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Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson is associate professor of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.

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Mark Peterson

Confucianization story in Korea

By Mark PetersonI have spent several weeks writing about the transformation of Korea in the late 17th century. I have outlined seven major social practices that were completely turned upside down at the close of the 17th, and into the 18th century. And these are not insignificant social events: the disinheritance of daughters, dropping daughters from ceremonies, dropping daughter's posterity from genealogies, the all-consuming desire to have a son, and adoption of a son if one is not born, the location of the marriage at the husband's father's house, and the establishment of “clan villages” where everyone in the village is a member of the patrilineage, except for the women ― these were fundamental developments that changed Korea forever.So fundamental were these changes that Korean society today looks back at the “traditional family system” ― meaning this Confucianized system ― and thinks that it has been this way “forever,” or for at least as long as we can know. This is wrong. The Confucianized family system is relatively recent ―&

Oct 5, 2018By Mark Peterson
Confucianization story in Korea
Mark Peterson

17th century quiet revolution

By Mark PetersonI've previously written about the changes in the late 17th century and listed seven major features of social life and family organization that changed. I've written that these changes affected every aspect of social life in Korea. It was a revolution. But the revolution was not with bloodshed and chaos, but rather was a quiet revolution that changed everything.Why did it happen? What caused Korean society to disinherit daughters, leave daughters out of the ancestral ceremonies, drop the details of a daughter's life and posterity from the genealogy, look by all means to have a son, and adopt a son from within the patrilineage if a son was not born, marry only at the father's house (no longer recognizing an option of marrying at the bride's home, and thus creating villages of “men-related-to-men-by-men.” They created a system where women were invisible and only useful in biologically producing a son.Why?That is the question and I'm not sure I understand it completely, but I understand part of it. In fact, three parts of it.As I see it, three forces came toge

Sep 16, 2018By Mark Peterson
17th century quiet revolution
Mark Peterson

Why Korea became Confucianized

By Mark PetersonThe process by which Korea came to be the “most-Confucianized” country in the world was a long, drawn-out process that requires careful observation and careful definitions of terms.Confucianism, as an alien ideology, came into Korea from China in the Three Kingdoms Period. Its introduction was not as dramatic, nor as successful as was that of Buddhism ― Buddhism had many more adherents in the early days. But gradually, over the centuries, Confucianism grew until, with the founding of the Joseon Kingdom in 1392, Confucianism was the ideology openly advocated by the new rulers.Confucianism is good for rulers. It is mainly a set of “governing” principles and is concerned with engendering a happy and harmonious society. Confucianism is concerned with the here-and-now, unlike Buddhism that is focused on the next life. Confucianism is not much concerned with a god or with heaven; it is society and government in the present that is most important. If Confucius had had a name card printed up for himself, on the line where it would say one's positi

Sep 5, 2018By Mark Peterson
Why Korea became Confucianized
Mark Peterson

Traditional Confucian system

By Mark PetersonIn my last article, I argued that the traditional social order of Korea, that defined as “Confucian” and marked with features of male dominance, was not that old. I pointed out that there was a quiet revolution in the late 17th century whereby basic social and family practices changed. But the important point for us today was not that the changes took place, but that when those changes took place is a “knowable.” And yet throughout Korean society today, nobody knows about it. It's like a great secret ― unknowable, but in full sight.I wrote a book on the topic, in the late 90s. I wrote it in English ― it was published by the Cornell University Press, titled, “Korean Adoption and Inheritance: The Creation of a Classic Confucian Society” and then I made sure that it was available to the Korean academic community by personally seeing to the translation and publication in Korean ― “Yugyo sahoe eui changchul” (The Emergence of Confucian Society).I wanted the book to be read in Korean so that it would become part of the, w

Aug 31, 2018By Mark Peterson
Traditional Confucian system
Mark Peterson

'Traditional' Korean family system began

By Mark PetersonIn my previous installment, I argued that the so-called traditional family system of Korea, that was marked by Confucian ideology and practices, and called the “bugye family system” (patrilineal system), is of fairly recent ancestry. Many people in Korea assume that the system is ancient, dating back to at least the founding of the Joseon Kingdom in 1392, if not before. While it's true that some elements of Confucianization took place at the start of the Joseon Kingdom, there were elements of Confucianism adopted as early as the late Three Kingdoms period, and certainly by the Unified Silla period ― there were famous Confucian scholars, Seol Chong and Choe Chiwon, from the Silla period. But the ultimate practice of Confucianism, with all of its attendant ceremonies (ancestor ceremonies particularly) was not achieved until the late Joseon period.When we look at the hallmarks of the fully articulated Confucian society, there are several items that we can isolate as having changed in the late Joseon period, specifically, in the late 17th century. I will

Aug 13, 2018By Mark Peterson
'Traditional' Korean family system began
Mark Peterson

Origin of Korea's family system

By Mark Peterson How old is the Bugye family system (patrilineal system) in Korea?One of the hallmarks of traditional Korean society has been the dominance of patrilineal descent groups and the dominance of males over females, that is usually attributed to Confucianism. Americans don't usually use the phrase “patrilineal descent group,” a rather technical term, used in anthropology ― most would rather call it the “patriarchy” or patriarchal society ― but the term “bugye sahoe” is well-known in Korea. It's their system; they've got a name for it.Everyone in Korea tends to understand that traditional society was male-dominated ― instead of “ladies first” as in the West, it was “men first, women after” (namseon, yeohu). But the bugye sahoe meant more than that. Inheritances went only to sons, mostly the eldest son. And the tradition of the eldest son, of the eldest son, of the eldest son, for multiple generations has led to the concept of the “jongson” ― the “lineage heir” who lives in the &ldq

Aug 3, 2018By Mark Peterson
Origin of Korea's family system
Mark Peterson

Final note on invasions

By Mark PetersonThe frog-in-the-well view of Korean history is that Korea has been invaded multiple times by multiple nations. This frog ― from outside the well ― has a different point of view.And I am not alone. There are other foreign scholars, and more and more young Korean scholars who are starting to view Korean history in the way I am suggesting. But in the wider public, still the idea of victimization, still the idea of multiple invasions persists.In previous columns, I have argued that prior to the chaotic 20th century, there were really only two major invasions ― that of the Mongols in the 1230s and that of the Japanese in the 1590s. I argued that the Japanese “invasion” of 1894 or of 1910 was very different from that of 1592 in that the enemy was China, not Korea, though the fighting was on Korean soil. The invasions of the Korean War were lethal and destructive, but were not technically foreign invasions. Korea was victimized, but not directly by foreign powers, although we can argue that the North-South fighting was spurred by the greater powers

Jul 25, 2018By Mark Peterson
Final note on invasions
Mark Peterson

More on invasions

By Mark PetersonOne of the core elements of Korea's view of its own history is that of multiple invasions. It's a story almost everyone accepts. But it's the key element of my argument that Korean history needs to be rewritten ― at least revised, from my perspective as a frog that has come out of the well.In the early days of my studies of Korean history, I felt I should be an authentic representative of Korea in telling her story. And though I did not agree with many points of standard Korean history, I used to feel I had to be loyal to Korea, somehow, and not give a variant history ― because that could be called a “distortion” ― a common criticism of historical points of view that don't line up with the accepted point of view.And the problem is further exacerbated by nationalism and the feelings of victimization of Korea by Japanese distortions of history over time. I have seen students criticize Americans as espousing a Japanese point of view, when they express a viewpoint that is different from the standard Korean history. Sensitivities can run very high.Whe

Jul 20, 2018By Mark Peterson
More on invasions
Mark Peterson

More on problem of invasions

By Mark PetersonMy frog-out-of-the-well view of Korea is one that sees more peace and stability in Korea more than what I call the frog-in-the-well view of Korea that sees multiple invasions as a hallmark of Korean history.The standard history of Korea focuses on invasions and the student comes away with the view that there were many invasions, numbering in at least the tens, if not the hundreds. I wrote last time of the scholar who had tracked over 9,000 invasions. My counterargument is that if one counts every minor incident, like a pirate raid, as an invasion, the term soon loses its meaning and is only used to portray Korea as a victim. My view, however, is that aside from the first half of the 20th century and the middle of the 13th century, Korea was the master of its own fate ― rather than the portrayal of Korea as the weak and hapless victim of the machinations of other countries. It was only these two times, when the Japanese took over control of Korea in the early 20th century, and when the Mongols conquered Korea but only took over partially ― they forced marriag

Jul 8, 2018By Mark Peterson
More on problem of invasions
Mark Peterson

View of the frog out of the well

By Mark PetersonIn this series of articles, I will be sharing my perspectives on Korean culture and history ―what I've come to call the view of the frog that came out of the well. Implied in that term is a criticism of the standard views of Korean culture and history is that of a frog in the well ― a limited perspective.One of my perspectives that is the most different from the standard Korean perspective is that of the question of invasions. In my view of Korean history, there have been remarkably few invasions. Korean history is remarkably stable and peaceful. But the standard view of Korean history is the opposite ― that there were multiple invasions from many countries. This, of course, is a product of the 20th century. People tend to see history in the light of the current situation. For Korea, the 20th century was tumultuous. Korea was victimized repeatedly ― first by the Japanese, then by the United Nations, then by internal war (that was a product of the international Cold War), and at the end of the century, Korea was still divided. Korea felt powerless, thus

Jul 2, 2018By Mark Peterson
View of the frog out of the well
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