Widows' Position and Agency in the Late Chŏson Dynasty Author(s): Ji-Young Jung Source: The Journal of Korean Studies (1979-) , Fall 2009, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Fall 2009), pp. 61-82 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43998363 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Duke University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Korean Studies (1979-) Widows' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty Ji-Young Jung This paper examines what gender norms were constructed while the patriarchal order based upon Neo-Confucianism gained strength in the latter part of Chosõn period , and to what extent these norms were actualized in people 's lives. Through a microscopic analysis of the Tansõng Hojõk - the household registers of Tansõng County, Kyõngsang Province from 1678 to 1789 - this article examines the changes in the ways in which heads of households were recorded, the changed position of widows in the household registers, and the state of residence and remarriage of widows. While it was common that widows were recorded as heads of the household in the seventeenth century, they tended to be recorded as mothers of their sons in the eighteenth century. This change of widows' status in family registers was the product of state policy to reorganize the society according to chongbõp chilsõ. The change of household register system began to expand the idea of strict patrilineal succession to the lower strata of the society. However, it is difficult to conclude that chongbõp chilsõ became rooted in people's everyday lives. The cases of the state of residence and remarriage of widows make it evident that they crisscrossed the boundary of the gender norms - as much as their social status and circumstances allowed - and made use of various life strategies. In this essay I analyze information on widows recorded in the Kyongsang-do Tansõng-hyõn hojõk taejang ( IS M f J' Ä í i #1 P S K , The household register for Tansõng-hyõn, Kyõngsang Province, henceforth the Tansõng Household Reg- ister)} The focus of my analysis is on widows. In particular, I hope to inves- tigate the increasing prevalence of strict patrilineal succession from father to Ji-Young Jung is an assistant professor of women's studies at Ewha Womans University. She received her PhD in history from Sogang University. Her research interests relate to marginalized women (widows, single women, concubines, and remarried women) and gender politics of the Chosõn dynasty. The Journal of Korean Studies 14, no. 1 (Fall 2009): 61-82 61 62 Ji-Young Jung eldest son,2 and the responses and su grounds assumed t in the face of this Many researchers into the subject the ways in which the status of wom alence of Confucian customs and ide the process by which Confucianism f ogy in early Chosön and then later g court-sponsored policies.4 Pak argue firmly established by the mid-sixtee chu invasions of the late sixteenth an Confucian social order. After the 1980s, we could find research into numerous subjects related to the status of women in the Chosõn dynasty, including the institutions of marriage5 and adoption,6 the order in which entries concerning women were arranged in the chokpo (Í^Íb, genealogies),7 and succession practices for both material posses- sions and sacrificial responsibilities.8 Scholarship from the 1980s revealed that Confucian policies may have been brought into effect in early Chosõn, but that it was only during late Chosõn that Confucian practices began to have an effect on most people's daily lives in such matters as marriage and inheritance.9 Such scholarship has contributed considerably to our understanding of the differences between early and late Chosõn societies. This, in turn, has granted us a better understanding of late Chosõn society in general and issues related to Confucian- ization in particular. That being said, there are a number of weaknesses in the writings of these authors. First of all, while there has been considerable research into the develop- ment of policies encouraging Confucianization during early Chosõn, there has been very little work done exploring the process by which Neo-Confucian norms increasingly dominated late Chosõn. We need, thus, to more concretely analyze the manner in which Neo-Confucian norms influenced late Chosõn society. Secondly, there has also been little research into the effects of Confucianiza- tion on nonelite people. Previous research on Confucianization has tended to dis- cuss female members of the royal court or of yangban families. The sources used have included such publicly sanctioned works as the Chosõn wangjo sillok The veritable records of the Chosõn dynasty) as well as the collected works of scholars (munjip, genealogies, and inheritance documents. As a result, the discussion has tended to focus on the sorts of people who were capable of leaving behind, or being recorded in, such writings. These, almost invariably, were members of the yangban elite. Thirdly, there has been a tendency in previous research to view the devel- opment of a patrilineal society simplistically, as if women were merely on the receiving end of the influence. Confucianization has often been seen either as causing women's status to decline or, alternately, as providing women with greater protection. If we view the decline in the status of women as being the Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 63 result of Confucianization, we treat Confucianism as the cause of the change in women's status, and treat women as the passive recipients of this change. Such approaches fail to explore sufficiently the ways in which women responded - negatively or positively - to these institutional and social changes.10 As another way of reexamining the systematic process of establishing the patrilineal system during the latter part of the Chosõn period, this paper seeks to look at women, in particular widows. The source I use, the Tansõng Household Register ,n provides information fairly evenly on members of all classes and gender. By using the Tansõng Household Register , we can begin to understand the meaning that the increasing prevalence of strict patrilineal succession had for the lower classes of the late Chosõn - insofar, that is, as it involved them at all. Through this document we should be able to assess the extent to which the lower classes and women were influenced by, and responded to, the new social structure, as well as explore the underlying rea- sons for this influence. In this research, I show how the method for recording widows changed in the eighteenth century on account of the spread of Neo-Confucian social order. Especially, I argue that not only yangban , but also lower-class families, were reorganized in the Tansõng Household Register according to strict Neo-Confu- cian patrilineal principles. I also discuss the ways in which various kinds of wid- ows responded differently to these bureaucratic changes. In sum, I investigate the increasing prevalence of the patrilineal family structure by assessing both the extent to which Chosõn society transformed along patrilineal lines and the man- ner in which this transformation occurred. Especially, I attempt to understand the responses of widows to this social transformation. SUCCESSION TO HOUSEHOLDER AND THE EXPANSION OF STRICT PATRILINEALITY IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES There are a number of examples, in the seventeenth- and eighteent household registries for Tansõng-hyõn,12 of women being described holder (house head).13 In 1678, there were 234 women householders to approximately 11 percent of total householders (table 1). That is to the late Chosõn, while householders were usually men, they were not so. However, by 1717, the percentage of female householders decrease 6.3 percent. What were the criteria used to determine householders during the Chosõn dynasty? According to the stipulations of the Chosõn dynastic national code ( Kyõngguk taejõn , HSāvķĀ) when a household {ho, P) was recorded, first the location of the household (according to the administrative regions of pu , p(5, pang, , and ri, M), then the occupation of householder, along with his name, 64 Ji-Young Jung Table 1. Gender of Householder (%) Year Male Householders Female Householders Total Householders 1678 1,954(89.3) 234(10.7) 2,188 (100) 1717 2,403 (93.7) 161 (6.3) 2,564 (100) 1759 2,462(89.1) 301 (10.9) 2,764(100) 1789 2,502 (93.3) 181 (6.7) 2,683 (100) age, ancestral seat, and his four ancestors {sajo ther, great-grandfather, and maternal grandfa recorded were the name of the householder's and her four ancestors, along with the chi servants ( kogong , ®I) living with them, and t As one can tell by this stipulation, the house be the patriarch, either the husband or the fat explain the process by which one would inherit who would be the householder in those cases w wife and son behind? In order to solve these doubts, I investigated those cases where the person classified as householder changed.15 In the Tansõng Household Register , when the householder changes, the entry begins with the character tae (f^, succeed) or the characters taeho (f^P, successor to householder).16 When the name of the householder is described using either of these two terms, then one may assume that the householder changed during the last three years.17 Table 2 lists the number of successors to householders during the four years in question, while controlling for gender. In 1678, however, there were very few male and relatively many female successors to householders - in the household register that year, 93 percent of successors were female. By 1717, the percentage of female successors to householders had declined considerably, to 37 percent. This trend toward a declining number of female successors to householders con- tinued in 1759 and 1789. In 1759 the percentage of female successors to house- holder decreased, with 30 percent of successors being female and 70 percent being men. The 1789 numbers show some return to the situation prevalent in 1717. However, the overall trend shows no sign of return to the 1678 level.18 How should we understand this change? Clearly the succession practices have changed from one in which wives succeeded their husbands to one in which sons succeeded their fathers. Table 2, again, compares the number of sons succeeding their fathers to the number of wives succeeding their husbands. In 1678, of a total of 160 cases in which the householder changed, the vast majority, over 90 percent, were cases of wives succeeding their husbands.19 However, in less than forty years, this percentage declined to 37 percent. By contrast, while in 1678, only 2 percent of successors to householders were Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 65 Table 2. Types of Succession to Householder (%) Succeeding Male Householders Succeeding Female Householders Year Father to Son Other Subtotal Husband to Wife Other Subtotal Total 1678 3 (1.9) 8(5.0) 11(6.9) 145 (90.6) 4(2.5) 149(93.1) 160(100) 1717 87 (50.3) 22 (12.7) 109 (63.0) 62(35.8) 2 (1.2) 64(37.0) 173 (100) 1759 46(40.7) 33 (29.2) 79(69.9) 26(23.0) 8(7.1) 34(30.1) 113 (100) 1789 96(55.2) 14(8.0) 110(63.2) 61 (35.1) 3 (1.7) 64(36.8) 174(100) sons succeeding their fathers, by 1717, such cases made up more than cent of total successors. In 1678, when the husband died, the position of householder passed on to his wife. That is to say, women succeeded their husbands. Indeed, in 1678, a widow living with her married son would be recorded as the householder. However in 1717, the number of wives succeeding their husbands decreased significantly. Instead, sons succeeded to the position of householder.20 In the seventeenth cen- tury, women were recorded in the Tansong Household Register as somebody's wife, or after the death of their husband, the householder. At some point during the beginning of the eighteenth century women began to be recorded as mere mothers of sons. Eighteenth-century household register compilations emphasized gender over age. Thus in 1717, a younger man was more likely to succeed as householder than an older woman. Despite the status of mothers as elders, sons pushed them aside and took the lead. The fact that sons were given priority in the Tansong Household Register tells us that the hierarchy implied within the mother-child relationship was considered less important than the hierarchy between men and women. What then, is the reason for this change? One suspects ing emphasis on strict patrilineality led to this shift - tr succession from "husband to wife," to "father to son." In suggest as a possible reason for this change the increasing em ing inheritance from father to son in yangban families. In o above hypothesis, it would be instructive to see if class affec in which these changes occurred. If the tendency to record h cession as passing from father to eldest son largely occur yangban families, but did not affect commoner ( yangin ) families, then one might argue that this change in the conve Tansong Household Register simply reflected the changes in tance of goods and ritual duties. How would the change in succession practices have varied a Table 3 attempts to answer that question. It records informatio households by dividing successors first according to class and 66 Ji-YoungJung gender. In the case of both yangban who succeeded to the role of house decreased as the number of men su of the lowest class, after 1759, the holder decreased sharply. Neverthe ing to householder among base h and 1789, the number of base men what relative to that of base wome level. Overall, during the period in in a similar fashion among all class men succeeding to householder incr tions remained fairly steady.21 Did these changes occur because lo tury accepted Neo- Confucian cust enon? Perhaps commoners and bas because they themselves aspired to the case, how likely is it that such public document such as the Tansõ It is very important to remember hold Register. Unlike inheritance d mine the form of the Tansõng Ho hojõk samok Guide to compiling the household register in the kabo year), a document presumably written in the late eighteenth century o nineteenth century, we find the following passage outlining the policy of the state toward the issue of female householders: "Even though the widow is in charge o the household, if her son is fully grown, then her son should be considered to b the householder."23 It would seem that the document was written as part of a gen eral shift in the policy of household register compilation by which men would, whenever possible, be recorded as householders.24 This is connected with the fact that, during the reigns of Hyõnjong (HÜ Tí?: 1659-1674) and the early part of the reign of Sukchong (JIStk: 1674-1720 Table 3. Class and Successors to Householders (%) Yangban Commoner Base Year Male Female Male Female Male Female 1678 9(11.7) 68(88.3) 2(3.6) 54(96.4) 0 27(100) 1717 40(60.6) 26(39.4) 49(65.3) 26(34.7) 20(62.5) 12(37.5) 1759 33(86.8) 5(13.2) 38(64.4) 21 (35.6) 8(50.0) 8(50.0) 1789 145(59.2) 31 (40.8) 57(67.9) 27(32.1) 8(57.1) 6(42.9) Note : The percentage within parentheses denotes the percentage of successors to househo gender out of the total number of successors to householder for a given class. Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 67 the state pushed to bring order to the household register. Both Hyönjong and Sukchong pursued the registry policy so as to bring order to a society still suf- fering from the wars of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. As a typical example, during the early years of Sukchong's reign the Oga chakťongje (SicfFMft'J, Provisions of a law that organized households into units of five)25 was brought into effect. Moreover, during the third year of Sukchong (1677) the use of identification plaques (hop'ae-böp, Sni)$ä) was revived.26 It is clear from these legal changes that great interest in strengthening the household reg- ister existed. During the reign of Sukchong, continuing discussions occurred concerning the need to strengthen the household register system. If we look in a passage in the sillok from 1696 (Sukchong 22), we see that during crimi- nal interrogations, the officials first checked the name with the identification plaque. Unless the criminal in question was a slave, it is clear that, in contrast to the customs of previous eras, not only yangban but also commoners and base people, were required to have identification plaques.27 Moreover, in 1711 (Sukchong 37), a royal decree declared that those without identification plaques would not be allowed to take the civil service examinations.28 It seems likely that the increasing tendency to restrict the position of householder to men was part of the general trend to tighten up the organization of the household register system in general. A passage in another document probably originating in the nineteenth century provides further evidence of changes in government policy concerning household registration. The passage is as follows: "If there is a father in the household, then the father becomes the householder. Even if he has grown old and has passed over management of the household to his son, the head of the family is still the father. [When the father passes away], the son became the head of household even if the mother is still there, because it is not a place for a woman to govern. Please cor- rect matters with this principle in mind."29 This document reveals the policy of the late Chosõn concerning the compilation of the household register. Especially meaningful is the statement that the officials should "correct matters." The phrase suggests that many cases occurred during which officials treated the mother as householder, despite the existence of a son who could assume that role. By comparing the information in these documents with the changes in the Tansõng Household Register , we may infer that, at some point during the transition from the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries it became a matter of policy to make the son, not the wife, the householder. The register then reflected this policy. This change seems to have occurred equally across class lines, having the same effect on the recording of yangban , commoner, and base households. The fact that state policy increasingly excluded even commoner and base women from the position of householder suggests that the state hoped to enlighten non- elite households with Neo-Confucian norms. Indeed, it is significant that the gov- ernment imposed the same strictly patrilineal rules of householder succession on Tansõng-hyõn, an isolated community far from the capital. The very fact that 68 Ji-YoungJung Tansõng-hyõn widows were being a role in spreading this sexist stat In short, as the central governme it changed the ways to fill in the elite yangban class - patrilineal when investigating the family reg status in the countryside, the "fat became central. In addition, the s to verify people's status. Those fr a hop'ae and the father-son relatio household registers. The impact o tem was far reaching as it started family register system removed th part of the Chosõn period, the pat recesses of the villages. Then, why did women concede t to householder to their sons by 1 likely that this transformation occu actual status of the widow. That is family, nor did she lose her abilit merely because her son was now r within the confines of her role a domestic matters and the administ cessfully excluded from positi the of influence was protected. Perhap that women accommodated to the widow could continue to manage t treat her removal from the positio That being said, we should not implied by the changes in the ho tury, women were excluded from the right to represent the family women who never married were widows with sons were excluded f holders were treated not as privil givebirth to a son, or, alternately, One is curious to know to what e fully reorganized according to Ne important to notice that, despite entries in the mid-eighteenth cen of their households despite the fac is noticeable that, among common holders remained fairly steady af Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 69 that discrepancies between the goals of state policy and the practical reality of late Chosõn society existed. Different widows within varied families would, according to their differing circumstances, have approached the social strictures related to Neo-Confucian patriarchy with a variety of methods ranging from open conflict to quiet compromise. Let us consider some of the life strategies of these widows by viewing how the decision to remain unmarried was influenced by the people with whom widows were living. REMARRIAGE OF WIDOWS AND THEIR SURVIVAL STRATEGIES In-Laws or Natal Home? Where did late Chosõn widows live? As women who had once been married, they would have had three choices: they could have lived on their own in their hus band's old house, with their parents-in-law, or in their natal home. In the Tansõn Household Register a widow was usually recorded as either a householder livin with children or as the mother of a son recorded as the householder. However, young widow would often live with relatives, either her natal family or her in laws. Our general image of the late Chosõn suggests that a young widow woul stay with her parents-in-law, or, if that were not possible, with other relatives her husband. Yet is our image of late Chosõn society correct? Were there no case of young widows returning to their natal homes? In order to answer this question, I looked for entries in the Tansõng Househol Register in which the widow was neither recorded as householder nor depen- dent of a son who was recorded as the householder. Through this I was able to establish that widows lived within a wide variety of relationships: as daughter o younger sister with their father or older brother, and as daughter-in-law or sister in-law in the house of their father-in-law or brother-in-law.32 Table 4 considers these occasions. I describe widows as living with their natal families when they are recorded as the daughter or little sister of the householder, and as living with their in-laws when they are recorded as the daughter-in-law or sister-in-law of the householder. During 1678, more widows lived with their natal families than with their in-laws. Table 4. Widows' Places of Residence: In-Law or Natal Home Year Natal Home In-Law In-Law/Natal 1678 15 9 0.60 1717 39 43 1.10 1759 17 37 2.18 1789 8 27 3.38 70 Ji-YoungJung During the eighteenth century, ho recorded as living with their in-la considering the population as a wh concerning social change on the b as this change corresponds with strict patrilineality during the lat numbers are valid. If strict patrilineality was largely responsible for the increasing tendency of wid- ows to stay with their in-laws, then one expects lower class widows to make up a considerable proportion of the women recorded as living with their natal families. Table 5 describes the same information as table 4, but controls for class. Table 5 suggests that, during the period described, it became increasingly com- mon for a yangban widow to live with her in-laws. By contrast, there continued to be numerous instances of commoner widows leaving their in-laws and moving back in with their natal families. In the seventeenth century, many yangban wid- ows chose to leave their in-laws for their natal families, but during the eighteenth century, the trend changed and widows began to stay with their in-law families. This change would have been influenced by the increasing prevalence of a strict patrilineal family structure. Yangban families, moreover, would have had the economic resources to support a widowed sister-in-law or daughter-in-law. However, in the case of commoners or base people very little changed. They continued to leave their husbands' kin for their natal families. Presumably this was because they received more influence from their economic situation than from the prevailing patrilineal ideology. A commoner widow would have gone wherever she could to receive economic support; she would not have concerned herself with whether the house belonged to her husband's family or her natal family. It is quite possible that the husband's family would have considered their widowed daughter- in-law a burden. In the case of a non-elite widow neither her husband's family nor her natal family would have provided a comfortable home. Under these circum- stances commoner women would have had to survive on their own. There are records of widows who lived with their older brothers. For instance, there is a story from late in the Chosõn dynasty which describes how a widow Table 5. Widows' Household of Residences and Social Classes Yangban Commoner Base Total Year Natal In-law * Natal In-law * Natal In-law * Natal In-law * Ī678 4 3 0/75 5 6 Ū 6 Õ ÕÕ 15 9 06 1717 2 19 9.50 21 20 1.0 16 4 0.3 39 43 1.1 1759 3 26 8.70 11 10 0.9 3 1 0.3 17 37 2.2 1789 0 21 21.0 4 5 1.3 4 1 0.3 8 27 3.4 "■Ratio of widows residing with in-laws to widows the proportion of widows residing with their in-l Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 71 became the secondary wife of a high official. The story describes the widow's initial introduction to this high official. Ï am the daughter of a wealthy official family in Seoul. I married at fourteen and became a widow at fifteen. My father also died early, so I have been depending on my older brother for survival. However, my older brother is of an unusual character, and is not the sort to be bound by conventions - he does not want his young sister to die alone. He had been searching for a means to allow for my remarriage, but the entire clan is up in arms, accusing him of bringing disgrace onto the family - he has there- fore been forced to give up his intention. . . . Nevertheless, my older brother plans to meet a decent man, and return, avoiding the notice of the family.33 The protagonist of this story explains her older brother's attempt to have her remarried as an action in violation of social strictures. One can tell from this story that the proscription of widow remarriage had become universal among yangban. However, the fact that the widow is living with her older brother is not treated in any way surprising. The story suggests that there were numerous cases of women widowed at a young age living with their natal families. Moreover, it would seem that, in some cases, a widow living with her natal family would be able to reject the social mores and remarry. From the early sixteenth-century governor of Kyõngsang-do, Han Sehwan ($$ titfri, 1471-1522), we learn that it was quite common for widows in early Chosõn to return to their natal families after they had finished the prescribed three-year mourning period for their husband. In his writings praising the virtuous and fil- ial, he describes the following exemplar of a faithful wife: Madame Kim married Yang Chöng at the age of twenty. Three year's later, her hus- band died. Madame Kim finished her three year mourning period. Then her father, feeling pity for her misfortune to have been widowed at such a young age, tried to arrange a second marriage for her. In response, Madame Kim ran away to her parents-in-law, never returning to her natal home.34 In the above story, Han praises Madame Kim for showing extraordinary vir- tue. Madame Kim refused to remarry, and fled her natal family for her parents- in-law. Yet even a woman prepared to refuse remarriage returned to her natal family after three years, and left for her parents-in-law only when it seemed likely that her natal parents would recommend that she remarry. This confirms that most women returned to their natal families after the mourning period, that the natal family would encourage remarriage under those circumstances, and that it was considered extraordinary for a woman to refuse her natal family's encouragement and leave for her parents-in-law. Based on the Tansõng Household Register it would seem that this situation changed very little during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Indeed, in the Tansõng Household Register there are cases of widows who continued to be 72 Ji-YoungJung registered in their husbands' hou away."35 One such entry describe family and the householder, a ma His forty-year-old daughter-in-la with him. Perhaps because she was band. In any case, Madame Sõng is ister as having left for Chinju. In is also described as having left for Sõng, after staying with her pare with her son. Quite possibly she m Chinju.36 She may even have rema Widow Remarriage and Widow As the family structure became re ples, widows were increasingly req (1737-1805) suggests in his story, t ftf#, The tale of the virtuous w for late Chosõn widows of all class The laws of the dynasty prevented the ing positions in the court. Clearly this mind. However, the four-hundred year people, such that all women, regardle were distinguished, chose to remain u we used to praise as "virtuous women By contrast, in another story, Yi into a house to escape the rain. T riage was a more natural action fo Iam the daughter of a wealthy comm owed at fourteen. It has now been t parents took pity on me and suggested at such a young age, to remain unma and female and yin and yang, and rej accord with natural principle to rema choose my own husband, so I went t and then went to see the men who p scholar who passed by every day. How in here to escape the rain is determin The seventeen-year-old women i becoming a widow at fourteen, the Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 73 Table 6. Widows among Women over the Age of Twenty (%) Year Yangban Commoner Base 1678 30.0 16.2 7.5 1717 28.9 18.2 8.4 1759 27.5 18.9 6.7 1789 23.9 14.5 2.9 band own on her violates p natural an action that in combine togethe Which of the tw in the Tansõng H in the Tansõng H percent in 1759, widows changed When we look among adult yan of widows among during the seven unmarried. This number of chast century. Most lik of a society whi the evidence of t not very strong social standing. The following s attitudes toward A man and wife f an officiai. The son said that "a loyal s two husbands." Th the fire. She said, desire to separate given birth togeth know the reason w that all women sho virtue, she wanted became angry and she ran away to h 74 Ji-YoungJung to say, they were amazed. After that husband, and was, indeed, as cold as ice This story suggests that many low problems with remarriage. Of cours vant - one cannot assume that what i However, the story does suggest th received education on this subject ology existed. The fact that her ma cancel her second marriage sugges on the part of a lower-class woman would seem to be in accord with th in the Tansõng Household Register A large reason for this differenc social status of widows. For the mo cient economic resources. Moreover ensure that their children inherite consider the fact that, if they remar participation in the civil service. B future for their sons and grandson choose not to remarry. We should some cases, some yangban widows trines on chastity and remarriage. While it is hard to know what com they would have been less influenc ity. In any case, even in those time Neo-Confucianism, they would not demands of the ideology. Most com cient resources to remain unmarrie to pass onto their children. Indeed chance of their sons' participating not they remarried. CONCLUSION In this essay I have attempted to assess the influence of Neo-Confucian p on the rural community of late Chosõn society by investigating the situation ows living in Tansõng-hyõn in Kyõngsang Province. In particular, I have the ways in which the social and economic status of women affected the which they responded to the social changes occurring at that time. Taking into account the differences between early and late Chosõn, i seem that the change in the situation of widows was the outcome of spec Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 75 ernment policies. I have thus attempted to reveal ways in which individual women living within this society attempted to survive; by accommodating, ignoring, or resisting the change. Most women would have searched for strategies to negotiate the increasingly rigid patriarchal structure of society; they would have found a delicate balance, between accommodating and resisting this structure. As we enter the eighteenth century, fewer and fewer widows succeeded to the position of householder. Instead, their sons were more likely to do so. This change indicates that the strict patrilineality, which was standard among yang- ban households, began to influence the records of public documents such as the Tansõng Household Register . Conversely, the change in the conventions of the household register would have influenced the general populace by formally orga- nizing society along patrilineal principles. This would have especially changed the relative status of sons and mothers. The fact that this change could occur without causing great conflict is most likely because it did not interfere with the widow's customary duty of managing the property inherited by her son. In the case of yangban women with sons, wid- ows received recognition and protection as their son's mother. However, women who did not marry, or who did not give birth to a son, did not receive the same protection. The transformation in the Tansõng Household Register of the householder widow to "a mother of a son" played a role in spreading the patriarchal ideology to the lower class in provincial society. Similar trends are seen in the records of yangban , and commoner and base widows. However, this change was not sub- stantial. The most significant changes occurred among the yangban , who were, after all, more influenced by Neo-Confucian norms, by following this dominant model of society, it could only be beneficial to them. The situation for lower- class women was more complicated, with the number of widow householders increasing again in the late eighteenth century. Moreover, one should note that it is still possible to find yangban widows succeeding as householders in the late eighteenth century. A widow, as a single woman without a husband, would often be chiefly respon- sible for the affairs of her household. A widow is a woman, but one who is forced to assume, to a limited extent, a man's role. Within the context of strict patrilin- eality, the widow becomes a vital link between father and son, and has the ability to interfere or cause disorder in the line of succession. A vital issue in the development of a strict patrilineal family structure is the issue of whether or not widows remain unmarried. Because widows have already married, they have achieved the status of a legitimate wife. The very fact of widowhood means that, even though widows continue to have the status of a legitimate wife, they contain within themselves the potential to break through the boundaries of their predetermined status. A widow could contribute to the main- tenance of a secure, patriarchal order if she maintained her chastity, restricted herself to her own narrow role in society, and did not attempt to assume the role 76 Ji-YoungJung of patriarch. However, because wid to the patriarchal order, they beca with as well as protected their live In contrast to the largely bureauc mining the householder in the T remain unmarried would have b status factors and the different lif who chose to remain unmarried norms in a highly concrete and who was recorded as household classes, widow's residence and re social position of the widow. Th to live with their husbands' kin, t moner and base women. The rel suggests that more of them chose In the late Chosõn dynasty stric began to have an influence on the that Neo-Confucian principles we households by the late eighteen gradually gained strength, indivi remarry, but in other cases, to rem patrilineal ideology in the late Ch it was a matter of the state attem patrilineal principles, and widows the society in various ways. At tim structure by finding hither-to un NOTES This paper is based on the two chapters of the author's PhD dissertation, "Chosõn h yõsõng hoju yôn'gu" [Women householders in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-ce Korea: analysis of Tansõng Hojõk from 1678 to 1789], (Paksa hagwi nonmun, S Taehakkyo, Sahakkwa), 2001. The two chapters have been published as: Chosõn hoju sönggye pangsik üi pyõnhwa wa chongbõp chilsõ üi hwaksan [Patriarchal and the rule of the succession to the householder in late Chosõn Korea: widow and son in Tansõng Hojõk (1678-1789)], Harìguk Yõsõnghak [Journal of Korean women's Studies], 18-22, (2002); and Chosõn hugi üi kwabu üi tto tarün sönt'aek [Widows' another choice: remarriage patterns of Korean widows in the seventeenth and eighteenth century], Yõksa wa munhwa [History and culture], 5 (2002). Although this paper utilizes the data from the above two articles, the focus of the discussion has changed. This paper examines how much and in what ways the process in which the principles of chongbõp chilsõ (C. zhongfa zhishu) reflected in the national administrative documents influenced the percep- tion and life of the people at the village level. Especially, this paper argues that the norms Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 11 of chongbõp chilsõ began to influence the people of the lower classes and that this can be witnessed in the ways the state-composed hojök taejang changed and conformed more closely to the chongbõp chilsõ. I would like to thank Adam Bohnet for his efforts translating this article. 1. I used as my main source the Kyõngsang-do Tansõng hojök taejang CD (Tong- bang Media, 2001). This CD was based on the Kyõngsang-do Tansõng hojõk taejang (vols. I and II), a facsimile edition published in 1980 by the Han'guk Chõngsin Munhwa Yön'guwön. This CD was prepared by the Sõgang University Tansõng Household Reg- ister Team. Access program software was used to compile the database. The particular registers referred to here are as follows: the 1678 (Sukchong 4) Kyõngsang-do Tansõng- hyõn miio singnyõn hojõk taejang , the 1717 (Sukchong 43) Kyõngsang-do Tansõng-hyõn chõng yu singnyõn hojõk taejang , the 1759 (Yõngjo 35) Kyõngsang-do Tansõng-hyõn kimyo singnyõn hojõk taejang , and the 1789 (Chöngjo 13) Kyõngsang-do Tansõng-hyõn kiyu singnyõn hojõk taejang. These four particular years were selected, within the limit of available data, to understand tendency trends by examining a year approximately every four decades. The facsimile edition was based on the original household register docu- ments, which were collected and organized every three years during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Tansõng-hyõn is approximately the area of Sanch'öng County in South Kyõngsang Province. 2. Trans, note: I generally use variations of the term "patrilineal" to translate the Korean term chongbõp chilsõ (C. zhongfa zhishu). I chose this term as it seemed, gen- erally, to work best and most comprehensibly in the widest variety of contexts within this essay. The reader should note, however, that chongbõp is more commonly translated "agnatic principle." Roughly speaking, chongbõp chilsõ refers to a system of succession by which the eldest son of a legitimate wife inherits the property and ritual authority of his father. In addition, the term implies the broader ideological assumptions that underlie such a family structure. For a discussion of these terms and their meaning within the Korean context, please see Martina Deuchler, The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 129-178, and Mark Peterson, Korean Adoption and Inheritance: Case Studies of the Cre- ation of a Classic Confucian Society (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University East Asia Program, 1996). 3. Pak Yongok, Yijo yõsõng sa [A history of women in the Chosõn dynasty] (Söul: Han'guk Ilbosa, 1976). 4. For instance, various laws directly restricted the daily lives of women, such as the naeoe pop (law keeping the socially proper distance between men and women), punyõ sangsa kūmji põp (law restricting the visiting of Buddhist temples by yangban women), the p'yonggyoja kūmji (law restricting yangban women's use of flat sedan chairs), and the chaega'nyö chason kūmgo põp (law preventing the descendents of twice-married women from taking the civil service examinations). 5. Chang Pyöng'in, Chosõn chõngi hon'inje wa sõngchabyõl [Sexual discrimination and marriage systems in early Chosõn] (Söul: Iljisa, 1997). 6. Peterson, 1996. 7. Edward Wagner, "Two Early Genealogies and Korean Women's Status in Early Yi Dynasty Korea," in Korean Women: View from the Inner Room , ed. Laurel Kendall and Mark Peterson (New Haven, Conn.: East Rock Press, 1997). 78 Ji-YoungJung 8. On the subject of inheritance and it issue of discussion has been the fact daughters received equal shares of the is Kim limi, "Chaesan üi namnyõ kyunb chungsim üro" [Equal inheritance bet late Koryõ and early Chosön] (Söksa h 1966). Recently there has been detailed tice of granting priority to the eldest image of Chosõn dynasty inheritance Chosõn sidae chaesan sangsok kwa kajo (Söul: Kyöng'in Munhwasa, 2004) has d in relation to the status of the primary w 9. Martina Deuchler (1992) discusses p tion. She discusses ancestral sacrifices they occurred in the yangban society o inspired, strict, patrilineal succession f was firmly established during and after 10. There have been a number of attem women responded to the societal transf Deuchler and JaHyun Kim Haboush ha activitiesof women were restricted by social structures dominated by men. uncover the female agency and feminin fucianizing society. Martina Deuchler in Women and Confucian Cultures in thy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and J Press, 2003); JaHyun Kim Haboush, "V in Korean Narratives," in Women and and Japan. 11. However, there has been very little research into the subject of the representation of women in the Tansõng Household Register, despite the fact that the document itself has attracted considerable attention. Before the author's 2001 doctoral dissertation's treat- ment of women, studies on "changes in social status" and "population" were utilized as material when examining Korea's household register. 12. When I quote from the Tansõng Household Register I cite it in the following fashion. If, for instance, I am quoting a passage from page one hundred of the first volume of the facsimile edition, I write " Tansõng Household Register I, 100 a (or 'b', depending on whether the text is at the top or bottom of the page)." If the address of the household in question is Tosan-myõn, 1-ri, 1-t'ong, 1-ho, I write "Tosan-myõn 01-01-01." 13. "Householder" is a translation of the Korean word hoju. The reader should note that this term was very rarely used during the Chosõn dynasty. In the document itself the householder is distinguished from other members of the household by being listed first. Occasionally the term chuho (which is still used in Korean academia, but with a different meaning) was also used. The widespread use of the term hoju originates with the Japa- nese colonial government. Widows' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 79 14. Kyõngguk taejõn (IfÂÀÂ) , Yejõn (®5Ä), Hogusik (P P 15. Successors did not make up a large proportion of total householders. Indeed, the total number for both sexes made up approximately 7 percent of the total population. 16. Generally, the phrase taeho is used in circumstances where the identity of the person succeeded is not mentioned. An example is Tansõng Household Register I, 215b, Odong-myõn, 04-03-05. And Tansõng Household Register , vol. I, 228a, 1717, Tosan- myõn, 07-05-03. Tae is generally used on its own when the identity of the previous householder is specified and the relationship between the previous householder and the succeeding householder is described. For instance, in Tansõng Household Register 1, 263 a, 1720 Sindüng-myön, 01-23-05, we are told that "After Madam Yi died, her son Kwõn Insõ, ayuhak [lit. young scholar] succeeded (tae). He was fourteen." 17. After the fact of succession has been recorded once, it is generally omitted from the next compilation of the household register. For instance, in Tansõng Household Register 1, 210b, 1717 Puktong-myõn, 05-04-05, we are told that "after the death of Ha Tuch'ön, his wife, Madam Ko, succeeded ( tae)" However, during the next census, three years later, the initial entry for the same household simply provides information concerning "the widow, Madam Ko" ( Tansõng Household Register I, 346b, 1720 Puktong-myõn, 05-07-02). We are not informed that she "succeeded." Thus it would seem that taeho and tae were only used when the position of householder had changed within the previous three years. 18. In 1678, perhaps war, famine, and the like were some of the reasons why there were a lot of widow householders. This could explain the reason behind the deaths of so many men. During this period, although there was no war, however the great famine of Kyôngsin from 1670-1671 did occur. Yet, if the deaths were caused by famine, when looking at both genders, there is no reason why more men would die. In addition, if one looks at the Tansõng Household Register , the number of widows totaled 368 in 1678 (the ratio of the total number of women to widows was 6.1 percent), 715 (7.8 percent) in 1789, 706 (7.5 percent) in 1759, and 600 (7.0 percent) in 1789. As a matter of fact, if one looks at the entire female population, one can see that the ratio of widow householders was much lower in 1678. Based on the changing figures in table 2, one can tell that there are more widow householders in 1678 because of the difference in the way widows were recorded in the household register. 19. It seems likely that the standard convention before and during the early Chosõn was to pass the position of householder to the widow of a dead householder, and not to his son. In the few remaining examples of household registers for the late Koryö and the early Chosõn, one often finds cases of women being registered as householder. Ch'oe Hong'gi, Han'guk hojõk chedo sayõngu [A Study of Korea's Family Register System], (Söul: Söul Taehakkyo Ch'ulp'aubu, 1997): 100-102. This suggests that the conventions visible in the 1678 Tansõng Household Register were consistent with previous practice. The changes that occurred during the early eighteenth century, then, amounted to a significant break with convention. 20. If one looks at the records of widow householders who were living together with their married sons, in 1678 there were forty-three cases, ten cases in 1717, eleven cases in 1759, and fifteen cases in 1789. If one disregards whether or not the sons were married or not, if one looks at the record of those widow householders who were living with their sons, there were 124 cases in 1678, 51 cases in 1717, 96 cases in 1759, and 92 cases in 1789. One can see based on the records in 1678 the tendency among widow household- 80 Ji-YoungJung ers having a son was high. After 1717 become the head householder and there were a lot of instances where the widow would be recorded as "mother." 21. Of course, the trend does not remain absolutely steady throughout the eighteenth century. It is especially interesting that, in 1759, the proportion of yangban female suc- cessors decreases somewhat, increasing again in 1789. This could be because the changes that I am describing did not come about without resistance, or it could reflect numer- ous other factors. Nevertheless, it is clear that the eighteenth-century records, taken as a whole, show a considerably stronger tendency for successors to be male than what is true for the seventeenth century. 22. Some scholars see that the influence of the ideology of the Neo-Confucian patriarchy among the lower classes of the late Chosõn dynasty is evident in the fact that commoner women attempted to mimic the ideals of chastity that were practiced by yangban women, and aspired to become yangban themselves by doing so. See Yi Hyojae, Chosõnjo sahoe wa kajok [Family and society in the Chosön dynasty] (Söul: Han'ul, 2004). 23. The Kabosik hojõk samok is a document found in the Kyujanggak (Kyujanggak no. 12318). It is a hand-written text of uncertain date. However, it is assumed that the kabo year of the sexagenary cycle referred to is 1654, 1714, 1774, 1834. Although we do not know in which of the above four years the document was made, if we consider how stark the change was in the treatment of widows in the Tansõng Household Register between 1678 and 1717, then perhaps we should assume that there was a document produced dur- ing the end of the seventeenth century which argued for the same policy. 24. It seems possible that the Kabosik hojõk samok was reemphasizing a policy first established sometime during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. 25. That is to say, the policy linked groups of five households together as an adminis- trative unit called a t'ong. Each member of the group was considered responsible for the others. 26. Sukchong sillok [Veritable records of King Sukchong], vol. 6, 38:351; 1677/03/01 (chöngch'uk). 27. Sukchong sillok, vol. 30, 39:420; 1677/03/01 (kabin). 28. According to the Sinbo su'gyo chimnok (mm "yejön (iiÄ) chegwa (M f4)," "Kanghúi sinmyo súngjõn anyone without both an identification plaque and a passing certificate of the preliminary examination (chohülch'öp, Mffetó) would be prevented from taking the examination. 29. "Ch'igyu ch'öpsi (iSpBkI^tjn), chöllyöng kangmyön (iHī^til), p'arwöl," in Kongi (&m, vol. II. 30. If we look at inheritance documents included within the Kyõngbuk chibang gounsõ chipsõng (The archive of the Kyõngbuk area), we see a number of cases where a widow prepared documents defining the inheritance rights of her children (Peterson, 1996). 31. In 1678 there are forty such cases for yangban widows and thirty-five cases for commoners. The number of widows decreases in 1717 to nine yangban and five com- moners. Similarly, in 1759, there were three cases of yangban and seven cases of com- moner widows. However, in 1789 the number of widows living with their sons and still considered householders increased somewhat to twenty yangban and eleven commoners. Widows ' Position and Agency in the Late Chosõn Dynasty 81 The period between 1678 and 1717 saw a considerable increase in the number of sons succeeding as householders; nevertheless even after 1717, there are cases of widows with sons being recorded as the householder. 32. In a story written in the late Chosön dynasty, the protagonist, a lively thirteen-year- old girl, is the child of a widow and the descendent of a well-established yangban family. Yet the two are deeply poor and are dependent on the goodwill of the girl's paternal uncle, near whom they live. The widowed mother, then, is dependent on her brother-in-law for survival. "Yuhun [äSI)l|], " in Yi Usõng and Im Yöngt'aek trans., Yijo hanmun tanp'yönjip [Collection of short stories in literary Chinese of Chosön], vol. I, (Soul: Ilchogak, 1973): 249-254. 33. "Kodam in Yijo hanmun tanp'yönjip , 234-242. 34. Chungjong sillok [Veritable records of King Chungjong], vol. 34, 15:485; 1518/10/ 18 (haps in). 35. There are also a number of songs of remarried women in a series of poems called the Tendong orni hwajön'ga. However these women, without exception, are described as moving to another town in order to remarry. The widow from Hwaryöng moves to Tan- yang, a widow from Changim moves to Yöngch'un, and a widow from Andong moves to Naesõng, while a widow from Wöldong moves to Yech'ön. The final story concerns a woman of Tanyang who leaves home to become a secondary wife. It is not specified where she goes, but it seems likely that she also leaves for another region. 36. There are stories recorded in collections of stories such as the Ch 'öngguyadam ( P3 Tales from the Green Hills), which describe how a man falsely reported that his widowed daughter had died, and then had her remarry. 37. There are stories in the Tongp'ae naksong Thrice-told tales from the East) and the Ch'önggu yadam which describe widows who fled from their in-laws to their natal homes, as a result of which they were able to find new husbands. These stor- ies describe how the widows suffered from mistreatment at the hands of their in-laws, and how they then used the support of their natal family to succeed in their second marriage. ("The horse [.S]," Yi Usõng and Im Yöngt'aek, Yijo hanmun tanp'yönjip , 242-248). 38. Pak Chiwon, " Yön'am chip pHljjBcíŘ]," 1: 32b. "Yöllyö Pakssi chön [The tale of the virtuous Lady Pak]." 39. "Yi Yongmuk [$§!£]," in Kim Hyöllyong, Han'guk munhön sörhwa 3 ch'aek [Legends in Korean literary documents] (Söul: Kön'guk,Taehakkyo Ch'ulp'anbu, 1999), 3: 181-182. 40. When we discuss the increase or decrease in the number of widows, we cannot ignore the issue of the total population of women of each class. For this reason, I have calculated the total population of women over twenty for each class, and have then cal- culated the percentage of women for each class who are widows. The results have been arranged in table 6. 41. "Yõngdong yõllyõ" [The virtuous woman of Yöngdong], in "Yöllyö" [Virtuous women], in Ihyang kyönmunnok [MÄMMÜ], vol. IV, trans. Yuk Chaegõn and Silsihaksa Kojön Munhak Yön'guhoe (Söul: Minümsa, 1997), 214-215. Originally, this text was in Wihangswaemun (S^īSM), and later recorded by Yu Chae-gön in Ihyang kyönmunnok. Sin Kwanghyön (1 83 1-?), the author of Wihangswaemun was a man of letters and a painter during the early half of the nineteenth century. Although one cannot accurately tell when 82 Ji- Young Jung this incident took place, one can assume t teenth century when Sin Kwanghyõn itine 42. However, even lower-class women w riage, to the extent that when they did tively low status. See the fifth chapter o sòn'taekhan saramdūl."
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