Coming of Age in Korea

Coming of Age in Traditional Korean Society

Children of Korea's Joseon dynasty were born into one of four classes. The phrase Sa-nong-gong-sang, or scholars-farmers-craftsmen-merchants, lists them by status.[1] For the most part, the position of children's parents decided their roles as adults. About 10 percent formed the yangban, or scholar nobility. These children trained to become the elite officials of Joseon society. The yangban were further divided into military and civilian families.

Below them were the jungin, a small group of skilled administrators. The majority of children, however, were born into the sangmin peasantry. The sangmin filled every role from farmers to craftsmen to merchants. The lowest free class, the cheonmin, consisted of butchers, shamans, entertainers, and other "unclean" professions.[2][3] Lower still were slaves, who at times made up as much as 50 percent of the population. Korean slavery ended in 1894, after the system's slow decline.[4]

Gwallye Coming-of-Age Ceremonies

The primary coming-of-age ceremony for young Koreans is gwallye. Once limited to male members of the royal family, the rites soon caught on among officials and the common people. They were held on the third Monday of May for 19-year-old boys and 15-year-old girls. At this time, young people received their adult names, clothing, and duties. This included the hanbok outfit and topknot or bun hairstyles. It was around this time that a young yangban man began taking the exams that would decide his future.

The gwallye ceremony began in 965 CE under the Goryeo dynasty. It was once a requirement for marriage and, supposedly, the day of a young man's first kiss. Today, the ceremony is not commonly practiced in South Korea. Some areas, however, still present awards to promising young adults.[5]

Learning and Examinations in Korean Society

Education is one of the oldest and proudest traditions of Korea. Confucian society valued academic achievement and honor above all else. Officials qualified for posts only after passing a series of state exams. As one of the few ways to gain status, these exams became highly competitive. They demanded grueling hours of study and a quick mind to stand out. Male yangban learned to read, write, discuss philosophy, and conform to Confucian society. Yangban women received less education, but many are still remembered as writers, poets, and musicians.[3][6]

Coming of Age in Modern South Korea

After Japanese occupation and the Korean War, South Korea faced the task of rebuilding a divided nation. It did so by reviving its tradition of education, now open to students from all backgrounds. New generations of Korean scholars flooded schools both at home and abroad, creating a modern workforce in the process. Exams are now as important as ever, this time for college admissions.[7][8]

Youth culture, as seen in industries like K-pop and TV dramas, thrives in South Korea. Most younger Koreans live in modern cities and interact with Western culture regularly. They not only consume entertainment but create it for a global audience. Older generations, on the other hand, tend to be more conservative in their beliefs. Youth unemployment and financial instability among the elderly, who traditionally relied on their children for support, are ongoing issues in Korean society.[9]

Bibliography

1. Dae Joong. Kang, Life and Learning of Korean Artists and Craftsmen: Rhizoactivity (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2015), 69.

2. Djun Kil Kim, The History of Korea (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2017), 95-96.

3. Michael J. Seth, Hawaii Studies on Korea: Education Fever: Society, Politics, and the Pursuit of Schooling in South Korea (Honolulu, HI, USA: University of Hawaii Press, 2002), 9-14.

4. Robert C. Feenstra and Gary G. Hamilton, Emergent Economies, Divergent Paths: Economic Organization and International Trade in South Korea and Taiwan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 186-187.

5. Victoria Williams, Celebrating Life Customs Around the World: From Baby Showers to Funerals (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017), 105-107.

6. Dong-Sook Shin Gills, Rural Women and Triple Exploitation in Korean Development (New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 2016).

7. Michael J. Seth, A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011).

8. Elise Hu, "The All-Work, No-Play Culture Of South Korean Education," NPR, April 15, 2015, NPR, accessed May 02, 2017.

9. Young-ha Kim, "In Seoul, Reserved Seating Spawns Young-Old Conflict," The Straits Times, January 22, 2016, Singapore Press Holdings, accessed May 02, 2017.

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