The Village Gentleman
Joseon Korean society was effectively divided into two social classes: the peasants and yangban. The yangban were a class of civil servants and military officials. Families maintained their yangban status…
Location: North Korea; South Korea
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
"The Village Gentleman" from Village Life in Korea by J. Robert Moose, 1911.
In Korea, theoretically speaking, there are but two classes of society; but, as a matter of fact, there are three well-defined classes. The two classes which are supposed to constitute the entire social system are the gentleman, or yang-ban, and the low class, or syangnome. The yang-ban is supposed to be a gentleman of blood; that is, by inheritance he is better than common humanity and is not to be thought of as belonging to the same class. At some time (it may be in the very far distant past (yes, as much as ten generations ago) some of his ancestors held office and were considered gentlemen by the king; and by virtue of this fact he has inherited certain rights and privileges that do not come to the common herd.
The fact that he is a gentleman is sufficient ground for him to excuse himself from everything in the shape and form of common labor. He is born to rule; that is, to hold office and get his living by the labor of other men's hands. The passion to hold office and to rule seems to be one of the strongest in the breast of the yang-ban; to obtain worldly honor and power is the goal which has been placed for him, and toward the obtaining of this he bends whatever energy he may be disposed to use.
In the arts of politeness our village gentleman is a past master of the first degree. From the time he can walk and talk, the study of polite forms of speech and action are his daily duties. In the making of bows and prostrations he is a perfect artist. It matters little what other traits he might or might not possess, if he be deficient in these he can never hope to win favor with the king and rise to a place of position and power among those that rule. In the mind of every gentleman this polish in all matters pertaining to etiquette is considered of first importance.
To all his other graces he adds that of patience, and cultivates it so much that one is tempted to think it a virtue not to be desired in this world, where men must move in order to succeed. But be this as it may, patience and self-possession are virtues which the gentleman thinks it worth while to cultivate. He can easily forgive one for telling a falsehood or for taking too large a percent of an amount of trust funds that passed through his hands, but to show any signs of impatience or impoliteness would be sins not to be pardoned.
He is a being of such wonderful self-possession as to almost place him beyond the circle of common mortals. A bit of startling news or a sudden commotion that would upset the majority of us common beings will have little or no effect on him, and he will quietly pursue the even tenor of his way just as if nothing had happened or ever will happen to disturb the quietude of mortals here below. I have already spoken of the passion that he has for holding office and obtaining honor among men. There is another about as strong, and closely allied to it. It is the study of Chinese characters and the wise meanings that are done up and held in the embrace of these curious but intensely interesting hieroglyphics.
The Chinese written language is the classic language of Korea, and has been from the time she had a written language. In it all the government business is recorded and all official letters are written. Before the coming of Protestant missionaries there were no books of any standing printed in the native script, but everything in this line was in the Chinese characters.
This being the language in which all government business is transacted, the study of it becomes therefore a prime necessity for all who aspire to government positions. The mastery of these characters is nothing short of the work of a lifetime, and it must be a pretty long life at that; so our village gentleman begins in early childhood to study Chinese. But as we have a chapter on the village school, I leave this subject for that place; only it must be understood that if our gentleman is to hold first rank, he must be a lifelong student of the Chinese characters.
Our village gentleman is strictly opposed to undertaking anything that looks like manual labor. He may be ever so poor (yes, even dependent on others for his daily rice) but to get out and work is out of his line of business. It is no disgrace for him to go hungry, but to engage in any sort of manual labor would at once lower his standing as a gentleman and ruin his prospects for future promotion along the lines which gentlemen only are supposed to travel.
The fact that he is a gentleman through no fault or merit of his own, gives him a standing in the village which commands the respect of all his neighbors. I said respect; perhaps that is the word, after all. But it must not be taken here in the sense of admiration, since it often happens that our village gentleman is the "best hated man" in all the country for miles around.
Yet, nevertheless, his standing as a gentleman of the blood is such that he must be respected by people who are of a lower type of mortals (if not from love, then from fear. It should be kept in mind that he is a gentleman for the simple reason that he was born a gentleman, and on no other grounds can he usually claim this distinction. He is a gentleman and can't help it, and is sometimes rather to be pitied than blamed. If he wished ever so much to cut loose from the forms of ancient custom that bind him and take away his individuality, he would be helpless to do so because he is a gentleman so born. There is but one way open to him, and that is the same road which has been traveled by his ancestors for ages past, and in this way he must go or suffer the consequences.
If he wants a new suit or a new hat or a pair of shoes, there is very little choice, since all these things are fixed by what men who have gone before him have done. He has no choice as to pattern and very little as to color, since all wear the same style and color, according to rank and position in life. His hat is the same style as that worn by his servant; it will be made of finer material. Likewise his entire suit will be of the same pattern as other man's, but if he can afford it, of finer goods. Where the cotton man wears common goods he will wear linen and silk. Some of his dress coats are of such a fine texture that they remind one of the spider's web.
...His appearance is dainty, not to say "dandy." His feet and hands are small and trim, his hands soft, and the nails on the little fingers allowed to grow long as a sign that he does no manual labor. In the summer season he always carries his fan, with which he shades his eyes or fans as he may wish. He wears spectacles of a huge size. These are for show rather than for service, though he may have a pair that will be useful in reading.
In conclusion, let me say that our village gentleman that, with all his faults and shortcoming, he has much that is not altogether bad and a little that is good, with the ability for development in all that is best....
Bibliography
J. Robert Moose, Village Life in Korea (Nashville, TN: Publishing House of the M.E. Church, 1911), 99-105.
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