Ran into this extremely interesting paper by Korea (Koryo) University’s Peter Yun discussing the roles played by foreigners in the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392 AD) during the period of Mongol domination of the 13th and 14th century. It’s a great read for those interested in Korean history and the development of the “Korean” identity (and, for those like me, interested in Korean-Mongol relations). Allow me to reprint the abstract below:
The period of Mongol Interference in Korea in the 13th and 14th centuries was the time of unprecedented opportunities for upward social mobility to those who had traditionally been excluded from the ruling stratum. Composition of the Koryo ruling stratum was further complicated by arrival of foreigners. As Korea was incorporated into the vast Yuan empire, many foreigners came and settled in Koryo. Some were retainers of Mongol princesses, and others were looking for better opportunities or an escape from chaotic situations in the continent. A few even rose to very high official posts in the Koryo officialdom and became the newest members of the Koryo ruling stratum. In both quantitative and qualitative terms, the presence of foreigners in the Koryo ruling stratum during the period of Mongol interference was unprecedented in Korean history. Through an examination of the political and social characteristics of these foreigners, this paper hopes to shed some light on the attitudes of Koryo aristocrats toward their own social system, ethnicity, and culture.
And here’s an especially fascinating snippet:
The few extant historical sources show that the Koryo society [at least in the upper class] seems to have been free of ethnic and cultural prejudices. Perhaps overt ethnic and cultural prejudices by the Koryo ruling stratum could not be expected when Koryo kings were themselves half-Mongols and many leading families of Koryo maintained marriage relations with prominent Mongol or Central Asian families of the Yuan dynasty. Culturally, the Mongol hair and clothing styles were very popular during the period. Even after the fall of the Yuan dynasty, as Koryo was about to clash with Ming China over a territorial dispute, the king abolished the Ming regnal title and ordered all Koryo people to revert to the Mongol style clothing. It was said that even before the king’s decree was issued, many people in the Koryo capital had already changed their hair in the Mongol style and were wearing Yuan style clothing.
While it was certainly true that the Koryo aristocrats preferred and gave better treatments to those foreigners with elite lineage background such as Sol Son, other foreigners appear to have faced little or no discrimination because of their low social status. The family background information is conspicuously brief or entirely missing for many foreigners, and this in turn suggests that they were of rather humble social status. Except Han Pok, all three Mongols, In Hu, Hwang Sokki, and Na Se, appeared to have been descendents of rather humble Mongol families. However, this contrasts to the discrimination against those of slave background who were often targets of contempt by Koryo aristocrats.
On the other hand, there was a clear Confucian bias against foreigners. Although Koryo society was heavily influenced by Buddhism, there existed a considerable Confucian prejudice especially among those in the bureaucracy, and even those foreigners obviously lacking any Confucian background such as In Hu and Chang Sunnyong were said to have envied the glory of passing the examinations. They sent their sons to take the examination who were able to pass the exam not on their literary talents but by relying on the influence of their fathers. We cannot dismiss the overwhelming evidence of Confucian ideology prevalent among the leading political and intellectual figures of the time, and any attempt to ascertain the attitudes of the Koryo ruling stratum from the official histories must take into account this inherent Confucian bias. Indeed, it may be this Confucian bias that may have been responsible for the negative portrayal of the foreigners.
Read the rest on your own.
4 Comments
So with a name like Yun, what is his “motive” for engaging in ethnic studies, the study of the peninsula’s minorities? What motivates him to conclude that the Koreans treated those ethnics nicely? What is he trying to achieve? Wouldn’t it mean something if The Marmot or someone else said so?
I think his point, aside from the subject being historically quite interesting, was that Korean society’s views on foreigners have changed considerably over time. This is something I’ve read before in other places (like Cummings) - that Korea used to be a relatively cosmopolitan place before the Chosun Dynasty, and its only during that later period that hardcore xenophobia sets in. It might be interesting to compare the Korean experience with that of China,and see if there is any relationship between Imperial Chinese attitudes and Korean attitudes in this regard.
Well, Koreans had several opportunities in their historical time to exert signicant influence upon the NE Asia, particularly if Koguryo had unified the three kingdoms, then at least the manchuria, korean peninsula, and liaodong peninsula would have been under control, creating a vast opportunity to develop power and extend its territories far greater than Koreans ever imagined possible. But Shilla helped to destroy that dream, oh well.
I know that sellout shilla makes me angry!