[KS] punishment of women in Choson

[Sung Deuk Oak]

Dear Prof. Torrey,This is not a government thing and a different topic, yet we need to consider domestic violence and private punishment of women in the 19th century Korea.Even in the 1890s a zealous husband cut fingers and nose of her wife (poor ordinary family in Seoul), which was one of the most harsh punishments to the criminals, took two children from her, and abandoned her. I do not know if he was punished for his behavior. Best,Sung Deuk OakUCLA

From: sunjookim1 at hotmail.com
To: koreanstudies at koreanstudies.com
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 13:40:33 -0500
Subject: Re: [KS] punishment of women in Choson





Dear Deberniere
Torrey,
First of all, let me note that the book, Wrongful Deaths, is a coauthored book by Sun Joo Kim and Jungwon Kim.
Second, I disagree with the statement: "the Choson state was more lenient toward women as criminals, since they were
considered subject to and therefore less responsible than men."
The above-mentioned book discusses the topic--how women were differently treated depending on their social status and the kinds of crimes women committed . For example, if you see pages 16-17, authors explain that there were different procedures applying to examine women's dead body, quoting the Coroner's Guide for the Elimination of Grievances (MuwOllok) and other sources. In pages 23-24, authors point out, "the level of punishment differed in accordance with the offender's status: capital punishment was encoded for an adulteress of yangban status from the early sixteenth century onward, while an adulterous commoner woman in the late ChosOn was often enslaved..." again quoting various sources. You can see in this statement that women sometimes received harsher treatment.  If you continue to read this chapter and others involving female victims and criminals, you will find other relevant discussions addressing your question. If you don't have time to read the entire book carefully, index might be a good start.
Yours,
Sun Joo Kim


Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 14:41:57 +0100
From: yoneun at gmail.com
To: jim at jhoare10.fsnet.co.uk; koreanstudies at koreanstudies.com
Subject: [KS]  punishment of women in Choson



This might help you, though it’s not
directly your subject: Kim, Nayeon. 2012. “Indoctrinating Female Virture: the
Social use of Chosŏn Woodblock Prints” (paper presented at Eighth Worldwide
Consortium of Korean Studies Centers Workshop, July 4-7, 2012, Seoul, South
Korea). Or at least the bibliography at the end can help.


Samgang Haengsildo (三綱行實圖, Illustrated Exemplars of the Three Bonds) was commissioned in
1428 by King Sejong (1418-1450) for the purpose of ‘people education’ and
woodblock-printed in 1434 (Kim, Nayeon 2012: 225, 228, 232). The Three Bonds
describe the three social structures, the three ethical obligations of loyalty
and servitude. The subject must serve the king, the son or daughter must serve
the parent, and the wife must serve the husband. Thus formulated moral and
social obligations show that women were traditionally included among the
subjects of virtue in East-Asia. But this is theory, and practice might be
different. Interesting question in this respect is whether children were considered
less responsible for crimes than their parents, as according to Three Bonds
sons and daughters are subjected to parents just as wives are subjected to
husbands. 


Victoria Ten
Leiden University

On Thu, Feb 5, 2015 at 9:52 AM, Jim Hoare <jim at jhoare10.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:














 

 









From: Koreanstudies
[mailto:koreanstudies-bounces at koreanstudies.com] On Behalf Of DeberniereTorrey

Sent: 04 February 2015 23:35

To:
koreanstudies at koreanstudies.com

Subject: [KS] punishment of women
in Choson



 





Dear
Members:





I'm
trying to track down an authoritative reference for a claim that I've come
across in several scholarly sources (both English and Korean), none of which
gives a citation for this information: that the Choson state was more lenient toward women as criminals, since they were
considered subject to and therefore less responsible than men. The
statement fits my understanding of Choson values and legislation, but I have
yet to find a specific reference. Deuchler's Confucian
Transformation briefly mentions cases of leniency toward yangban women, but goes no further. I've
read that the Ming code was somewhat lenient toward female criminals, placing
them in the custody of family members rather than in jail, and I understand the
Choson criminal code was based on the Ming code. I've also checked Women and Confucianism in Choson by
Pettid and Kim, as well as the recent Wrongful Deaths by Sunjoo Kim, but haven't
found specific reference to the above topic in these sources. Any help would be
appreciated. 





Thank
you,





Deberniere
Torrey





 











 		 	   		   		 	   		  
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