Jutting out on the Amur Plate[1] lies the Korean peninsula (Fig. 1). Sandwiched by larger entities, histories within the peninsula were often visited by invasion episode. Nevertheless, through the Chŭlmun era (8,000BCE) to the modern-day Hanbando (K. 한반도), Korea has always managed to withstand adversaries and emerge relatively intact through time.
Evidence of material culture within the Korean peninsula suggested the continuation of people living and interacting with their surroundings. This paper will diverge from the usual concept of a single-raced and homogeneous nation that is unscathed from external conquests.[2] Instead, this paper will attempt to look into how people adapt to periodic interference and internalize influence into their collective and unique identity.
Fig 1. Rory Johnston, The Amurian (Amur or Baikal-Korean) Microplate. Source Solution for Surface Deformation Observed over Punggye-Ri Nuclear Test Facility Following North Korea's Sixth Nuclear Test, April 2018. Accessed December 19, 2020. http://10.13140/RG.2.2.36491.34088.
Fig. 2a. Comb-pattern Pottery, Neolithic Period, Chuncheon-si, Clay - Soft, Sinsu 1096. Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea. Accessed December 19, 2020. https://shorturl.at/jDK59.
Fig. 2b. Jar with Plane Pottery, Early Iron Age, Asan-si, Clay - Soft, H. 20.0cm, (mouth) D. 22.0cm, H. 7.0cm, (mouth) D. 11.0cm, H. 15.0cm, (mouth) D. 6.5cm, Sinsu 1898. Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea. Accessed December 19, 2020. https://shorturl.at/jpFHX.
Prehistoric Korean Peninsula
From the Paleolithic to Neolithic period, the lack of human-made borders allowed for free-roaming and possibly the freedom of material cultural exchange.[3] The earliest existence of pottery implied that these nomadic inhabitants have begun to settle down and farmed land. Chŭlmun and Munmun era names paid tributes to the pottery style discovered. The comb-pattern or the later plain earthenware pots for millet and rice grains suggested developing storage technology and the rise of sedentary communities (see Fig. 2a and 2b).[4][5]
Material exchanges between these communities and into the Korean Peninsula can be deduced by the introduction of the Asian rice grain species that can only be found near the Yangzi River.[6] Technology and material culture were transmitted into the Korean peninsula, such as spear/dagger casting and dolmens for burial rituals. While it is often impossible to separate Korea and China culture in this era,[7] the increased discovery of artifacts with original shapes and design (Fig. 3) suggest exclusive indigenous technology culture and production only within the Korean Peninsula.[8] These communities developed the transmitted technology by producing wares with new and individualized shapes, possibly reflecting a growing native culture that has diverged from the standard of that time.
Fig. 3. Bronze Mirrors with Coarse Linear Design, Bronze Age, Metal - Copper Alloy, D. 11.2cm, Bongwan 13238. Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea. Accessed December 19, 2020. https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/relic/search/view?relicId=730#
Fig. 4. Michael D., Shin, “The Samhan Confederations and Regional Trade”, 2016, in Shin, Michael D., Injae Lee, Owen Miller, Jinhoon Park, and Hyŏn-hye Yi, Korean History in Maps: From Prehistory to the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge University Press, 2016), 19.
Han Commanderies and Samhan
As communities developed into polities, states experienced their first socio-political invasion with the Han commanderies' establishment within the Korean Peninsula.[9] It is interesting to note that states in the Korean Peninsula were determined to "free themselves from the Chinese cultural forces and to remain intact in their struggles."[10] Therefore, there was a growing awareness of boundaries, differences, and identities between states from Mainland China and those in the Korean Peninsula. However, during these conflicts, human migration prompted exchanges of new ideologies, skills, and technologies (Fig. 4).
The introduction of Buddhism was essential for the growth of the states that exist within the Korean Peninsula. The assimilation of Buddhism with indigenous religion enabled the formation of Korean Buddhism.[11] Lying within the Han Dynasty cultural sphere, confucianization in the political system was also inevitable with the advent of Buddhism.[12]
Along with religion and political philosophy governance, the Chinese language writing system landed into the peninsula too. Utilization of the Chinese character system enabled the Korean Peninsula more access to a variety of literary works from the mainland. Despite employing foreign characters, Korean Peninsula did not switch out their oral language. Instead, they developed additional vernacular writing systems such as Idu that borrowed Chinese characters to reflect native Korean sounds.[13]
Vid. 1. Koh Min Yu, "Haeinsa and Tripitaka Koreana" (online video). Published December 20, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://youtu.be/gA_mraHz6SU.
Koryŏ Dynasty
The creation of paper enabled suitable surfaces for printing technology to advance. During the Koryŏ dynasty, papermaking techniques have reached a pinnacle where the paper known as Koryŏji was highly sought-after.[14] Papermaking and printing technologies often act in tandem to fulfill supply and demands. There has always been a steady stream of printing technology entering the Korean Peninsula at different stages, such as woodblock print, bronze casting, and even stonecast rubbing,[15] to transfer religious text across to paper medium rapidly.
In the early eleventh century, Bi Sheng, a Chinese alchemist of the Song Dynasty, created a movable type made of earthenware.[16] It was only until Koryŏ invention of individual metal type in the thirteenth century[17] that allowed greater flexibility and longevity of these printing typeset. Movable metal types enabled printers to swap out individual typography when damaged or when incorrect typography is cast. The earliest available material evidence of this technology is the Korea Tripitaka or Jikji (currently credited as UNESCO's Memory of the World)[18] (See Vid. 1).
The creation of the movable metal typeset in Koryŏ can be accredited to the several societal issues happening in the Korean Peninsula during the period.
Firstly, Koryŏ's state religion was Buddhism. Royal and aristocracy patronage of religion promoted the demand for religious literature materials. The broader spread of religious materials causes Koryŏ Buddhism to reach further and entrench deeper faith in the people of Koryŏ.
Secondly, the notion of copying and dissimilating Buddhist scriptures enables one to accumulate good karma in their lifetime, and more importantly, to seek salvation.[19] The Koryŏ-Khitan War, followed by the Koryŏ-Mongol War, saw invasions and widespread tragedies in the Korean Peninsula. During the calamity, Koryŏ believed that religious publication's production would "invoke divine protection of the Buddha, sparring Koryŏ from further attacks."[20] (Fig. 5)
Finally, Koryŏ's existing minting and bronzeware technology meant that it could be easily be used to cast typographies.[21] The printing technology derived from China faced limitations in responding to the situation happening in Koryŏ, as mentioned.
Therefore, Koryŏ utilized inherited technologies and improved accordingly, resulting in a unique material culture that reflected the people's situation on the ground.
Chosŏn Dynasty
Concepts of Neo-Confucianism was transmitted from Song China into Korea during the late Koryŏ era.[22] Sadaebu, the group of scholars-officials that assisted Yi Sŏnggye to the throne, endorsed Neo-Confucianism as the new state ideology in Chosŏn.[23] As an effect, this period also saw the active disenfranchising of Buddhism religion in the newly established society. Buddhism and its related patronage have been the promulgator of flourishing technological advancements such as papermaking and the usage of movable metal type. Despite the deinstallation of Buddhism as the state religion, Neo-Confucianism did not slow the advancement of material culture within the Korean peninsula.
Fig. 6. “주자소.” 조선 시대 활자의 조판과 인쇄, 인쇄 관련 규정. Published September 7, 2017. Courtesy of Cheongju Early Printing Museum. Accessed December 19, 2020. https://decentliar.tistory.com/599
Chosŏn's kings centralize power via governmentalization the production of material culture. During T'aejong's reign, he established a nationalized papermaking bureau in 1415 known as Chojiso (K. 조지소, C. 造紙所), which was later renamed as Chojisŏ (K. 조지서, C. 造紙署) in 1466 during King Sejo's reign.[24] The papermaking bureau standardizes and provided craftmens with materials in an attempt to improve paper quality. T'aejong also established the National Foundry called Chujaso (K. 주자소, C. 鑄字所) that regulates and manufactured standardized metal types (Fig. 6).[25] These official establishments alleviate these craft into the bureaucracy's authorized technological and cultural arm, enabling more resources for techniques to further improve.
Neo-Confucianism promoted study, self-cultivation, and practice of rites translated in the rapid and increased interaction with paper and printing. The violent cultural transition from Koryŏ to Chosŏn meant that promoting the correct Confucianism behavior in the people was of utmost importance to the state. A variety of rites and ritual publications like Kukchooryeŭi (Five Rites of States)[26] were published to ensure that people of Chosŏn subscribed to Neo-Confucianism. Ritual wares that were made explicitly for the often-elaborate rituals proliferated during this period as well.[27]
Along with the rise of material culture associated with rites, material culture rose from the activities yangpan engaged in. Neo-Confucianism's emphasis on the study of classics, doctrines of self-cultivation, and the establishment of seowon (Confucius Academy) created a network that bloomed the paper-printing industry. These yangpan's self-cultivated through the means of calligraphy, painting, and poetry, known as the Three Arts[28] resulting in massive artifacts available today (Fig. 7).
Fig. 7. Painting Album of Meeting of Middle Class Literati, Joseon Dynasty, Paper, 42.0x109.5cm(Image), Jeopsu 504. Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/relic/represent/view?relicId=939#
Fig. 8. Michael D., Shin, “Jongno Boulevard”, 2016, in Shin, Michael D., Injae Lee, Owen Miller, Jinhoon Park, and Hyŏn-hye Yi, Korean History in Maps: From Prehistory to the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge University Press, 2016), 85.
The availability of manufactured products like paper and printed books also resulted in the accessibility for common people to participate culturally (Fig. 8).
Another tremendous social equalizer during the Chosŏn era was the creation of Han'gŭl by King Sejong. Vernacularizing allowed marginalized members of society like women to express themselves in their native tongue and showcase their Confucius self-cultivation[29] and legal works[30]. Likewise, genre painting featuring commoner's life as subject (Fig. 9) and vernacular novels (some containing satire regarding the yangpan) from the mid-eighteenth century Chosŏn gave rise and visibility to the commoner's culture.[31]
The subtle changes within the society reflected the permutation of the non-native Neo-Confucius ideology. The spread of assistive material culture in printed books and the creation of han'gŭl helped close the internalization loop of Neo-Confucianism in Chosŏn society.
Fig.9. Kim Hong-do, "Alms Gathering" from the Album of Genre Paintings by Kim Hong-do, Joseon Dynasty, Paper, 28.0x24.0cm(Image, Album), Treasure 527, Bongwan 6504-6. Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/relic/search/view?relicId=535#
Min Yu, Koh. Hanguksan Stamp, Procreate (Singapore: December 19, 2020).
Conclusion
Korea's long history is a testament to constant adaptation. Undoubtedly, the Korean Peninsula's states existed within the mainland cultural sphere. Early cultural sharing would have been fluid, but later influences entered through trade, migration, or even invasions from a distinct polity to another polity. Despite all the interferences, discovered material cultures saw visible evolution and internalization. Cultural remnants continued to this day in modern Korean nations that uniquely identify as "Made in Korea."
At the same time, there is still an ongoing debate about "Korean" origins or even the recent spates surrounding the origins of kimch'i[32], hanbok[33], or even the T'aegŭkki[34]. This paper determined that despite its origin of influence, if a culture, ideology, or even material culture was internalized and practiced by a group of people for a period of time, then we can argue that this evolved culture should be credited uniquely theirs.
Works Cited
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[2] Kyung-Koo Han, “The Archaeology of the Ethnically Homogeneous Nation-State and Multiculturalism in Korea,” Korea Journal 47, no. 4 (2007): 8-32, 12-13.
[3] Jane Portal, “Prehistoric Period,” in Korea: Art and Archaeology (London, UK: British Museum Press, 2000), 23.
[4] Thomas Quartermain, “Online Lecture 1” (PowerPoint presentation, Foundations of Pre-modern Korea, Yonsei University, Songdo, South Korea, September 7th, 2020), Slide 14.
[5] Portal, “Prehistoric Period,” 33.[6] Gina Lee. Barnes, “Early Holocene Subsistence Patterns,” in Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan (Oxford, PA: Oxbow Books, 2017), 102-117.
[7] Quartermain, “Online Lecture 1”, Slide 17.
[8] Axes with spearhead or fan shaped were discovered. These shapes differed from the Liaoning-type mandolin-shaped or the narrow dagger shape typically found across Korea and China. Also, Korean bronze mirrors were decorated differently from those made in China. See more Portal, “Prehistoric Period,” 35.
[9] Gina Lee. Barnes, “The Yellow Sea Interaction Sphere: 500 BC - AD 500,” in China, Korea and Japan: The Rise of Civilization in East Asia (London, UK: Thames & Hudson, 1993), 208-218, 208.
[10] Peter H. Lee and De Bary William Theodore, “Origins of Korean Culture,” in Sources of Korean Tradition Volume 1: From Early Times Through the Sixteenth Century (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1997), 3-17, 7.
[11] James Huntley Grayson, “The Advent of Buddhism,” in Korea: A Religious History (London, UK: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016), 24-48, 35.
[12] Lee and De Bary, “The Rise of the Three Kingdoms,” Sources V.1, 28.
[13] Seontae Yoon, “The Creation of Idu,” Korea Journal 50, no. 2 (2010): 97-123, 99.
[14] Seung-chul Lee, “The Goryeo Dynasty,” in Hanji: Everything You Need to Know about Traditional Korean Paper, trans. Da-yeon Sohn and S. I. Gale, 1st ed. (Seoul: Hyeonamsa, 2012), 51.
[15] Shelton A. Gunaratne, “Paper, Printing and the Printing Press,” Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands) 63, no. 6 (December 2001): 459-479, 465.
[16] See Gunaratne, “Five Dynasties (907-60) and Song Dynasty (960-1279),” 467.
[17] Minah Song, “The History and Characteristics of Traditional Korean Books and Bookbinding,” Journal of the Institute of Conservation 32, no. 1 (September 30, 2010): 53-78, accessed December 17, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1080/19455220802630743, 74.
[18] UNESCO Memory of the World, “Baegun Hwasang Chorok Buljo Jikji Simche Yojeol (Vol.II), the Second Volume of ‘Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings,’” Full list of Registered Heritage, last modified 2001, accessed December 18, 2020, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-1/baegun-hwasang-chorok-buljo-jikji-simche-yojeol-volii-the-second-volume-of-anthology-of-great-buddhist-priests-zen-teachings/.
[19] Thomas Quartermain, “Lecture 5 (Week 6)” (PowerPoint presentation, Foundations of Pre-modern Korea, Yonsei University, Songdo, South Korea, October 4th, 2020), Slide 11.
[20] Lee and De Bary, “Publication of the Triptaka,” Sources V.1, 238.
[21] Song, “The History and Characteristics of Traditional Korean Books and Bookbinding,” 74 and Portal, “Koryo Period,” 95.
[22] Thomas Quartermain, “Lecture 7 (Week 8)” (PowerPoint presentation, Foundations of Pre-modern Korea, Yonsei University, Songdo, South Korea, October 19th, 2020), Slide 12.
[23] Yug-Hun Kim and Yong-kyun Shin, “Rise of a New Dynasty, Joseon: The Beginning of a New Traditions,” in A Korean History for International Readers: What Do Koreans Talk About Their Own History and Culture? (Seoul, South Korea: Humanist, 2010), 136.
[24] Lee and De Bary, “The Joseon Dynasty,” 61.
[25] Yŏng-jŏng Ok, “The Publishing Entities of Korean Traditional Prints,” in Early Printings in Korea (Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do: Academy of Korean Studies Press, 2013), 27-60, 47.[26] 국립민속박물관 , “Five Rites of State,” Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, accessed December 18, 2020, https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/59.
[27] Shuyi Kan, Dominic Low, and Charlotte Horlyck, “Arts and Culture in the Confucian State of Joseon,” in Joseon Korea: Court Treasures and City Life, ed. Richard Lingner (Singapore, SG: Asian Civilisations Museum., 2017), 20.
[28] Kan, “Lives of the yangban”, 141.
[29] Philip J., Ivanhoe,. “Guest Lecture: The Writings of Chosŏn Women: Im Yunjidang and Gang Jeongildang.” (PowerPoint presentation, Foundations of Pre-modern Korea, Yonsei University, Songdo, South Korea, November 23rd, 2020), Slide 2.[30] Jisoo M. Kim, “Introduction,” in Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Choson Korea (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2015), 1-21, 4.
[31] Michael D. Shin et al., “Overview of the Late Joseon Period,” in Korean History in Maps: From Prehistory to the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 92-93, 93.
[32] Youmi Kim and Mike Ives, “Is China Laying Claim to Kimchi, Too? Some South Koreans Think So,” The New York Times (The New York Times, December 2, 2020), last modified December 2, 2020, accessed December 20, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/world/asia/south-korea-china-kimchi-paocai.html.
[33] Siqi Ji, “Chinese Hanfu or Korean Hanbok? Actor's Selfie Sparks War of Words,” South China Morning Post, last modified November 6, 2020, accessed December 20, 2020, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3108748/hanfu-vs-hanbok-chinese-koreans-dispute-costumes-origins.
[34] 김 다솜, “이제는 고종 황제가 디자인한 '태극기'까지 중국이 만들었다고 왜곡하는 대륙인들,” 인사이트, last modified December 16, 2020, accessed December 20, 2020, https://www.insight.co.kr/news/316673.
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