|
Yangban
The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats who individually exemplified the Korean Confucian form of a " scholarly official". They were largely government administrators and bureaucrats who oversaw medieval and early modern Korea's traditional agrarian bureaucracy until the end of the dynasty in 1897. In a broader sense, an office holder's family and descendants, as well as country families who claimed such descent, were socially accepted as ''yangban''. In contemporary Korean language, the term ''yangban'' can be used either as a compliment or insult. Etymology ''Yangban'' literally means "two branches" of administration: ''munban'' () which comprises civil administrators and ''muban'' () which comprises martial office holders. The term yangban first appeared sometime during late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseon
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom was founded following the aftermath of the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul. The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the rivers of Yalu River, Amnok and Tumen River, Tuman through the subjugation of the Jurchen people, Jurchens. During its 500-year duration, Joseon encouraged the entrenchment of Korean Confucianism, Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society. Neo-Confucianism was installed as the new state's ideology. Korean Buddhism, Buddhism was accordingly discouraged, and occasionally Buddhists faced persecution. Joseon consolidated its effective rule over the Korean peninsula and saw the he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwageo
The () or ''kwagŏ'' were the national civil service examinations under the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea. Typically quite demanding, these tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge of the Chinese classics. The form of writing varied from literature to proposals on management of the state. Technical subjects were also tested to appoint experts on medicine, interpretation, accounting, law etc. These were the primary route for most people to achieve positions in the bureaucracy. Based on the Imperial examination, civil service examinations of imperial China, the first arose in Unified Silla, gained importance in Goryeo, and were the centerpiece of most education in the Joseon dynasty. The tutelage provided at the ''hyanggyo'', ''seowon'', and Sungkyunkwan was aimed primarily at preparing students for the and their subsequent career in government service. Under Joseon law, high office was closed to those who were not c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baekjeong
The ''baekjeong'' () were an untouchable caste in Korea, originating from some minority, nomadic groups of disputed ethnicity. Today, the word simply means a butcher. In the early part of the Goryeo period (918–1392), these minorities were largely settled in fixed communities. However, the Mongol invasion left Korea in disarray and anomie and these groups became nomadic. Subgroups of the ''baekjeong'' included the ( "entertainers") and the () or (), who were primarily butchers. The ''baekjeong'' occupied specific professions like butchery, tanning, basket weaving and performing executions. During the Goryeo period, "baekjeong" was used as a neutral term to refer to the common people. From the time of the Joseon dynasty, it became an insulting title used to refer to the lowest class of society. In addition, since the Joseon dynasty, "baekjeong" has been also used to denigrate a person. In contemporary South Korea, the term is mainly associated with the meaning of a butcher a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobi
''Nobi'' were members of the slave class during the Korean dynasties of Goryeo and Joseon. Legally, they held the lowest rank in medieval Korean society. ''Nobi'' were considered property or personal property, chattel, and could be bought, sold, or gifted. Classification The ''nobi'' were socially indistinct from freemen other than the ruling ''yangban'' class, and some possessed property rights, legal entities and civil rights. Hence, some scholars argue that it is inappropriate to call them "slaves", while some scholars describe them as serfs. Furthermore, the Korean word for an actual slave, in the European and American meaning, is ''noye'', not ''nobi''. Some ''nobi'' owned their own ''nobi''. History Some people became ''nobi'' as legal punishment for committing a crime or failing to pay a debt. However, some people voluntarily became ''nobi'' in order to escape crushing poverty during poor harvests and famines. Household ''nobi'' served as personal retainers and dom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korean Confucianism
Korean Confucianism, or Korean Ruism, is the form of Confucianism that emerged and developed in Korea. One of the most substantial influences in Korean intellectual history was the introduction of Confucian thought as part of the cultural influence from China. Today the legacy of Confucianism remains a fundamental part of Korean society, shaping the moral system, the way of life, social relations between old and young, high culture, and is the basis for much of the legal system. Confucianism in Korea is sometimes considered a pragmatic way of holding a nation together without the civil wars and internal dissent that were inherited from the Goryeo dynasty. Origins of Confucian thought Confucius ( , ) is generally thought to have been born in 551 BC and raised by his mother following the death of his father when Confucius was three years old. The Latinized name "Confucius" by which most Westerners recognize him is derived from "", probably first coined by 16th-century Jesuit missi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meritocracy
Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than wealth or social class. Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement. Although the concept of meritocracy has existed for centuries, the first known use of the term was by sociologist Alan Fox in the journal ''Socialist Commentary'' in 1956. It was then popularized by sociologist Michael Dunlop Young, who used the term in his dystopian political and satirical book ''The Rise of the Meritocracy'' in 1958. While the word was coined and popularized as a pejorative, its usage has ameliorated. Today, the term is often utilised to refer to social systems in which personal advancement and success primarily reflect an individual's capabilities and merits, frequently seen as equ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwangmu Reform
The Kwangmu Reform () was a collection of reforms that were aimed at modernizing and Westernizing the Korean Empire as it felt held back from what other countries had achieved in their own process of Industrial Revolutions. It takes its name from Gojong, also known as the Gwangmu Emperor. The reforms that took place during the Gwangmu Era from 1897 to 1907 showed, in the long term, Korean potential for starting and achieving modernisation. This sort of development was unseen until the Chang Myon-era of the 1960s and 1970s. The Kwangmu reform later staged the fundamental background for future Korean development in infrastructure, reforming the economy and creating the nucleus of the modern bureaucracy and military. Reforms Abolition of the status system Following the collapse of the Gabo government proclaiming the abolition of the status system, the loyalists’ cabinet was formed in 1896. The new cabinet, which became the Kwangmu government after the establishment of the Kor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Yi
The House of Yi, also called the Yi dynasty (also transcribed as the Lee dynasty), was the royal family of the Joseon dynasty and later the imperial family of the Korean Empire, descended from the Joseon founder Yi Seong-gye. All of his descendants are members of the Jeonju Yi clan. After the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, in which the Empire of Japan annexed the Korean Peninsula, some members of the Jeonju Yi clan were incorporated into the Imperial House of Japan and the Japanese peerage by the Japanese government. This lasted until 1947, just before the Constitution of Japan was promulgated. The treaty was nullified in the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea. With the Constitution succeeding to the Provisional Government, the descendants of the Imperial Family continue to be given preference and constitute a favored symbol in South Korea. The July 2005 funeral of Yi Ku, former head of the royal household, attracted considerable media coverage. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentry
Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed estates (see manorialism), upper levels of the clergy, or long established "gentle" families of noble descent, some of whom in some cases never obtained the official right to bear a coat of arms. The gentry largely consisted of landowners who could support themselves entirely from Renting#Rental investment, rental income or at least had a Estate (land), country estate; some were Gentleman farmer, gentleman farmers. In the United Kingdom ''gentry'' specifically refers to the landed gentry: the majority of the land-owning social class who typically had a coat of arms but did not hold a Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage. The adjective "Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician" ("of or like a person of high social rank") describes comparabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin () was a bureaucrat scholar in the history of China, Korea and Vietnam. The term is generally applied to the officials appointed through the imperial examination system. History and use of the term The English term comes from the Portuguese ''mandarim'' (spelled in Old Portuguese as ''mandarin,'' ). The Portuguese word was used in one of the earliest Portuguese reports about China: letters from the imprisoned survivors of the Tomé Pires embassy, most likely written in 1524, and in Castanheda's ''História do descobrimento e conquista da Índia pelos portugueses'' (c. 1559). Matteo Ricci, who entered mainland China from Portuguese Macau in 1583, also said the Portuguese used the word. The Portuguese word was thought by many to be related to ''mandador'' ("one who commands") and ''mandar'' ("to command"), from Latin ''mandare''. Modern dictionaries, however, agree that the Portuguese borrowed it from the Malay ''menteri'' (in Jawi: , ), which derived fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sangmin
''Sangmin'' (), short for ''p'yŏngsangjimin'' (), is a Korean-language term for commoners of the Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ... period (1392–1897). Synonyms for the term include ''sŏin'' (), ''sangin'' (), ''yangmin'' (), ''p'yŏngmin'' (), and ''p'yŏngin'' (). ''Sangmin'' was also sometimes used to describe innocent people, in contrast to criminals. History The term ''sangmin'' was used as an informal or legal designation depending on the time period. It refers to everyone who is not of noble background. In the latter half of the 17th century, a two-class system called ''yangch'ŏnje'' () was enacted, and ''sangmin'' made the lower class. However, ''sangmin'' were still de facto divided into various subgroups. ''Sangmin'' were systemically disad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
