Mark Peterson is associate professor of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
'Munjip' as measure of status
In my last piece, I introduced you to the "munjip" — the collection of writings published posthumously for prominent scholar-officials in traditional times. As a measure of social status, it occurs to me that this was an even higher level of accomplishment than the "mungwa" exam. In the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, there were about 15,000 men who passed the mungwa exam, but only about 3,000 were honored to have a munjip.
Having a munjip published was a complicated process. The writer needed to preserve copies of all his writings, a core group of people had to petition the government, and, if authorized, the government would order the carving of wood blocks for the printing. Thus, the complicated decision to print a munjip was an event more rare, and more prestigious than passing the exam.
Perhaps the individual most known for his munjip was Jeong Yak-yong, whose 232 volumes are recognized for their advanced and innovative technology. Not only did he write on typical topics of Confucian philosophy, but he was also a “silhak” philosopher interested in scientific advancements of the time, which was the early 19th century. The famous philosophers Yi I, Song Si-yeol and Kim Jang-saeng had munjip of around 100 volumes. Yi Hwang’s was around 70 volumes.
Data sets on those who passed the exams are somewhat easy to find. We know that the Yi surname had the most — 3,103. Kims were at 2,119, and Paks at 838 — these names are also the largest groups in Korea today at 7.3 million, 10.7 million and 4.2 million, respectively. To calculate the rate of success, we can divide the number who passed into the current population to see what chance a man with that surname would have at passing the exam. For Yi, it is one in 2,350. For the Kims it is one in 5,050, while the Paks are similar at one in 5,000.
Within these large surname groups, there are smaller subset clans that have been very successful in the exams, though that data is hard to obtain. However, for surname groups as a whole, there is some interesting data. Among the top 50 surname groups, Shims had the best success rate, with one in 700 passing. But the surname with the highest success rate on a per capita basis was Mok. With a population of just 9,000, and with 34 who passed the exam, their success rate was one in 265. The Moks are recognized as the most successful at the exams.
My look at munjip data brought me to another set of ratios — measures of success for surname groups. Again, the big groups obscure the potentially successful lines within each of these big surnames — to look at the success by publication of munjip for the large surnames groups there were 910 munjip by the Yis, 630 for the Kims and 270 for the Paks — this gives us a ratio of success for each of these groups at one in 8,000, one in 17,000 and one in 15,000. These figures will be the baseline for looking at some really successful lineage groups — results that surprised me.
The Moks, above, were good at passing exams, but not so notable at publishing munjip — only one in 9,000. The rare surnames Sagong, Bong and Ha all had success ratios in the one in 4,000 range. Seonu and Gam had ratios in the 3,000 range. In the 2,000 range, we have the rare Yu surname — there are three Yu that are larger, but while this Yu (庾) has a population of just 13,000, they have three munjip for a one in 2,600 ratio, and the names Sang, Ga, Geum and Bang are also in the one in 2,000 range.
There are two Bang surnames. The first, 方, with 94,000 people, had 14 who passed the mungwa, and is generally considered the major of the two Bang clans. The second Bang clan uses the character 房 and has a population of 33,000, along with a respectable nine members who passed the exam. But the two are completely different in their munjip success. The first has only one munjip, while the second has 17 — for a one in 1,940 ratio.
There are two clans with a ratio of one in 1,000 — meaning a very good chance of having a munjip published. The smaller clan is the Tae clan, one that is descended from the ruling family of the 698-926 Balhae dynasty. While there are only 7,000 members of the clan, they have seven munjip. And the family that also surprised me most was the Wi clan, with 30,000 members and 30 munjip.
The big winner of the day, however, is the extremely obscure name Cho (楚) with a population of just 236 people today. With one successful mungwa and one munjip, they have the best ratio and the highest success rate of any family on the munjip list. Their lineage traces back to a refugee who fled to Korea after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. This ancestor had held an official position in China, and his descendants went on to achieve similar success as government officials in Joseon Korea. However, the family never grew into a large population.
Quality over quantity? Perhaps — they still hold the highest success rate in getting a munjip published.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is a professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.