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서민 means "commoners," not "commons"! As for the idea that mountains constituted a "commons" in pre-modern Korea, I am skeptical. There were many lawsuits during the Chosŏn dynasty over burial sites on mountains, which suggests that at least parts of those mountains were seen as private property rather than common property. It is true that poor peasants sometimes abandoned life in lowland villages and became "slash and burn" agriculturalists [<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12px; ">火田] </span>in the mountains<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12px; ">. </span>However, it is unlikely that was seen as the lawful use of communal property. <br><br>Don Baker <div>Professor</div><div>Department of Asian Studies </div><div>University of British Columbia </div><div>Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z2 </div><div>don.baker@ubc.ca</div><br><br><div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div><hr id="stopSpelling">Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2012 06:29:20 +0900<br>From: john.eperjesi@gmail.com<br>To: hoffmann@koreaweb.ws; koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws<br>Subject: Re: [KS] Korean Commons?<br><br>All your responses are very helpful, so thanks! Especially the "well-field" concept. That definitely points me in the right direction.<div><br></div><div>One point: in English usage, "to commons" could also function as a verb, not just as a noun. It was the act of making something common or shared. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Finally, I was told that "<span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">서민" is the Korean term roughly equivalent to commons.</span></div>
<div><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif">Thanks again!</font></div><div><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif">John<br></font><br><div class="ecxgmail_quote">
On Sat, Sep 1, 2012 at 8:24 PM, Frank Hoffmann <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hoffmann@koreaweb.ws">hoffmann@koreaweb.ws</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="ecxgmail_quote" style="border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
One more note:<br>
<br>
The TWO definitions that John Eperjesi provided--again quoted below as<br>
(A) and (B), well, we might want to be aware of the context here: I<br>
suggest NOT to create any direct context between these two quotes,<br>
these two definitions, at least not if you look at such a topic from a<br>
historical point of view. Contemporary groups like e.g. the 'Pirates'<br>
and others loosely associate to that centuries old concept, but they<br>
completely redefine it at the same time. Those contemporary definitions<br>
are also very problematic: "biodiversity," for example, used in below<br>
quoted definition (B), obviously is a noun that describes a "state of<br>
being" (of being diverse), thus it cannot belong or not belong to<br>
anyone. Same as with any sort of other political movements (e.g.<br>
Minjung movement in Korea in the 1980s) such associations with historic<br>
concepts and events, however forced, provide new movements with an<br>
additional "historical" legitimacy and emotional binding. That's about<br>
it.<br>
<br>
Today, and since John did not mention that I do so here, "commons" is a<br>
term that is mostly used by programmers and by the Internet community<br>
that is involved with any sort of digital product or online texts and<br>
arts creation. "Creative Commons" (CC) is a non-profit organization in<br>
California that issues free copyright licenses (known as "Creative<br>
Commons licenses"). Even as just a user you may have well seen these,<br>
you may have been asked to confirm the your acceptance of the CC<br>
license after you downloaded a free program. There are also lots of<br>
artists using this licensing system now, and CC is also very popular in<br>
Korea--but well, everywhere else also.<br>
--> <a href="http://creativecommons.or.kr/" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.or.kr/</a><br>
--> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/tag/korea" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/tag/korea</a> (2008)<br>
<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Frank<br>
<br>
--------------------------------------<br>
<br>
(A)<br>
<div class="ecxim">> The commons refers to the shared communal spaces that existed in<br>
> England before the enclosure acts that founded capitalism, and was<br>
> defended in the "Charter of the Forests" that accompanied the Magna<br>
> Carta:<br>
><br>
> "The Charter specifically states that "Henceforth every freeman, in<br>
> his wood or on his land that he has in the forest, may with impunity<br>
> make a mill, fish-preserve, pond, marl-pit, ditch, or arable in<br>
> cultivated land outside coverts, provided that no injury is thereby<br>
> given to any neighbour."<br>
<br>
</div>(B)<br>
<div class="ecxim">> "In essence, the commons means everything that belongs to all of us,<br>
> and the many ways we work together to use these assets to build a<br>
> better society. This encompasses fresh air and clean water, public<br>
> spaces and public services, the Internet and the airwaves, our legal<br>
> system, scientific knowledge, biodiversity, language, artistic<br>
> traditions, fashion styles, cuisines and much more. Taken together,<br>
> it represents a vast inheritance bequeathed equally to every human―<br>
> and one that, if used wisely, will provide for future generations."<br>
><br>
> from: <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/163670/struggle-commons#" target="_blank">http://www.thenation.com/article/163670/struggle-commons#</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</div>--------------------------------------<br>
Frank Hoffmann<br>
<a href="http://koreaweb.ws" target="_blank">http://koreaweb.ws</a><br>
<br>
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