Jaegaseung () were descendants of

Jurchen people Jurchen (, ; , ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens wer ...

who lived in northeastern Korea. They formed villages of married lay

monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and produced oatmeal paper called ''hwangji'' () which was used to pay their taxes.Dong-A ilbo
January 1, 1936, 51st page The monastic identity of the lay monks was seen as

anti-socialist Criticism of socialism is any critique of socialist economics and socialist models of organization and their feasibility, as well as the political and social implications of adopting such a system. Some critiques are not necessarily directed ...

by the government of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, and, consequently, the Jaegaseung were forcibly assimilated into

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea before the division of Korea in 1945. Since the mid-20th century, Korea has been split between the North Korean and South Korean sovereign state, stat ...

on the orders of North Korean president

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

Origins and history

The mountains of northern Hamgyŏng Province were traditionally inhabited by the

Jurchens Jurchen (, ; , ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens wer ...

, a semi-nomadic Tungusic people. In the mid-fifteenth century, King

Sejong Sejong (; 15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), commonly known as Sejong the Great (), was the fourth monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He is regarded as the greatest ruler in Korean history, and is remembered as the inventor of Hangul, the n ...

conquered the region as far north as the

Tumen River The Tumen River (, , ; Korean pronunciation: tumaŋaŋ">Help:IPA/Korean">tumaŋaŋ, also known as the Tuman River or Duman River, is a long river that serves as part of the boundary between China (left shore), North Korea (right) and Russi ...

, which even today marks Korea's northern border, and established Korean colonies in the area. Many Jurchens accepted Korean hegemony and played crucial roles in frontier defense against other Jurchen tribes more hostile to Korean presence. By the sixteenth century, the Jurchens living under Korean rule were often married to ethnic Koreans and had become increasingly agricultural. They were also economically and militarily linked to the central Korean state. At the same time, they retained close contacts with independent Jurchens across the Tumen. By the late sixteenth century, however, conflicts over land between indigenous Jurchens and Korean settlers were increasingly frequent. The Jurchen chieftain Nitanggae rebelled in 1583, severely undermining the Korean state's control of the area. The crisis was exacerbated by the large-scale Japanese invasion in 1592 during which

Katō Kiyomasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. His court title was . His name as a child was ''Yashamaru'', and first name was ''Toranosuke''. He was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi's Seven ...

conquered large parts of Hamgyŏng, leading to a breakdown of the Korean administration and major conflicts between Jurchens and Koreans. Beginning in around 1590, independent Jurchen chieftains such as

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing, was the founding khan of the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty. As the leader of the House of Aisin-Gi ...

and

Bujantai Bujantai (Manchu language, Manchu: ; ) (1575 – 1618) was a Jurchen people, Jurchen ''beile'' (chieftain) of the Nara (clan), Ula tribal confederation. Life Bujantai was descended from Nacibulu (納奇卜祿), the ancestor of the Nara lineage ...

were competing for hegemony over their cousins in Korean territory. Having routed Bujantai in 1607, Nurhaci successfully removed most Jurchens in northern Hamgyŏng into his newfound kingdom north of the Tumen between 1607 and 1609. Nurhaci's Jurchens would eventually adopt a new

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

identity in 1635 and go on to conquer China, founding China's final imperial dynasty. Nurhaci and his successors continued to demand the forcible "repatriation" of Jurchens in Korea until 1644, although some Jurchens successfully evaded deportation and remained in Korea with the support of sympathetic Korean authorities. It is generally agreed that the Jaegaseung were descendants of these Jurchen communities who avoided capture, and assimilated into Korean society.

Culture

Ultimately, although many cultural practices of the Jaegaseung were identical or similar to the folk traditions of Northern Hamgyong province, the community still maintained several distinctive and divergent customs. The community, unlike their neighbours, wore red clothes during

Jesa ''Jesa'' (, ) is a ceremony commonly practiced in Korea. Jesa functions as a Ancestor veneration, memorial to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor's death. The majority of Catholic Church in ...

rites,

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

their dead, allowed women to wear trousers, and were largely vegetarian with the exception of important days. If a Jaegaseung female marries a man outside of the community, then the man was to move into the Jaegaseung community and shave his head. The homes of Jaegaseung were described as composing of one, big room and a fence around the house. Due the influence of shamanism, they did not plant trees around their homes.Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture
1996 The villages also had a hierarchy, with each Jaegaseung settlement having a chief, who was well versed in the Buddhist scriptures and ceremonies. The chief would also take care of administrative tasks such as taxes or tribute. When a member of the community was sick, a ceremony called 'Daesangwi' (대산귀) was to be held by the

Tumen river The Tumen River (, , ; Korean pronunciation: tumaŋaŋ">Help:IPA/Korean">tumaŋaŋ, also known as the Tuman River or Duman River, is a long river that serves as part of the boundary between China (left shore), North Korea (right) and Russi ...

in order to ensure the wellbeing of the person and village. The rites involved offerings of rice cakes and a pig in front of a wooden pole, and were reported to last for an entire night. The ceremony was unique to the Jaegaseung communities, and was not practiced by other residents of Northern Hamgyong. Jaegaseung girls and women were notorious in mainstream Korean society for always exposing their breasts even in public, which was considered scandalous by other Koreans. Some Jaegaseung refugees who fled to South Korea during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

were known to have preserved some cultural aspects of their communities, and one work song regarding the community's traditional method of smelting iron was broadcast on South Korean radio.Dong-A Broadcasting System (DBS)
February 3, 1980

Language

Despite their isolation from other residents in the area, the Jaegaseung communities spoke the typical

Yukjin dialect The Yukjin dialect (Yukjin: ) is a variety of Korean or a separate Koreanic language spoken in the historic Yukjin region of northeastern Korea, south of the Tumen River. Its phonology and lexicon are unusually conservative, preserving many Mid ...

of the region. However, a difference between the dialect of the Jaegaseung and other speakers of Yukjin Korean was still noticeable as of the 1930s, to the point that instances of difficulty in communication between local administrative officials and Jaegaseung villages were not uncommon. Some examples of vocabulary listed as being exclusively used by the Jaegaseung community of North Hamgyong Province include the terms () and (), used to denote someone who was immature or lacked common sense. Otherwise, other unique vocabulary among the Jaegaseung include (, for what reason), (, powdered bean for rice cakes) and (, edible plants, herbs). The only language considered vulgar among the Jaegaseung was the phrase '범이야' ('It's a tiger'), which likely is a reflection of the community's fear of tigers, which were historically common in the region.

References

Works cited

* * Anthology of 1950s works by a North Korean ethnographer *

Origins and history

Culture

Language

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading