By Mark Peterson
As I look back at my 10 plus articles arguing that we should look at the peaceful and stable tradition of Korea, it occurs to me that there are two more items I should cover. I'll call these the "twelve pillars" of the peaceful and stable strain within the narrative of Korean history, to which "no religious wars" and "a remarkable ability to recover from wars" should be added.
At the outset I proposed that the 20th century was an aberration compared to the long haul of Korean history. It appears to me that from the time of the unification of the peninsula (or most of it) by the Silla royalty, after 668, until the Donghak Peasant Movement, launching the beginning of the tumultuous 20th century, that during that great middle period there was remarkable peace and stability.
I know this runs full counter to the common narrative in Korea, but I believe that the narrative has been distorted by the event of the aforementioned 20th century, specifically, the turmoil, and also willful distortions by the Japanese. Let's begin with "no religious wars."
An outsider, when beginning to look at Korean history, would anticipate religious wars for two reasons: First, most other regions of the world suffer from religious wars, and second, there could not be two religions more opposite to each other than Buddhism and Confucianism. One is all about relationships, and has little concern about the next life. The other has little regard for earthly relationships and is all about escape to nirvana. The two could not be more opposite. Yet, we have not had religious wars in Korea. It's remarkable.
The 12th pillar is remarkable recovery from disasters. Let's look at the most recent. After the Japanese oppression and World War II, Korea was left one of the poorest countries of the world. There was the famous report from U.S. government economists who argued that any aid given Korea would be a waste of money because Korea had no natural resources, no infrastructure, a population overburdened with refugees, and in no way worthy of any developmental aid. Fortunately, other voices prevailed and the U.S. gave aid, and South Korea started to develop so that now, 70 years after the Korean War, it is one of the foremost countries in the world. Not just in economic terms, but in moral terms as well ― look at how Korea has handled the coronavirus crisis in such an exemplary way.
Other disasters? My Ph.D work inadvertently dealt with the recovery of Korea after the twin disasters of the Japanese invasion of 1592 and the Manchu Invasions (1627 and 1636). I looked at how Korea transformed from a loosely-interpreted version of Confucianism to an absolute-ideal form of Confucianism in the late 17th and early 18th century. (I use the term "ideal" very cautiously, because as Confucianism became "perfect" in application, the downside of perfection made for a new oppression.) Often people who know about the changes in Confucianism in Korea wrongly assume that it was the result of the Japanese invasion. I don't think that is the case. Rather, I see the way Korea restored everything to its prewar situation in the first two generations after the turmoil. But it was not till 70 years later, that the third generation after the war made the devotion to Confucianism, the social movement that changed the country radically.
The point is that after the near-total devastation of the Japanese invasion, and the loss of between two and four million people, Joseon society recovered. And it recovered totally, recreating the society from before the war. The king who was accused of "running off" came back to his throne, officials returned to being officials, common people returned to farming, and slaves returned to being slaves. It could be described as remarkable.
The other big turmoil was the Mongol Invasion of the 1230s to the 1270s, whereby the Mongols killed between one and two million people, and "conquered" the Goryeo court. I put conquered in quotation marks because the conquest was not like that in other countries, notably China, where the Mongols ruled directly. In Korea, the Goryeo king stayed on the throne. Through forced intermarriage with the Yuan royalty, Korea came to be called an "in-law kingdom." After the fall, Goryeo went on for a time. The amount of chaos at the fall of the Yuan dynasty and its impact on the subsequent fall of Goryeo a generation later, was remarkably peaceful.
I think that the common narrative that includes these major disasters in a long list of 900 invasions misses the point. These major events, the Mongol Invasion, the Japanese Invasion, and the Korean War, were years-long, thorough devastations that dwarf all the other invasions. But the point here is that Korea has shown a world-class, uniquely remarkable ability to recover from earth-shattering disasters.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
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At the outset I proposed that the 20th century was an aberration compared to the long haul of Korean history. It appears to me that from the time of the unification of the peninsula (or most of it) by the Silla royalty, after 668, until the Donghak Peasant Movement, launching the beginning of the tumultuous 20th century, that during that great middle period there was remarkable peace and stability.
I know this runs full counter to the common narrative in Korea, but I believe that the narrative has been distorted by the event of the aforementioned 20th century, specifically, the turmoil, and also willful distortions by the Japanese. Let's begin with "no religious wars."
An outsider, when beginning to look at Korean history, would anticipate religious wars for two reasons: First, most other regions of the world suffer from religious wars, and second, there could not be two religions more opposite to each other than Buddhism and Confucianism. One is all about relationships, and has little concern about the next life. The other has little regard for earthly relationships and is all about escape to nirvana. The two could not be more opposite. Yet, we have not had religious wars in Korea. It's remarkable.
The 12th pillar is remarkable recovery from disasters. Let's look at the most recent. After the Japanese oppression and World War II, Korea was left one of the poorest countries of the world. There was the famous report from U.S. government economists who argued that any aid given Korea would be a waste of money because Korea had no natural resources, no infrastructure, a population overburdened with refugees, and in no way worthy of any developmental aid. Fortunately, other voices prevailed and the U.S. gave aid, and South Korea started to develop so that now, 70 years after the Korean War, it is one of the foremost countries in the world. Not just in economic terms, but in moral terms as well ― look at how Korea has handled the coronavirus crisis in such an exemplary way.
Other disasters? My Ph.D work inadvertently dealt with the recovery of Korea after the twin disasters of the Japanese invasion of 1592 and the Manchu Invasions (1627 and 1636). I looked at how Korea transformed from a loosely-interpreted version of Confucianism to an absolute-ideal form of Confucianism in the late 17th and early 18th century. (I use the term "ideal" very cautiously, because as Confucianism became "perfect" in application, the downside of perfection made for a new oppression.) Often people who know about the changes in Confucianism in Korea wrongly assume that it was the result of the Japanese invasion. I don't think that is the case. Rather, I see the way Korea restored everything to its prewar situation in the first two generations after the turmoil. But it was not till 70 years later, that the third generation after the war made the devotion to Confucianism, the social movement that changed the country radically.
The point is that after the near-total devastation of the Japanese invasion, and the loss of between two and four million people, Joseon society recovered. And it recovered totally, recreating the society from before the war. The king who was accused of "running off" came back to his throne, officials returned to being officials, common people returned to farming, and slaves returned to being slaves. It could be described as remarkable.
The other big turmoil was the Mongol Invasion of the 1230s to the 1270s, whereby the Mongols killed between one and two million people, and "conquered" the Goryeo court. I put conquered in quotation marks because the conquest was not like that in other countries, notably China, where the Mongols ruled directly. In Korea, the Goryeo king stayed on the throne. Through forced intermarriage with the Yuan royalty, Korea came to be called an "in-law kingdom." After the fall, Goryeo went on for a time. The amount of chaos at the fall of the Yuan dynasty and its impact on the subsequent fall of Goryeo a generation later, was remarkably peaceful.
I think that the common narrative that includes these major disasters in a long list of 900 invasions misses the point. These major events, the Mongol Invasion, the Japanese Invasion, and the Korean War, were years-long, thorough devastations that dwarf all the other invasions. But the point here is that Korea has shown a world-class, uniquely remarkable ability to recover from earth-shattering disasters.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
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