Thursday, March 28, 2024
FILM&DRAMAKOREAN HISTORY

What were the social classes in the Joseon period?

Social classes in the Joseon period were pretty strict as we can see in any historical drama. So in this post, I’ll look at the class system in the Joseon period from the royals and aristocrats down to the peasants and slaves.

Social Climbing in the Joseon Period

In the historical drama Dong Yi, a servant girl from the lowest of the social classes moves up to become Suk-bin a top ranking concubine. This was very unusual at the time as there were few opportunities for social climbing.

There are detailed records that remain from the Joseon period (the annals of Joseon). But they focus on the king and so there is not much information about people from the lower social classes in the Joseon period.

Suk-bin originally came from the lowest Chonmin class. But she got the chance to move up when she entered the palace as a maid to serve King Sukjong.

The King took her as a concubine and they had three sons; the second son became King Yeongjo.

However, both Yeongjo and his mother had a complex about coming from the chonmin class.

Social classes in the Joseon period

There were five main social classes in the Joseon period. At the very top was the royal family.

Below them came the yangban aristocrats who could have high positions at court. Then there were the chungin ‘middle people’ followed by the yangin commoners.

At the bottom where the chonmin servant class which included convicts, slaves, shaman, and Gisaeng.

Here’s an overview of all the classes.

Social classes in the Joseon period

1. wang jok 왕족- The royal family

social classes in the Joseon period: the royal family

Ji Jin-hee as King Sukjong (1661-1720)

The Royal family was the top class and led by the King.

The king ruled the country with the Yangban scholar-officials. But there was also a hierarchy within the kings. Ideally, the king was the son of the queen not a concubine. Although still the King, his legitimacy and claim to the mandate of heaven could be compromised if his mother was only a concubine.

King Sukjong was one of the few kings who ticked all the boxes and he became King with no complaints!

Other members of the Royal family include the queen mother, queen, crown prince, and princes and princesses. The concubines are not part of the royal family. They tend to come from the aristocrat or middle classes, but are still treated respectfully in court.

related posts:

How did people address each other in the Joseon period?

Why do some kings have the title JO and others JONG?

Royal Joseon tombs

Social classes in the Joseon period

2. yangban 양반 – aristocracy

The Leader of the Southern faction Oh Tae-suk오태석

The Leader of the Southern faction Oh Tae-suk in Dong Yi

Aristocracy made up of Confucian scholars were the ruling class that ran the government and the military. They didn’t pay tax. To become a government official, one had to be male and pass a civil service exam (kwago).

The yangban had to lead by Confucian example and were tested on their knowledge of various subjects. Any skeletons in the cupboard – ancestors of low birth etc – would bar them from taking the exam. Children of Yangban went to exclusive private schools.

Within the yangban class there were two groups: scholars and military officials.

But it was more prestigious to be a scholar ideally in the capital rather than in the provinces!( in the provinces they were called hyangban). Very high level yangbang would be addressed as Yong-gam (영감) 

Read more about how to address other in the Joseon period.

social classes in the Joseon period. The aristocrat class includes Military yangban Seo yong-gi서용기

Military yangban Seo yong-gi서용기

Social classes in the Joseon period

3. chungin 중인 (中人 ‘middle people’)

chungin were the middle class. And they were made up of a small group of professionals who took a lower civil examination than the yangban.

They included, doctors, accountants, military officers, and interpreters. Some had duties designed to make sure the social hierarchy was kept in tact, such as the police officers who spent their time chasing after runaway slaves.

social classes in the Joseon period: A leader at the Royal Music School is middle class

A leader at the Royal Music School

Men in the chungin and yangban class are often addressed as nauri ( 나으리) if their level is higher than the person they are speaking to.

policeman gets into a fight trying to catch runaway slaves

Social classes in the Joseon period

4. yangin 양인 commoners (aka sangmin)

Commoners make up the largest class.

They include fishermen, laborers, craftsmen, peasants. Merchants were also in this class although wealthy merchants had a lot of power and influence over the local yangban (this is particularly clear in the drama Sangdo, The Merchant).

They were not as respected as the other members of this class as they relied on trade.

pobusang were traveling peddlers, more respected than regular merchants as they had a better reputation for being honest and were known to act as message carriers often for the King.

Social classes in the Joseon period

5. chonmin 천민 (‘humble people’)

Dong-yi's dad, the coroner

Dong-yi’s dad, the coroner

chonmin were the lowest class.

Dong-yi’s brother and the guard Cha Chun-soo are members of the the chonmin class who have joined a group calling themselves geum-gae who try to help the poor people escape from ill treatment.

The chonmin had jobs considered at the time as distasteful to Buddhist principles or frivolous to a serious confucian society. These jobs include butchers, actors, traveling dancers, shoemakers, executioners, and for a time even Buddhist monks and nuns.

Dong Yi’s father is a coroner. And he’s ridiculed by the police because his job involves handling corpses. 

In the Netflix film Ashin of the north, Ashin’s father is a butcher and is treated poorly by the higher class customers.

Convicts were also included in this class!

Different classes of Chonmin

On the other hand, just because people came from the lowest class doesn’t mean they were poor, uneducated, and powerless.

For instance, female Shaman (manshin) had a lot of spiritual influence even though they came from this class. They could also be fairly wealthy as they charged for conducting exorcisms and expelling bad fortune.

gisaeng, female entertainers for yangban, were Chonmin. But they were educated so that they could entertain the noblemen. They didn’t really get respect from others in society but they could wear nice clothes and lived in their own gisaeng accommodation.

social classes in the Joseon period: The guard is a chonmin servant class

The guard is a chonmin and member of geum-gae

Chonmin names

The chonmin did not usually have surnames.

And first names could be quite shocking too. Children could be given quite unpleasant first names such as “dog muck” 개똥 (ke-ttong) or  말똥 (mal-ttong) “horse muck”.

Yes, really…

Nobi Slaves

The chonmin lived in a separate community from other classes and it was almost impossible to move up from this class.

nobi – were servants taken from the chonmin class to serve yangban and royalty. But as slaves, they were considered the property of their owners and could be given away to other high ranking people.

ID Cards in the Joseon Dynasty

The murdered man gives Dong yi his killer's nametag before he dies.

The murdered man gives Dong yi his killer’s nametag before he dies.

The strict hierarchy was kept in place during the Joseon period with the use of IDs.

Everyone had to carry IDs except the royal family. Generally speaking yangban had the smallest ID ivory tags, chungin had horn tags or small wooden ones depending on their status, yangin had small wooden tags, and chonmin had large wooden tags.

Dong-yi is given a name tag by the dying nobleman in episode 1 of the soldier who killed him. I think he belonged to the chungin class.

Social classes in the Joseon period: Dong yi is born into the servant class

Dong yi as a child

Rules on Marriage

Rules about marriage between the classes seem to have changed several times during the Joseon period.

But during King Yeongjo’s rule it was impossible for a child born with parents from different classes to move up to the higher class. Yongjo changed the law so that if a child was born to a parent from the chonmin class and the other from the higher yangin class then the child could move up into the yangin class.

So the hierarchy was pretty rigid and moving up a class was not an easy thing to do. And yet, Dong Yi manages to move from the servant class into the top  concubine rank! The only higher ranking female in the royal court is the Queen! Clearly, that was pretty amazing and very unusual.

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