By Mark Peterson
In recent months I have seen numerous "complaints" or "criticisms" of Confucianism on my YouTube channel. I've seen criticisms of genealogy, of ancestor ceremonies and of the seonbi (the well-educated man who takes and passes exams in traditional times). People are calling for an end to Confucianism as they know it.
All of these are complaints about Confucianism ― keeping track of genealogical records, carrying out ancestor ceremonies and indeed, the idea of the seonbi. All of these are connected to Confucianism and are seen as manifestations of various aspects of Confucianism.
I've studied Korean history and lived in Korea learning to respect Confucianism as one of the world's great "religions" ― or maybe the term "belief system" is better in light of the fact that many say Confucianism is not a "religion." There is no god figure in Confucianism and we are even told that we do not know about the next life, in spite of the fact that the primary ritual is making offerings to departed spirits. We are told that we cannot know about the situation of the departed spirits, and we are told, by Confucius himself, to not even ask about the situation of the departed spirits.
The "jokbo" or printed genealogy books are seen as closely connected to Confucianism and the link to the domination of the male line, associated with Confucianism. The jokbo helps keep track when one performs the ceremonies for various ancestors ― again, the key ceremony of Confucianism. And the seonbi is the Confucian scholar who is studying the Confucian texts in preparation to pass the exam to get a government position.
For all of these I've seen criticism in recent weeks. But it occurs to me there is a solution. And the solution is not from an outside source, but the answer lies in Korean history.
Korean Confucianism has not always been attached to patrilineality, or male dominance. Confucianism entered Korea in the late Three Kingdoms period. And from that time until a point in the late 17th century, Korean Confucianism was not part of a male-dominant society. Rather, Korean Confucianism flourished in a largely egalitarian society.
Inheritances were shared equally between sons and daughters in a household. Ancestor ceremonies were shared between sons and daughters on a rotational basis. Genealogies kept track of male and female ancestors and male and female descendants. The male domination that is seen in the late Joseon period was absent. Confucianism does not have to be associated with male domination.
The answer to Korea's Confucianism dilemma is not to discard Confucianism, but to look back into Korean history to when Confucianism was practiced in an egalitarian way.
It will be an uphill battle ― it is almost universally assumed that Confucianism means male domination. But we see in history that this is not true.
Specifically, looking at each of these aspects of social action, we can see an egalitarian way to live in a Confucian society. Genealogy ― I've written before in this space about the "Palgojodo," or "Eight Great-Great-Grandfathers Chart." This was a system of genealogical reckoning that includes not just the male line, but all the female lines in such a way as any one person recognizes their eight great-great-grandfathers.
In Korea today, when you ask someone how many great-great-grandfathers they have, they'll often answer "just one." In the Korea of the future, we only have to look back as the way Koreans reckoned relationships before the late 17th century. And this is the equivalent to the way genealogy is reckoned in the West ― the concept of the family tree, with many branches, not just one ascending line.
Ancestor ceremonies can be greatly simplified ― in fact, they would have to be if one starts to recognize all of one's ancestors, from the male lines and all the female lines. And if daughters have equal inheritance and ceremonial rights with the sons, the dominance of the male line is diminished and the role of the "jongson" (eldest son's line) will disappear. There was not a role for the eldest son of the eldest son when all the children were equal heirs to property and ceremonies.
The seonbi will be even more important when scholarship and studies are considered virtues in and of themselves, not as a part of the male-dominated political system. I was pleased to learn recently that 70 percent of the incoming class of diplomats in recent years have been women. For women to gain prominence in diplomatic and academic fields (they are already well-established in medical fields), we will see a new interpretation of the seonbi in Korea ― a scholar-official separated from the constraints of late-Joseon Confucianism.
The way to preserve Confucianism, one of the great world religions, is to re-envision the practices of Confucianism ― the jokbo, the ceremonies and the seonbi.
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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All of these are complaints about Confucianism ― keeping track of genealogical records, carrying out ancestor ceremonies and indeed, the idea of the seonbi. All of these are connected to Confucianism and are seen as manifestations of various aspects of Confucianism.
I've studied Korean history and lived in Korea learning to respect Confucianism as one of the world's great "religions" ― or maybe the term "belief system" is better in light of the fact that many say Confucianism is not a "religion." There is no god figure in Confucianism and we are even told that we do not know about the next life, in spite of the fact that the primary ritual is making offerings to departed spirits. We are told that we cannot know about the situation of the departed spirits, and we are told, by Confucius himself, to not even ask about the situation of the departed spirits.
The "jokbo" or printed genealogy books are seen as closely connected to Confucianism and the link to the domination of the male line, associated with Confucianism. The jokbo helps keep track when one performs the ceremonies for various ancestors ― again, the key ceremony of Confucianism. And the seonbi is the Confucian scholar who is studying the Confucian texts in preparation to pass the exam to get a government position.
For all of these I've seen criticism in recent weeks. But it occurs to me there is a solution. And the solution is not from an outside source, but the answer lies in Korean history.
Korean Confucianism has not always been attached to patrilineality, or male dominance. Confucianism entered Korea in the late Three Kingdoms period. And from that time until a point in the late 17th century, Korean Confucianism was not part of a male-dominant society. Rather, Korean Confucianism flourished in a largely egalitarian society.
Inheritances were shared equally between sons and daughters in a household. Ancestor ceremonies were shared between sons and daughters on a rotational basis. Genealogies kept track of male and female ancestors and male and female descendants. The male domination that is seen in the late Joseon period was absent. Confucianism does not have to be associated with male domination.
The answer to Korea's Confucianism dilemma is not to discard Confucianism, but to look back into Korean history to when Confucianism was practiced in an egalitarian way.
It will be an uphill battle ― it is almost universally assumed that Confucianism means male domination. But we see in history that this is not true.
Specifically, looking at each of these aspects of social action, we can see an egalitarian way to live in a Confucian society. Genealogy ― I've written before in this space about the "Palgojodo," or "Eight Great-Great-Grandfathers Chart." This was a system of genealogical reckoning that includes not just the male line, but all the female lines in such a way as any one person recognizes their eight great-great-grandfathers.
In Korea today, when you ask someone how many great-great-grandfathers they have, they'll often answer "just one." In the Korea of the future, we only have to look back as the way Koreans reckoned relationships before the late 17th century. And this is the equivalent to the way genealogy is reckoned in the West ― the concept of the family tree, with many branches, not just one ascending line.
Ancestor ceremonies can be greatly simplified ― in fact, they would have to be if one starts to recognize all of one's ancestors, from the male lines and all the female lines. And if daughters have equal inheritance and ceremonial rights with the sons, the dominance of the male line is diminished and the role of the "jongson" (eldest son's line) will disappear. There was not a role for the eldest son of the eldest son when all the children were equal heirs to property and ceremonies.
The seonbi will be even more important when scholarship and studies are considered virtues in and of themselves, not as a part of the male-dominated political system. I was pleased to learn recently that 70 percent of the incoming class of diplomats in recent years have been women. For women to gain prominence in diplomatic and academic fields (they are already well-established in medical fields), we will see a new interpretation of the seonbi in Korea ― a scholar-official separated from the constraints of late-Joseon Confucianism.
The way to preserve Confucianism, one of the great world religions, is to re-envision the practices of Confucianism ― the jokbo, the ceremonies and the seonbi.
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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