What's left of Korean culture?

By Mark Peterson

With the loss of so-called "Korean age" that I've written about lately, I've started thinking about what else we've lost, and what we still have. Are some of these remaining cultural items on their way out, too? Are they still worth keeping? Or should some of them be next to throw out the window?

To answer this question, I think of the set of cultural items tied up in a bundle that Koreans call "bu-gye sahoe" ― "patrilineal society." Some refer to this bundle as "the patriarchy," but sociologists look at these issues as part of what's called a patrilineal society. The first item in the bundle is inheritance. In a patrilineal society, inheritance is handed down through the male lines from father to eldest son. In a patrilineal society, males dominate in many other areas.

Korea, from the late 17th century onward, developed into a completely perfected patrilineal organization with almost all social action dominated by the males ― for example, marriage was held at the groom's village, with brides coming from other villages and daughters marrying out to other patrilineal villages. Thereby we see the development of the single-surname village.

The "patrilineal bundle" includes inheritance practices, marriage customs, ancestor ceremonies, son preference, adoption within the bloodline when a son is not born, village organization on the basis of the male line and the writing of "jokbo" ― genealogical books focusing on the male line. With these practices come attitudes, embodied in familiar sayings such as "men are honored and women abased" and "when the daughter marries out she becomes a stranger." The idea of divorce was biased in favor of the husband ― he could divorce a wife for any of seven reasons, some of which were simple or silly, like "talkativeness," "jealousy" and "incurable disease."

In today's world, much of the patrilineal bundle has fallen apart. Equality for women is seen in many areas ― I understand that 70 percent of the incoming class of diplomats, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the last several years have been female. Women see equality in education and medicine. They are not as strong in business, yet.

The traditional words for marriage ― "sijipganda" and "janggaganda" ― have become meaningless. One doesn't "go" to the bride's home or the groom's home. And one doesn't live in a "jipseongchon" ― a single-surname village ― the paradigm of the patrilineal social order, where all men are related and have the same surname, and all women are either wives who have married in, or daughters who are soon to marry out.

Much of the patrilineal bundle has been destroyed through urbanization. People live in high-rise apartments, not single-surname villages. Families are smaller or non-existent so the idea of having a son to carry on the line is out the window. And no longer are one's brother's or cousin's sons "adopted" or transferred to the family where there are no sons ― once a practice that involved 15 percent of the population. Many families say daughters are preferred over sons.

So, the patriarchy, and the patrilineal bundle is largely broken. The one element that is still holding on is the jokbo ― the printed genealogy of the male line. And the attitude of belonging only to the surname group is still strong. The idea of being descended from a line of female ancestors, or a line mixed with grandfathers and grandmothers does not exist at all. For example, "I am a Jeonju Yi-ssi" ― end of story.

We will know of the final breaking of the patrilineal bundle when we start looking at multiple lines of ancestors, and when people can say they have descended from several lines of ancestors, not just one. In considering DNA and one's actual heritage, the women's lines are just as important as the men's lines. One inherits genetics and culture from two grandfathers, and two grandmothers, from four great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers. And one has eight great-great-grandfathers/mothers. Eight! Yet, when one is asked how many "gojo harabeoji" (great-great-grandfathers) one has, the answer is often, "one!"

Prior to the late 17th century, Korea reckoned genealogy on the basis of male and female lines. "Genealogy" used to be recorded as the "pal gojo do" ― chart of the eight great-great-grandfathers. These charts are like the pedigree charts used in the West, which include male and female ancestors.

But today, most people, are locked into the "patrilineal bundle" and still see themselves as members of the male surname group alone. We will know the last element of the "patrilineal bundle" is broken when someone, asked about their family background, responds, "my father is a Gimhae Kim, but my mother's line is the Suwon Baek, but my other ancestors include Miryang Bak, Gyeongju Choe, Indong Jang, Andong Gwon, Jeonju Yi and Gyeongju Kim. When that happens ― and when Koreans look at genealogy as a multiple line complex ― then we will know that the last strain of patrilineal bundle is broken completely.

Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is a professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.