100-512: Paek Ki-haeng ( Korean : 백기행 ; 1 July 1912 – 7 January 1996), known by his art name Paek Sŏk ( 백석 ) was a North Korean poet. He was born in Chŏngju in North Pyongan , and started his journalist career at Chosun Ilbo in 1934. He published his first poem "Chŏngju Fortress" (정주성, Jeongjuseong ) on 31 August 1935 issue of Chosun Ilbo . On 20 January next year, he published
200-456: A kisaeng house, but these locations are mostly modern interpretations of old kisaeng houses. The oldest traditional kisaeng house in Korea, Ohjinam (오진암), was closed in 2010. Today, the kisaeng 's evolution and impact on Korean society is receiving new attention as Koreans increase efforts to rediscover and revitalize their cultural and historical heritage. However, this interest
300-589: A kisaeng , and named her Jaya. In 1938, he proposed to her that they leave for Manchuria and live free there. But, she refused proposal fearing that she would stand in his way. She left for Keijō alone. Then, he wrote Me, Natasha and a White Donkey (나와 나타샤와 흰 당나귀, Nawa natashawa huin dangnagui ). In January 1939, he returned to Keijō and met Jaya again. On 26 January 1939 he rejoined Chosun Ilbo and resigned on 21 October 1939. He wrote travel poetry, "Traveling Western" (서행시초, Seohaengsicho ) traveling Pyongan and Hamgyong . In 1940 he left for Manchuria and got
400-612: A system of speech levels and honorifics indicative of the formality of any given situation. Modern Korean is written in the Korean script ( 한글 ; Hangeul in South Korea, 조선글 ; Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea), a system developed during the 15th century for that purpose, although it did not become the primary script until the 20th century. The script uses 24 basic letters ( jamo ) and 27 complex letters formed from
500-484: A Korean influence on Khitan. The hypothesis that Korean could be related to Japanese has had some supporters due to some overlap in vocabulary and similar grammatical features that have been elaborated upon by such researchers as Samuel E. Martin and Roy Andrew Miller . Sergei Starostin (1991) found about 25% of potential cognates in the Japanese–Korean 100-word Swadesh list . Some linguists concerned with
600-459: A class and rose to prominence during the Goryeo dynasty, 935–1394. They are first mentioned in the early 11th century. At this time, they were primarily engaged in skilled trades such as needlework , music, and medicine. The female entertainers of the court during this period filled a role similar to that later filled by almost all kisaeng . Due to the growth of the kisaeng class, during
700-686: A collection of his poems entitled Deer which was a limited edition of 100. Deer consisted of seven poems which were already published and the others new. On 29 January, a gathering to commemorate the publication of Deer was held at Taeseogwan and eleven people including Kim Kirim and Shin Hyun-jung got involved as proposers. This year, he resigned from the company and started for his new post as an English teacher in Yeongsaeng high school in Hamhung . In Hamhung, he fell in love with Kim Jin-hyang,
800-407: A collection of the poems he had written entitled Deer (사슴, Sasŭm ). Even though Deer contained 33 poems, many of which were new, seven of them were already published in magazines or newspapers in slightly different forms. Until 1948, he published about 60 more pieces, but is not believed to have produced another poetry book. In South Korea, the publication of his works was strictly prohibited for
900-542: A collective farm in Samsu . In October 1962, he quit writing as the criticism of reactionism grew intense. South Koreans and Japanese long believed that Paek Sŏk had died on the farm in 1963. However, it was revealed that he lived until 1996. Paek Sŏk utilized not only Pyongan dialect and archaic words but also language from other provinces. He tried to preserve Korean rural culture and language by listing traditional plays and foods in his poems. To emphasize this, he used to set
1000-480: A core vowel. The IPA symbol ⟨ ◌͈ ⟩ ( U+0348 ◌͈ COMBINING DOUBLE VERTICAL LINE BELOW ) is used to denote the tensed consonants /p͈/, /t͈/, /k͈/, /t͡ɕ͈/, /s͈/ . Its official use in the extensions to the IPA is for "strong" articulation, but is used in the literature for faucalized voice . The Korean consonants also have elements of stiff voice , but it is not yet known how typical this
1100-446: A few kisaeng were able to maintain their business for very long beyond this time. It may be for this reason that the kisaeng training institutes accepted entrants as young as eight. All kisaeng were obliged by law to retire at age 50. The best prospect most kisaeng had for long-term support was through becoming the concubine of a patron. However, even this was not an option unless their patron first purchased them from
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#17327866542381200-463: A few extinct relatives which—along with the Jeju language (Jejuan) of Jeju Island and Korean itself—form the compact Koreanic language family . Even so, Jejuan and Korean are not mutually intelligible . The linguistic homeland of Korean is suggested to be somewhere in contemporary Manchuria . The hierarchy of the society from which the language originates deeply influences the language, leading to
1300-529: A few hundred in the larger centers and smaller numbers in the hyeon villages. They were also found in the "stations" and inns which provided food and shelter to travelers along the country's arterial roads, such as the Great Yeongnam Road . The number and characteristics of the kisaeng varied greatly from region to region. During the Joseon period, the city with the most kisaeng by far
1400-577: A job at Economics Department in Manchukuo with the help of his friends. But he resigned six months later because of pressure to follow Sōshi-kaimei . In 1942 he worked at customs in Andong . After the restoration of Korean independence, he returned to his hometown, Chongju. He studied children's literature and was criticized by the literary world in North Korea. In June 1962, he became a shepherd in
1500-548: A leading role in the independence struggle. Aengmu , a kisaeng of Daegu , was a major donor to the National Debt Repayment Movement in the early 20th century. Some fifty kisaeng of Jinju took part in a demonstration as part of the March 1st Movement in 1919. Kisaeng seem to have been relatively few in number, at the most a few thousand. They were spread throughout the country, with
1600-424: A leading role. This was in part due to their unique role as women who could move freely in society. Kisaeng appear as heroines in stories such as Chunhyangga , and as important figures in many other Joseon-era narratives. Kisaeng also began to appear in the vernacular art of later Joseon. They are particularly common in the work of the famed early 19th-century painter Hyewon , whose work focused on both
1700-553: A narrator as a child. His poems are generally based on nostalgia for his home. In his poetry, home is described as a place that has no material affluence but embodies spiritual values. "The Folks in Fox-Lurking Village" (여우난 곬족, Yeounan goljok ) shows such features. Korean language Korean ( South Korean : 한국어 , Hanguk-eo ; North Korean : 조선어 , Chosŏnŏ ) is the native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It
1800-434: A new official arrived in the area. In addition, they were required to report for continuing education , usually focused on music and dance. The frequency and content of this training varied from region to region. However, the detailed affairs of the kisaeng were not directly overseen by the state. Order was kept within each gyobang , which might include some tens of kisaeng , by the haengsu kisaeng , those of
1900-574: A possible relationship.) Hudson & Robbeets (2020) suggested that there are traces of a pre- Nivkh substratum in Korean. According to the hypothesis, ancestral varieties of Nivkh (also known as Amuric ) were once distributed on the Korean Peninsula before the arrival of Koreanic speakers. Korean syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), consisting of an optional onset consonant, glide /j, w, ɰ/ and final coda /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, l/ surrounding
2000-588: A prevalent practice during the Japanese occupation, even as the face of the kisaeng profession underwent drastic changes. One of the prominent sijo poets of the era was Hwang Jin-I, who was considered to be one of the most irresistible kisaeng of her time. A famous sijo poem that is attributed to Jin-I is entitled (정산리 벽계수야), which is rumored to be a humorous comeback to a yangban official who boasted that he could pass through Jin-I’s territory without stopping or being tempted by her. Such elements were not as prevalent in
2100-433: A socially despised yet popularly (unofficially) acclaimed artist". Not all kisaeng engaged in prostitution as different groups or tiers of kisaeng had different educations and roles. Numerous accounts report individual kisaeng as specializing specifically in arts, music, poetry, and conversation skills. The career of most kisaeng was very short, generally peaking at age 16 or 17, and over by age 22. Only
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#17327866542382200-433: A tourist attraction for the Japanese in Korea, especially Seoul. Even though there is information on prostitution within Korean history regarding the kisaeng over the centuries from pre-modern to contemporary times, there is little information on prostitution and the climate that the kisaeng were exposed to during the colonial period. Prior to the Japanese occupation, kisaeng were courtesans, artists, and poets. However, during
2300-538: A while because he was labelled as a North Korean poet and a communist. However, since 1987 when a collection of his works (poems and essays) were first introduced after the Korean War , he has been widely re-evaluated by scholars and critics. He is now regarded as having opened a new face of Korean socialist modernism with a group of literary writers. In 2007, he was listed by the Korean Poets' Association among
2400-656: Is an agglutinative language . The Korean language is traditionally considered to have nine parts of speech . Modifiers generally precede the modified words, and in the case of verb modifiers, can be serially appended. The sentence structure or basic form of a Korean sentence is subject–object–verb (SOV), but the verb is the only required and immovable element and word order is highly flexible, as in many other agglutinative languages. Question 가게에 gage-e store- LOC 가셨어요? ga-syeo-sseo-yo go- HON . PAST - CONJ - POL 가게에 가셨어요? gage-e ga-syeo-sseo-yo store-LOC go-HON.PAST-CONJ-POL 'Did [you] go to
2500-511: Is closer to a near-open central vowel ( [ɐ] ), though ⟨a⟩ is still used for tradition. Grammatical morphemes may change shape depending on the preceding sounds. Examples include -eun/-neun ( -은/-는 ) and -i/-ga ( -이/-가 ). Sometimes sounds may be inserted instead. Examples include -eul/-reul ( -을/-를 ), -euro/-ro ( -으로/-로 ), -eseo/-seo ( -에서/-서 ), -ideunji/-deunji ( -이든지/-든지 ) and -iya/-ya ( -이야/-야 ). Some verbs may also change shape morphophonemically. Korean
2600-488: Is focused almost entirely on the historical kisaeng of the Joseon period, and not on the traces of the kisaeng which endure today. In North Korea, all kisaeng descendants were labelled as members of the 'hostile class' and are considered to have 'bad songbun', i.e. "tainted blood". Kisaeng have played important roles in Korean popular literature since the mid-Joseon dynasty. As popular literature such as novels and pansori emerged, kisaeng often took
2700-547: Is likely that their work was not deemed valuable enough to keep or store. A large amount of their poetry survive, Hwang Jin-I being one of the most famous kisaeng poets (Book: Songs of the Kisaeng: courtesan poetry of the last Korean dynasty) . While very little of their painting survive, the National Museum of Korea has thirteen of Juk-hyang's paintings of plants and flowers. In the Japanese colonial period, though
2800-399: Is mainly reserved for specific circumstances such as newspapers, scholarly papers and disambiguation. Today Hanja is largely unused in everyday life but is still important for historical and linguistic studies. The Korean names for the language are based on the names for Korea used in both South Korea and North Korea. The English word "Korean" is derived from Goryeo , which is thought to be
2900-399: Is of faucalized consonants. They are produced with a partially constricted glottis and additional subglottal pressure in addition to tense vocal tract walls, laryngeal lowering, or other expansion of the larynx. /s/ is aspirated [sʰ] and becomes an alveolo-palatal [ɕʰ] before [j] or [i] for most speakers (but see North–South differences in the Korean language ). This occurs with
3000-581: Is the national language of both North Korea and South Korea . Beyond Korea, the language is recognized as a minority language in parts of China , namely Jilin , and specifically Yanbian Prefecture , and Changbai County . It is also spoken by Sakhalin Koreans in parts of Sakhalin , the Russian island just north of Japan, and by the Koryo-saram in parts of Central Asia . The language has
3100-747: Is well attested in Western Old Japanese and Northern Ryukyuan languages , in Eastern Old Japanese it only occurs in compounds, and it is only present in three dialects of the Southern Ryukyuan language group . Also, the doublet wo meaning "hemp" is attested in Western Old Japanese and Southern Ryukyuan languages. It is thus plausible to assume a borrowed term. (See Classification of the Japonic languages or Comparison of Japanese and Korean for further details on
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3200-454: The kisaeng themselves have receded further into the past. One theory actually places their origins in the Silla , among the wonhwa , female predecessors of the hwarang . However, there is little to suggest a concrete link between Silla's wonhwa and the later kisaeng . Also, the wonhwa seem to have been chosen from among the aristocracy, whereas kisaeng were always members of
3300-472: The 1592–1598 Japanese invasions of Korea , kisaeng were often made to entertain the generals of the victorious army. Some of Korea's most famous kisaeng , including Nongae of Jinju , are remembered today for their bravery in killing or attempting to kill leaders of the imperial Japanese army. Some kisaeng were also active in the Korean independence movements of the early 20th century. In this they resembled other women of Joseon, who often took
3400-540: The Geommu , a traditional sword dance. Those of Jeju were known for their equestrian prowess. In many cases, the noted skills of a region's kisaeng corresponded with some other local claim to fame. The kisaeng of the Gwandong region on the east coast, home to many famous sights including Mount Kumgang , memorized the gwan dong byeol gok ( 관동별곡 ; 關東別曲 ), a poem recounting their region's scenery. Those of
3500-903: The Honam region in the southwest were trained in pansori , while those of the seonbi city Andong could recite the Great Learning (Daxue; Daehak) by heart. Official histories of Korea do not mention kisaeng often. They enter only occasionally into official records such as the Goryeosa or Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty . For example, the Royal Protocols, or Ǔigwe ( 의궤 ; 儀軌 ), records names of those who worked to prepare for important court rituals, and some kisaeng are listed as needleworkers. Yet references to kisaeng are quite widespread in
3600-524: The Korean dialects , which are still largely mutually intelligible . The Chinese language , written with Chinese characters and read with Sino-Xenic pronunciations , was first introduced to Korea in the 1st century BC, and remained the medium of formal writing and government until the late 19th century. Korean scholars adapted Chinese characters (known in Korean as Hanja ) to write their own language, creating scripts known as idu , hyangchal , gugyeol , and gakpil. These systems were cumbersome, due to
3700-451: The March 1st Movement . Cho Man-sik , who was the principal of Osan school, was arrested and the school had to be closed for a year and a half. In 1924, Paek graduated from Osan elementary school and entered Osan middle and high school. He admired Kim So-wol , who was six years his senior, and got interested in literature. He was a top-scoring student, but he could not enter university because of financial difficulties. In January 1930, he won
3800-568: The Three Kingdoms of Korea (not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula), while " -eo " and " -mal " mean "language" and "speech", respectively. Korean is also simply referred to as guk-eo , literally "national language". This name is based on the same Han characters ( 國語 "nation" + "language") that are also used in Taiwan and Japan to refer to their respective national languages. In North Korea and China ,
3900-413: The yadam or "anecdotal histories" of later Joseon and Silhak thinkers such as Yi Ik and Jeong Yakyong , known as Dasan , who gave some thought to their role and station in society. A few records of kisaeng that exist are used in the study of their history, such as Joseon Haeeohwhasa ( 조선해어화사 ; 朝鮮解語花史 ), Nogpajapgi ( 녹파잡기 ; 綠派雜記 ), and Joseon miinbogam ( 조선미인보감 ; 朝鮮美人寶鑑 ),
4000-915: The 16th century for all Korean classes, including uneducated peasants and slaves. By the 17th century, the yangban had exchanged Hangul letters with slaves, which suggests a high literacy rate of Hangul during the Joseon era. In the context of growing Korean nationalism in the 19th century, the Gabo Reform of 1894 abolished the Confucian examinations and decreed that government documents would be issued in Hangul instead of literary Chinese. Some newspapers were published entirely in Hangul, but other publications used Korean mixed script , with Hanja for Sino-Korean vocabulary and Hangul for other elements. North Korea abolished Hanja in writing in 1949, but continues to teach them in schools. Their usage in South Korea
4100-415: The 1920s, while Korea remained under Japanese occupation, the role of kisaeng shifted from entertainers to sex workers. This transition allowed the Japanese police to have control over female bodies through the prostitution licensing system that Japan employed. Chang Han, a magazine run largely by kisaeng, discussed the personal lives of a kisaeng in conjunction with their professional ones, stating that before
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4200-443: The Japanese colonial period, between 1910 and 1945. Although true gwŏnbŏn no longer existed, an academic convention developed where students would study privately with former kisaeng or gwŏnbŏn entertainers. Very few traditional kisaeng houses continue to operate in South Korea, and many traditions and dances are considered to be lost forever. Some South Korean businesses continue to escort visiting foreign business people to
4300-414: The Japanese occupation, the kisaeng were of lower caste and able to interact with those of a higher caste. However, after the start of the Japanese occupation, the kisaeng had to actively navigate a restructured sex market in colonial Korea. Chang Han also discussed how the kisaeng of the time were able to interweave femininity with the arts, to create a more cultured approach that allowed them to compete with
4400-453: The Joseon dynasty, the kisaeng system continued to flourish and develop, despite the government's deeply ambivalent attitude toward it. Joseon was founded on Korean Confucianism , and these scholars of the time took a very dim view of professional women and of the kisaeng class in particular. There were many calls for the abolition of the kisaeng , or for their exclusion from court, but these were not successful—perhaps because of
4500-454: The age of 50. They received guests only by choice. The haengsu ( 행수 ; 行首 ) of each district, who was the leader of the kisaeng , took charge of discipline and training new kisaeng . Kisaeng of the lowest tier were called samp'ae ( 삼패 ; 三牌 ). The samp'ae were forbidden to perform the songs and dances of the ilp'ae . The three-tiered system, like other aspects of Joseon class division , broke down in
4600-469: The basic ones. When first recorded in historical texts, Korean was only a spoken language . Since the turn of the 21st century, aspects of Korean culture have spread to other countries through globalization and cultural exports . As such, interest in Korean language acquisition (as a foreign language ) is also generated by longstanding alliances, military involvement, and diplomacy, such as between South Korea–United States and China–North Korea since
4700-455: The beginnings of words. /l/ becomes alveolar flap [ɾ] between vowels, and [l] or [ɭ] at the end of a syllable or next to another /l/ . A written syllable-final ' ㄹ ', when followed by a vowel or a glide ( i.e. , when the next character starts with ' ㅇ '), migrates to the next syllable and thus becomes [ɾ] . Traditionally, /l/ was disallowed at the beginning of a word. It disappeared before [j] , and otherwise became /n/ . However,
4800-489: The center of a town, often close to the marketplace. They were laid out to create a welcoming effect; in many cases, a location was chosen with a fine view, and the area around the house would be landscaped with ornamental pools and plantings. Kisaeng played a number of important political roles, as servants of the state and in their own right. They were employed to entertain visiting foreign dignitaries from parts of China , and to accompany them if they travelled through
4900-411: The class by families who could not afford to support them. Most such families were of cheonmin rank, but sometimes poor families of higher status sold their children in this fashion. On occasion, even women from the yangban aristocracy were made kisaeng , usually because they had violated the strict sexual mores of the Joseon period. As kisaeng were skilled workers from the beginning,
5000-449: The country. Thanks to their frequenting the taverns and guest-houses of the town, kisaeng were often among the most knowledgeable on local affairs. For this reason, they were at times a key source of intelligence. It was through information supplied by kisaeng that the rebel army of Hong Gyeong-nae was able to easily take the fortress of Jongju in the early 19th century. When cities fell, as many of Korea's cities did during
5100-675: The end of World War II and the Korean War . Along with other languages such as Chinese and Arabic , Korean is ranked at the top difficulty level for English speakers by the United States Department of Defense . Modern Korean descends from Middle Korean , which in turn descends from Old Korean , which descends from the Proto-Koreanic language , which is generally suggested to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria . Whitman (2012) suggests that
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#17327866542385200-499: The film Chi-hwa-seon was a kisaeng , the companion of painter Owon . Fresh treatments of popular kisaeng stories, including the fictional Chunhyang and the historical Hwang Jin-Yi, continue to emerge in popular novels and cinema. There was a modern re-telling of Kisaeng in the TV series New Tales of Gisaeng . Not very many works by kisaeng are extant to this day. While many were accomplished artists in their time, it
5300-399: The first Korean dynasty known to Western nations. Korean people in the former USSR refer to themselves as Koryo-saram or Koryo-in (literally, " Koryo/Goryeo persons"), and call the language Koryo-mal' . Some older English sources also use the spelling "Corea" to refer to the nation, and its inflected form for the language, culture and people, "Korea" becoming more popular in
5400-630: The first prize with his first novel The Mother and Son (그 모와 아들) in a literary contest hosted by Chosun Ilbo . That made him able to study at Aoyama Gakuin University with a scholarship funded by Chosun Ilbo . In university, he majored in English Literature and also studied French and Russian. Studying abroad, he enjoyed poems of Japanese poet Takuboku Ishikawa and was interested in modernism. In 1934, he entered The Chosun Ilbo 's publishing department, having graduated from
5500-525: The first tier. The course of study lasted three years and covered poetry, dance, music, and art. The most advanced such school was located in Pyongyang . This system continued well into the Japanese colonial period , during which time the schools training kisaeng were known as gwonbeon ( 권번 ). As slaves of the government, the lives of kisaeng were closely regulated. They were overseen by
5600-456: The fundamental disparities between the Korean and Chinese languages, and accessible only to those educated in classical Chinese. Most of the population was illiterate. In the 15th century King Sejong the Great personally developed an alphabetic featural writing system , known today as Hangul , to promote literacy among the common people. Introduced in the document Hunminjeongeum , it
5700-472: The government took an early interest in ensuring correct education. This first emerged with the establishment of gyobang , training institutes for palace kisaeng during the Goryeo period. During the Joseon period, this became further codified, with instruction focusing on music and dance. In the three-tiered system of later Joseon, more specialized training schools were established for kisaeng of
5800-485: The government's legal entertainers, required to perform various functions for the state. Many were employed at court, but they were also spread throughout the country. They were carefully trained and frequently accomplished in the fine arts, poetry, and prose, and although they were of low social class, they were respected as educated artists. Aside from entertainment, their roles included medical care and needlework. Kisaeng play an important role in Korean conceptions of
5900-456: The government. The kisaeng attached to a government office were known as gwan-gi , or " kisaeng of the office". Their role did not, by law, include sexual service to the officeholder; in fact, government officials could be punished severely for consorting with a kisaeng . However, in practice kisaeng were often forced to serve the officeholder. A distinction was sometimes made between those gwan-gi who were obliged to sleep with
6000-519: The highest tier. When problems arose between a kisaeng and a client, or when charges of criminal conduct were made against a kisaeng , the haengsu kisaeng usually took the leading role in resolving the situation. In addition, most kisaeng had a gibu , or " kisaeng husband", who provided protection and economic support, such as buying them valuable things or granting them social status in return for entertainment. Most gibu were former soldiers, government enforcers, or servants of
6100-479: The inflow of western loanwords changed the trend, and now word-initial /l/ (mostly from English loanwords) are pronounced as a free variation of either [ɾ] or [l] . All obstruents (plosives, affricates, fricatives) at the end of a word are pronounced with no audible release , [p̚, t̚, k̚] . Plosive sounds /p, t, k/ become nasals [m, n, ŋ] before nasal sounds. Hangul spelling does not reflect these assimilatory pronunciation rules, but rather maintains
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#17327866542386200-572: The influence of the women themselves, or perhaps because of fear that officials would take to stealing the wives of other men. One such proposal was made during the reign of Sejong the Great , but when an advisor of the court suggested that the abolition of the class would lead to government officials committing grave crimes, the king chose to preserve the kisaeng . During the brief and violent reign of Yeonsangun between 1494 and 1506, kisaeng became symbolic of royal excess. Yeonsan-gun treated women as primarily objects of pleasure, and made even
6300-408: The issue between Japanese and Korean, including Alexander Vovin, have argued that the indicated similarities are not due to any genetic relationship , but rather to a sprachbund effect and heavy borrowing, especially from Ancient Korean into Western Old Japanese . A good example might be Middle Korean sàm and Japanese asá , meaning " hemp ". This word seems to be a cognate, but although it
6400-440: The kisaeng out of the palace and replaced their pimps with the Japanese police. This led to the kisaeng being grouped with licensed prostitutes, called ch’anggi. As the overtaking of Korea by Japan continued, the kisaeng profession responded to social and economic shifts in fashion, schools, and brothel management. Guilds or groups of kisaeng were changed to gwonbeon , which not only was a group of kisaeng under registration but
6500-639: The language is most often called Joseon-mal , or more formally, Joseon-o . This is taken from the North Korean name for Korea (Joseon), a name retained from the Joseon dynasty until the proclamation of the Korean Empire , which in turn was annexed by the Empire of Japan . In mainland China , following the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992, the term Cháoxiǎnyǔ or
6600-431: The last one being written in the Japanese colonial period. Even today, many formal histories of Korea pay little or no heed to the story of the kisaeng . For example, Lee Ki-baik 's New History of Korea does not contain a single reference to the kisaeng . There are various theories concerning the origin of the kisaeng . The first such theory was formulated by the scholar Dasan, and theories have multiplied as
6700-455: The late 1800s. In South Korea the Korean language is referred to by many names including hanguk-eo ("Korean language"), hanguk-mal ("Korean speech") and uri-mal ("our language"); " hanguk " is taken from the name of the Korean Empire ( 대한제국 ; 大韓帝國 ; Daehan Jeguk ). The " han " ( 韓 ) in Hanguk and Daehan Jeguk is derived from Samhan , in reference to
6800-443: The late 19th century. In the course of their careers, some kisaeng were able to amass considerable personal wealth. However, these were the exception. Kisaeng were required to meet their expenses, including food, clothes, and makeup, out of their own personal funds. Women entered the kisaeng class through various paths. Some were the daughters of kisaeng , who inherited their mother's status. Others were sold into
6900-403: The licensed prostitutes. The publication also spoke of how their clientele were seen as friends, rather than as oppressors, and they often had a working relationship with Japanese law enforcement. The 1970s onward saw kisaeng dances and vocabulary partially preserved in the contemporary Korean dance and theatre scene observed in the gwonbeon , kisaeng schools, that predominated during
7000-467: The life of the cheonmin , including kisaeng , and erotic themes. During the colonial period, kisaeng were a popular object to Japanese and Korean painters, and postcards with the picture of Korean kisaeng were circulated in Japan. Kisaeng continue to be central to the understanding and imagining of Joseon culture in contemporary South and North Korea . For example, the female lead in
7100-480: The lower classes. For these reasons, few contemporary scholars support this theory. Many others trace their origins to the early years of Goryeo, when many people were displaced following the end of the Later Three Kingdoms period in 936. At this time, a large number of Baekje people wandered the country. It is not clear whether this nomadic lifestyle was already established, or a consequence of
7200-458: The medicinal kisaeng ( yakbang gisaeng ) into entertainers. Yeonsan-gun brought 1,000 women and girls from the provinces to serve as palace kisaeng ; many of them were paid from the public treasury. He may have been the first to institute a formal hierarchy among them, dividing the kisaeng of the palace into "Heaven", those with whom he slept, and "Earth", those who served other functions. In 1650, all kisaeng were made slaves of
7300-452: The night. The sijo style later came to be associated with kisaeng women, while women of yangban status focused on the gasa form. Kisaeng attached to a local government office were known as gwan-gi , and their status was differentiated from that of the common slaves also attached to the office. They were separately entered on the census rolls. The kisaeng were regarded as of significantly higher status than
7400-466: The northern border. For instance, in the time of Sejong the Great in the 15th century, there were some sixty kisaeng attached to the army base at Yongbyon . In these areas, kisaeng essentially filled the role of wives for the army and their role was commensurately more focused on domestic tasks than entertainment. The kisaeng of other regions also maintained distinctive local identities. The kisaeng of Jinju were particularly adept at
7500-544: The officeholder, and those who were not. This distinction was featured in the popular play Chunhyangga . The Gabo Reform of 1895 officially abolished the class system of Joseon dynasty, and slavery as well. From that year forward, all kisaeng became nominally free, and the gwan-gi no longer belonged to the government. In practice, many kisaeng , like many other slaves, continued in servitude for many years. In addition, many of those who were freed had no alternative career; they continued as entertainers, now without
7600-415: The officer in charge of kisaeng , known as the hojang . The hojang was also in charge of maintaining the kisaeng register, and ensuring that none of the district's kisaeng had fled. Kisaeng were required to answer the requests of patrons, unless they had previously notified the hojang . The kisaeng of the district were expected to appear for inspection twice a month and also when
7700-558: The old capitals of Gaesong and Pyeongyang . The kisaeng of Pyeongyang were noted for their high level of skill and beauty. The kisaeng school of Pyeongyang was one of the country's most advanced, and continued operating until late in the colonial period. The kisaeng of Pyeongyang were also known for their ability to recite the gwan san yung ma , a song by the 18th-century composer Shin Gwangsu . Other large concentrations existed around military camps , particularly along
7800-469: The protections afforded by kisaeng status. During the subsequent decade, many of these kisaeng went elsewhere to work. The kisaeng were considered to be the lowest of the caste system in the Neo-Confucian way of living that had developed in Korea. Kisaeng often composed and sang their own sijo which allowed them to incorporate their emotions and themes into their work. This continued to be
7900-638: The proto-Koreans, already present in northern Korea, expanded into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BC and coexisted with the descendants of the Japonic Mumun cultivators (or assimilated them). Both had influence on each other and a later founder effect diminished the internal variety of both language families. Since the establishment of two independent governments, North–South differences have developed in standard Korean, including variations in pronunciation and vocabulary chosen. However, these minor differences can be found in any of
8000-471: The recent turmoil. In fact, a connection between these wanderers and the nomadic tribes of Manchuria has been conjectured. The first king of Goryeo, Taejo , considered these wanderers to be a threat to the stability of the state. He ordered that they be made into slaves of the government. Although no certain records exist, it is likely that the first kisaeng were drawn from these former wanderers. Regardless of their origins, kisaeng first emerged as
8100-407: The reign of Chungnyeol . The gyobang provided training in the dangak and sogak musical styles. The women trained in the gyobang were exclusively court entertainers. Their role in the affairs of the court became increasingly important as the dynasty progressed. They entertained both the king and visiting dignitaries, a role which continued into the Joseon period. In addition, beginning in
8200-409: The reign of Munjong , they performed at official ceremonies of the state. Just as the origin of the kisaeng is unclear, so is their precise relation to other strata of society. The female entertainers who appear in records are exclusively kisaeng of the court, and are recorded as slaves of the government. Goryeo was succeeded by the Joseon dynasty, which lasted from 1394 to 1897. During
8300-411: The reign of Myeongjong the state began to keep records (called gijeok ) of the kisaeng living in each jurisdiction. Around this time, the state also made its first efforts to set up educational institutions to train kisaeng entertainers. These academies were known as gyobang , and first appear in history with their abolition by King Hyeonjong in 1010. However, they were re-established in
8400-457: The royal household. At times, there was friction between would-be customers and possessive gibu , although the gibu was not the kisaeng 's husband and had no legal claim to her. The role of the gibu changed over time; at first, many kisaeng in government service had no such patron. However, by the late Joseon dynasty, the gibu system was more or less universal. In the Joseon dynasty, kisaeng houses were typically located near
8500-669: The short form Cháoyǔ has normally been used to refer to the standard language of North Korea and Yanbian , whereas Hánguóyǔ or the short form Hányǔ is used to refer to the standard language of South Korea. Korean is a member of the Koreanic family along with the Jeju language . Some linguists have included it in the Altaic family, but the core Altaic proposal itself has lost most of its prior support. The Khitan language has several vocabulary items similar to Korean that are not found in other Mongolian or Tungusic languages, suggesting
8600-407: The slaves, although technically they were all of cheonmin rank. Though they were of low social class, the kisaeng held a unique role in ancient Korea's society, and were respected for their career as educated artists and writers. For this reason, they were sometimes spoken of as "possessing the body of the lower class but the mind of the aristocrat" and as having a "paradoxical identity as
8700-453: The son of Paek Si-bak (백시박, 白時璞) and Yi Pong-wu (李鳳宇). His father worked at Chosun Ilbo as a photographer. Paek Si-bak was not wealthy, but he participated in raising building funds for Osan school. Yi Pong-wu was known as a neat and good cook. In 1918, Paek Sŏk entered Osan elementary school (founded in 1907) and his brother, Hyeob-haeng, was born. In 1919 Osan school was entirely burned down by Japanese military police for reasons that led to
8800-481: The state, which few men of the Joseon period could afford. Thus, most former kisaeng went on to work in or manage a local tavern. In the later period of Joseon, a three-tiered system developed. The highest tier was occupied by ilp'ae ( 일패 ; 一牌 ) who sang and danced at upper-class feasts. Ilp'ae kisaeng were not permitted to entertain after they turned 30. However, they could continue working in other duties, such as dressmaking and medicine, until
8900-428: The store?' Response 예/네. ye/ne AFF Kisaeng Kisaeng ( Korean : 기생 ; Hanja : 妓生 ; RR : Gisaeng ), also called ginyeo ( 기녀 ; 妓女 ), were enslaved women from outcast or enslaved families who were trained to be courtesans , providing artistic entertainment and conversation to men of upper class. First appearing in Goryeo , kisaeng were
9000-591: The ten most important modern Korean poets. His real name is Paek Ki-haeng, and his nickname is Paek Ki-yŏn (백기연, 白夔衍) in 1915. After the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945 and the liberation of Korea, he changed his name to Paek Sŏk, and his main residence was Suwon. The name Seok is known to have been used because he loved the beginning of Takuboku Ishikawa , a Japanese poet. Paek Sŏk was born named Paek Ki-haeng in Chongju , North Pyongan on 1 July 1912,
9100-441: The tense fricative and all the affricates as well. At the end of a syllable, /s/ changes to /t/ (example: beoseot ( 버섯 ) 'mushroom'). /h/ may become a bilabial [ɸ] before [o] or [u] , a palatal [ç] before [j] or [i] , a velar [x] before [ɯ] , a voiced [ɦ] between voiced sounds, and a [h] elsewhere. /p, t, t͡ɕ, k/ become voiced [b, d, d͡ʑ, ɡ] between voiced sounds. /m, n/ frequently denasalize at
9200-450: The traditional culture of the Joseon . Although the names of most real kisaeng have been forgotten, a few are remembered for an outstanding attribute, such as skill or loyalty. The most famous of these is the 16th century Hwang Jini . Throughout the Goryeo and Joseon periods, kisaeng held the status of cheonmin , the lowest in society. They shared this status with other entertainers, as well as butchers and slaves. Status
9300-464: The underlying, partly historical morphology . Given this, it is sometimes hard to tell which actual phonemes are present in a certain word. The traditional prohibition of word-initial /ɾ/ became a morphological rule called "initial law" ( 두음법칙 ) in the pronunciation standards of South Korea, which pertains to Sino-Korean vocabulary. Such words retain their word-initial /ɾ/ in the pronunciation standards of North Korea. For example, ^NOTE ㅏ
9400-492: The university. He edited a sister magazine Feminine (여성, Yeoseong ) and translated foreign works and papers. He started to work officially as a writer and a translator releasing an essay "Earrings" (이설 귀고리, Iseol Guigori ) on 16 May 1934. Translating D. S. Mirsky 's paper made him think about how valuable the Korean language is and how to preserve it with poetry. On 31 August 1935, he made public his first poem "Chongju Fortress". On 20 January 1936, he published at his own expense
9500-609: The work of their male counterparts from the same era. The economic depression that Korea faced at the time of the Japanese occupation led to an impoverished female population being exposed to the labor market. The transition from the Sino-Japanese War to colonial Korea helped expand the sex market. Such expansion came in the form of new laws such as the Kisaeng Regulation Order or Kisaeng Tansongnyŏng ( 기생 단속령 ; 妓生團束令 ) enacted in 1908 which forced
9600-482: Was Seoul , then called Hanseong, with perhaps 1000. Many of these worked for the court, and helped to fill the vast number of trained entertainers needed for grand festivals. Beautiful or talented kisaeng were often taken from the provinces to Seoul. The required training for kisaeng in Seoul was regular and very strict, with inattentive kisaeng sent home. There were also large numbers of kisaeng in
9700-404: Was also a school to teach young kisaeng mainly traditional art, such as calligraphy, dance, and songs. During the colonial period, the preexisting tiers or structures of kisaeng disappeared, and they were more viewed as relevant to prostitution than before. Most of the kisaeng of this time performed in restaurants or entertainment houses to earn a living, and they were often seen as
9800-533: Was called eonmun ('colloquial script') and quickly spread nationwide to increase literacy in Korea. The Korean alphabet was denounced by the yangban aristocracy, who looked down upon it too easy to learn. However, it gained widespread use among the common class and was widely used to print popular novels which were enjoyed by the common class. Since few people could understand official documents written in classical Chinese, Korean kings sometimes released public notices entirely written in Hangul as early as
9900-405: Was hereditary, so the children of a kisaeng were also of cheonmin status, and daughters automatically became kisaeng as well. Beginning in the Goryeo period, the governing offices in each district kept a registry of kisaeng , to ensure thorough oversight. The same practice was followed for conscripted slaves. Kisaeng could only be released from their position if a hefty price
10000-434: Was paid to the government; this could only be done by a wealthy patron, typically a high government official. Many kisaeng were skilled in poetry, and numerous sijo composed by kisaeng have survived. These often reflect themes of heartache and parting, similar to poems composed by scholars in exile. In addition, some of the most famous kisaeng poems were composed to persuade prominent scholars to spend
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