Revisiting 'jokbo' in a changing Korea
In her speech at “Korea’s Jokbo, Women’s Jokbo: Not just Grandfathers, but Grandmothers too,” Koh He-ryung — formerly of the National Institute of Korean History and past chairwoman of The Roots Society — traced the evolution of “jokbo,” Korea’s traditional genealogical records, within the peninsula’s long history. As early as the ancient kingdoms, she noted, people asserted their identity by naming their lineage. The form of jokbo we recognize today, however, emerged during the early years of the 1392-1910 Joseon period. The oldest surviving example, compiled in 1476, belongs to the Andong Gwon clan. Women’s place within these records shifted over time. In early Joseon, while Confucianism was adopted as the state ideology, maternal and paternal relatives were still documented with roughly similar weight. Yet even then, signs of a male-centered framework were visible: Women were identified not by their own names, but by the names of their husbands. By the mid-Joseon period, as neo-Confucian patriarchy took firmer hold, the imbalance grew starker. Married women were
Mar 3, 2026By Park Han-sol
