, 1866)

Case 2 A Family Activist Confronts a Local Magnate

Ms. Pak (Yongin, Kyonggi Province, Late Eighteenth Century)

Case 3 A Defiant Slave Challenges His Master with Death

Yi Pong-dol (Anui, Kyongsang Province, 1842)

Case 4 Two Widows Fight

Madam Chang and Ms. Un (Yech’on, Kyongsang Province, 1842)

Case 5 A Heartless Wet Nurse Abuses an Infant

Mun Chong-ji (Chunghwa, P’yongan Province, 1866)

Case 6 A Widower Seeks Private Settlement

Ms. Chong (Yongch’on, Kyongsang Province, 1889)

Case 7 Adultery Leads to Murder

Ms. Paek (Anak, Hwanghae Province, 1897)

Case 8 An Illegal Burial Begets a Son but Kills a Relative

Kim Kap-san (Hoeyang, Kangwŏn Province, 1899)

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

Jisoo Kim

"This is an important contribution that significantly advances our knowledge of nineteenth—century Korean legal history. The translated cases shine by being able to introduce daily struggles of nonelites and illustrate the complex dynamics of the judiciary system during the last century of the Choson dynasty."

Robert E. Hegel

"This book provides an extremely rare view into social interactions among people of quite different classes in Choson Korea. Points of interest abound."

Editorial Reviews

"[Wrongful Deaths] contributes significantly to our understanding of not only the inner workings of the criminal justice system but also the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the last century of the Chosōn dynasty (1392-1910). Thoughtfully compiled and translated by Sun Joo Kim and Jungwon Kim, the selected eight cases open a window onto familial and social relations and everyday struggles in nineteenth-century Korea. . . . [A] most welcome addition to the literature on the history of Chosōn Korea."

Journal of Asian Studies - Jisoo M. Kim

[Wrongful Deaths] contributes significantly to our understanding of not only the inner workings of the criminal justice system but also the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the last century of the Chosōn dynasty (1392-1910). Thoughtfully compiled and translated by Sun Joo Kim and Jungwon Kim, the selected eight cases open a window onto familial and social relations and everyday struggles in nineteenth-century Korea. . . . [A] most welcome addition to the literature on the history of Chosōn Korea.

--Jisoo M. Kim "Journal of Asian Studies"

From the Publisher