[KS] punishment of women in Choson

Thu Feb 5 21:35:08 EST 2015

husband cut fingers and nose of her (his) wife (poor ordinary family in Seoul), which was one of the most harsh punishments to the criminals

This is very important because criminals and such victims of domestic violence thereafter would most likely be seen as lepers and would become social outcasts due to fears of contagion as well as discomfort at their disfigurement.

Also, the notion that women were treated more gently is, of course, part of Neo-Confucian ideology and helps rationalize it--which msy help explain why both are still with us today. 

And what about the expectation that a woman should take her own life if violated by a man outside of  her household or natal family? At least in this respect, I believe few serious observers would concur that women were treated less harshly than men.

jim thomas

From: sungoak at hotmail.com
To: koreanstudies at koreanstudies.com
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 16:20:06 -0500
Subject: Re: [KS] punishment of women in Choson

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 Oak
UCLA

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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