The Confucian transformation of Korea : a study of society and ideology

Bibliographic Information

The Confucian transformation of Korea : a study of society and ideology

Martina Deuchler

(Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series, 36)

Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University , Distributed by Harvard University Press, 1992

  • : pbk

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Note

Bibliography: p. [381]-408

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780674160880

Description

It has long been recognized that legislation to change Korean society into a neo-Confucian state began with the founding of the Choson dynasty in 1392 and achieved its purposes by the mid-17th century. Nevertheless, the nature of Koryo society, the stresses induced by the new legislation, and society's resistance to the neo-Confucian changes imposed by the Choson elite have remained largely unexplored. In this important new study, Martina Duechler explains which aspects of life in Koryo came under attack and why. Deuchler draws in social anthropology to examine ancestor worship, mourning, inheritance, marriage, the relatively high position of women in Koryo, and the formation of descent groups. Eleven diagrams elucidate the complexities of Korean kinship, marriage, and mourning systems. To examine how neo-Confucian ideology could become an effective instrument for altering basic aspects of Koryo life, the author traces shifts in political and social power as well as the cumulative effect of changes over time. What emerges is a subtler, more accurate analysis of Choson Korean history than may be possible without an understanding of its roots in Koryo culture. Deuchler demonstrates that the transformation of Korea into a neo-Confucian state not only took time but also required adapting Chinese neo-Confucianism to Korean realities.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780674160897

Description

Legislation to change Korean society along Confucian lines began at the founding of the Choson dynasty in 1392 and had apparently achieved its purpose by the mid seventeenth century. Until this important new study, however, the nature of Koryo society, the stresses induced by the new legislation, and society's resistance to the Neo-Confucian changes imposed by the Choson elite have remained largely unexplored. To explain which aspects of life in Koryo came under attack and why, Martina Deuchler draws on social anthropology to examine ancestor worship, mourning, inheritance, marriage, the position of women, and the formation of descent groups. To examine how Neo-Confucian ideology could become an effective instrument for altering basic aspects of Koryo life, she traces shifts in political and social power as well as the cumulative effect of changes over time. What emerges is a subtle analysis of Choson Korean social and ideological history.

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