[KS] Chinese influence in Korea

[don kirk]

The Chinese community endures in a well defined neighborhood of Incheon -- its numbers diminishing as young people seek lives and fortunes elsewhere -- and in a portion of the Myongdong district of Seoul, behind the central post office, and a few other places. A paradox is there were  barriers to Chinese immigrants during the Yi dynasty even as a succession of kings paid homage to the emperor in Beijing. I don't know the history, but the numbers of Chinese immigrants were limited, and they faced barriers once they got here. These barriers remained in place under the autocratic regimes that took over after World War II. 
Some of Korea's most authentic Chinese restaurants endure in Incheon. (Most Korean Chinese food is, well, "Korean Chinese.") People there will tell you what they and their forebears endured. As for the Confucian classics, Confucian teachers and sages were  highly respected in every town or village.  I'm not sure how the J'ese during the colonial era viewed Confucian teaching. Was that a big issue under the J'ese? Others will know.
Don Kirk

--- On Fri, 7/1/11, Hilary K Josephs <hkjoseph at law.syr.edu> wrote:

From: Hilary K Josephs <hkjoseph at law.syr.edu>
Subject: [KS] Chinese influence in Korea
To: "koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Cc: "ya.qin at WAYNE.EDU" <ya.qin at WAYNE.EDU>
Date: Friday, July 1, 2011, 12:58 PM


 


 


Dear colleagues:
 
By way of introduction I am a new member to this list. I received a Ph.D. in premodern Chinese history and literature, went to law school, and taught in US. law schools for more than 25 years. My most recent research project
 involved the household registration system (hukou zhidu) and the system of ethnic preferences (minzu shibie) in contemporary China. A complete CV can be accessed at law.syr.edu.
 
In connection with this recent project I read some works on the Qing dynasty and Manchu-Chinese relations. When I was an undergraduate I had been taught that the Manchus "simply" were assimilated and lost their separate ethnic
 identity. Recent research disputes that conclusion. How Chinese influence spread throughout Asia but local peoples retained their own languages and distinct customs is a very interesting subject, with important consequences for international order.
 
1. My first question concerns the presence (or absence) of ethnic Han Chinese communities in Korea. In correspondence with George Kallender, who teaches Korean history at SU, I learned that there was migration from China to
 Korea in the early dynasties, but those families became Koreanized and today are only identifiable by their surnames. Then, during the late Qing, a small community of Chinese merchants was established in Incheon. The numbers of overseas Chinese华侨 in modern
 Korea is very low. May one conclude that there was essentially no Han Chinese migration to Korea during the Ming and Qing dynasties, even though Korea participated in the Chinese tribute system?
 
2. My second question concerns the study of the Confucian classics in Korea. Maybe five years ago I found a photograph of a historical re-enactment of the Korean civil service examinations. The "examinees" are dressed in traditional
 Korean costume and are sitting cross-legged in a palace courtyard in Seoul. Under the traditional system did people preparing for the exams have to study the same curriculum that was studied in China (Confucius, Mencius, etc.)? Was it possible for Koreans
 to take the civil service exam in China? Even after the beginning of the Japanese occupation, would it have been possible for a Korean child to get a solid education in the Confucian classics? Certainly the Confucian classics--indeed all of traditional Chinese
 history and literature--were intensely studied in Japan. The Japanese produced monumental works like the Morohashi dictionary and Takikawa's edition of Sima Qian.
 
Unfortunately I cannot read Korean. I can read Chinese, Japanese, and French.
 
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
 
Regards,Hilary K. Josephs
 
 
 
 

 

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