A History of Korea

‘... a powerful and persuasive new interpretation of Korea’s history...’

A History of Korea, often hailed as a conscious call for a particular

interpretation of Korean history, marks a particular moment in the
northeast Asian peninsula’s social and political experience right up to
the 1980s. Published in the aftermath of popular uprisings that brought
an end to military dictatorship in South Korea, A History of Korea is the
result of a joint authorship by the Korean Historical Research Association,
whose members were active participants in the democracy movements
at the time. The authors viewed A History of Korea as a facilitator for the
democratisation and unification of Korea

These historians were writing against previous versions of Korean history

that they perceived as legitimising political and economic oppression from
both Korean élites and foreign powers. The book’s publication provoked
strong reactions in Korea and abroad.
‘An essential read for a more rounded understanding of Korean history’

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Saffron Korea Library | A History of Korea
A History of Korea

Authors
Korea Historical Research Association
Translated by Joshua Van Lieu
A History of Korea
Korea Historical Research Association
Translated by Joshua Van Lieu

ISBN 9781872843865 Hard cover

ISBN-10 1 872843 86 7

ISBN 9781872843872
ISBN-10 1 872843 87 5 Soft cover

Saffron Korea Library • Number Six

ISSN 1748 0477

Published by Saffron Books, Eastern Art Publishing (EAP), with the support of the Korea
Literature Translation Institute [LTI], Seoul, in commemoration of Korea’s designation as the Guest
of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 2005

Cover created by Prizmatone Design Consultancy, a division of EAP

This edition is developed by EAP from a translation of Hanguk yeoksa (History of Korea), compiled
by Korean Historical Research Association (Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe) and published by Yeoksa
Bipyeongsa (Historical Criticism Publishers), Seoul. The original title was first published in 1992
and its 25th reprint was published in 2002. ISBN 89 7696 001 7

Copyright © 2005. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form (graphic,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and
retrieval systems) without permission of the publisher. Additional copyright information appears
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Korean Romanisation © Sajid Rizvi; Index © EAP

Published by Saffron Books, an imprint of Eastern Art Publishing

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 The Korean Historical Research Association

The Korean Historical Research Association (Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe) was founded
on 3 September, 1988, as the ultimate result of several years of organisational work by
historians who participated in the Korean social reform movements of the 1980s. The
Association began as a mass organisation of Korea historians that, according to its founding
mission statement, sought to ‘actively participate in the creation of a truly democratic and
independent Korean society by joining together with a new determination to establish
and continuously implement a scientific historiography based upon the correct worldview.’
The Korean Historical Research Association thus took up the goal of ‘contributing to the
independence and democratisation of Korean society through the establishment of a
scientific and practical historiography.’ The Association engages in joint research projects,
spreading the results of historical research to the masses, and publishing and distributing
academic journals and popular history texts. The Korean Historical Research Association
now has more than 700 members and has created an efficient organisation that publishes
and disseminates papers, books, and bulletins. The Association continues to enhance
its position as a mass organisation of Korea historians by continuously publishing the
general history text History of Korea (Hanguk yeoksa) and the series How Did They Live?
(Eoddeoke sarasseulkka).

Joshua Van Lieu, the translator of this volume, is a doctoral candidate in history at the
University of Washington and is currently conducting dissertation research in nineteenth
century Sino-Korean relations and Korean political history.
Table of Contents

Translator’s Preface 12
Introduction 17

Part One • Primitive Society • 21

Chapter 1 • Primitive Communal Society 22
1 | People and Labour: Human Evolution 22
2 | Human Life in Primitive Society 23
3 | The Disintegration of Primitive Communal Society 26

Part Two • Ancient Society • 29

Introduction 30

Chapter 2 • The Establishment of Ancient Society 33

1 | The Appearance of Class and Emergence of Old Joseon 33
2 | The Ruling Structure of Old Joseon 35

Chapter 3 • The Development of Ancient Society • 40

1 | The Rise of the Three Kingdoms & the Establishment of Goguryeo 40
2 | Political Systems and Social Structures of the Three Kingdoms 44

Discussion 1 • The Ideology of Ancient Society • 50

1 | Ideology and Mythology: Its Appearance and Function 50
2 | Buddhism in the Three Kingdoms Period 54

 • A History of Korea
Part Three • Medieval Society • 57
Introduction 58
Chapter 4 • The Establishment of Feudal Society 61
1 | The Transition to Feudalism and Unification of the Three Kingdoms 61
2 | The Establishment of Northern and Southern States 63
3| Political Structure in the Establishment Period of Feudal Society 65
4 | Peasant Resistance and the Rise of the Hojok in the Late Silla Period 67

Chapter 5 • The Development of Feudal Society • 71

1 | The Unification of the Later Three Kingdoms and the Creation of the
Political System of Early Goryeo 71
2 | Strengthening the Feudal Political Structure 74
3 | The Socio-economic Conditions of the Peasantry 78

Chapter 6 • Social Change and Peasant Resistance in 12th-14th Centuries • 81

1 | Twelfth Century Socio-economic Change and Political Instability 81
2 | Peasant Resistance Struggles 84
3 | Anti-Mongol Resistance and Mongol Interference 86
4 | The Search for Reform 89

Chapter 7 • The Reorganisation of Feudal Society • 93

1 | Peasant Trends and the Rise of the New Scholar-Officials 93
2 | The Foundation of Joseon and the New Political Structure 96
3 | The Socio-economic Position of the Peasantry 99

Table of Contents • 
Chapter 8 • Social Change and Ruling Class Response in the
16-17th Centuries • 103
1 | Development of the Landlord System and Yangban Dominance 103
2 | The Development of Factional Politics and the Search for Reform 105
3 | Social Ethics and Neo-Confucian Ideology 109

Chapter 9 • Economy and Society in the Period of Feudal Disintegration • 113

1 | Changes in the Feudal Economic Structure 113
2 | The Destabilisation of the Status System and Taxation Reorganisation 116
3 | Changes in Local Political Structures 119

Chapter 10 • Thought, Politics, and the Disintegration of Feudal Society • 122

1 | Concentration of Power and Political Change 122
2 | Intellectual Conflict and the Rigidity of the Ruling Ideology 126
3 | Resistance and the Growth of Peasant Consciousness 129

Chapter 11 • Development of Anti-Feudal Peasant Resistance • 132

2 | The Northwest People’s Resistance Struggle 133
3 | The Peasant Resistance Struggle of 1862 136

Discussion 2 • Medieval Land Tenure Systems 141

1 | Special Features of Korean Feudal Land Ownership 141
3 | The Development of the Medieval Land Tenure System 144
4 | Reorganisation of the Medieval Land Tenure System 147

Discussion 3 • Medieval Status System • 150

1| Formation and Development of the Medieval Status System 150
2| Character of the Medieval Status System 156

Discussion 4 • Medieval Thought • 158

1 | Buddhist Thought 158
2 | Confucian Thought 166

 • A History of Korea
Part Four • Early Modern Society • 171
Introduction 172

Chapter 12 • Unequal Treaties and the Exploitation of the Masses 175

1 | Open Ports and Unequal Treaties 175
2 | Foreign Economic Encroachment and the • 178

Chapter 13 • Modern Reform Movements 183

1 | The Gapsin Coup and the Gabo Reforms 183
2 | The Peasant War of 1894 187

Chapter 14 • Social Change and Reform during the Great Han Empire • 193
1 | Socio-economic Change in the Great Han Empire Period 193
2 | The Independence Association and the Gwangmu Reforms 196
3 | The Anti-Foreign, Anti-Feudal Resistance of the Masses 200

Chapter 15 • The Crisis of Colonisation and National Resistance • 203

1 | The Fundamental Project of Japanese Colonisation 203
2 | The Righteous Armies and the Anti-Japanese War 207
3 | The Enlightenment Movement 210

Chapter 16 • Japanese Annexation and Anti-Japanese Nationalist

Movements • 214
1 | Japanese Annexation of Joseon and Military Rule 214
2 | Domestic and Overseas Nationalist Movements 217
3 | The March First Movement 219

Chapter 17 • Growth and Division of the National Liberation Movement • 224

1 | Divisive Rule and Exploitation of the Masses 224
3 | Growth and Division of the Domestic National Liberation Movement 229

Chapter 18 • Development of the National Liberation Movement • 234

1 | Fascist Rule and Changing Modes of Exploitation 234
2 | Mass Movements and the Socialist Movement 238
3 | National Liberation Movements outside Joseon 240

Chapter 19 • The United Front Movement and Preparation for

National Liberation • 243
1 | Fascist General Mobilisation and Ethnic Eradication Policy 243
2 | Mass Struggle for Survival and the United Front Movement 247

Table of Contents • 
 3 | The United Front Movement and Armed Struggle outside Joseon 248
4 | Preparations for National Liberation, Proposals for Independence 250

Discussion 5 • Early Modern Society and Imperialism • 252

1 | Imperialism and Colonial Control 252
2 | The National/Colonial Problem and National Liberation Movements 255

Part Five • Modern Society • 263

Introduction 264

Chapter 20 • Failure to Establish an Independent Nation State and

the Korean War • 267
3 | Divided Government and the Anti-Division Struggle 273
4 | The Korean War 276

Chapter 21 • The April Mass Resistance Struggle and the Establishment

of the Military Regime • 279
1 | The Yi Regime and the April Mass Resistance Struggle 279
2 |The Rise of the Military Regime and the Anti-Foreign,
Anti-Authoritarian Movement 285

Chapter 22 • Militarist Fascism and the Growth of Mass Movements • 290

1 | Yusin System and Socio-Economic Structural Change 290
2 | The Mass Movements of the 1970s 293
3 | Military Coup and the Gwangju Mass Movement 295
4 | The Expansion of Fascism and the 1980s Mass Movement 297

Chapter 23 • New Developments in the National Democracy Movement • 301

1 | Rapid Economic Growth and Class Differentiation 301
2 | The Anti-Authoritarian United Front and the Mass Struggle of 1987 303
3 | Transformation of the Political System and the Development of the
National Democracy Movement 305
4 | Great Transformations in World History and Contemporary Themes 309

Discussion 6 • Women and the Early Modern and Modern Periods • 313
1 | The Historical Development of Women's Issues 313
2 | Early Modern Women and the Women's Movement 315
3 | Modern Women and the Development of the Women's Movement 319

10 • A History of Korea
Discussion 7 • The Development of Modern Historiography • 325
1| Early Modern Historiography 326
2 | Developments in Modern Historiography 330
3 | New Directions in Historical Research after the 1980s 335
Appendix: Korean Romanisation 337
Index 340

Table of Contents • 11
Translator’s Preface

A
History of Korea is a product of a particular moment in South Korean social and
political history. First appearing in 1992, it is a work published in the aftermath of the
popular resistance movements of 1987 that brought an end to military dictatorship
and ushered in direct elections for the presidency of South Korea. The historians of the
Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe (Korean Historical Research Association), who compiled the
volume were not dispassionate recorders of these events but rather active participants in the
democracy movements of the time, who understood their scholarship as a contribution to
popular resistance against military rule and as a tool for the democratisation and unification
of Korea. They were writing against previous understandings of Korean history that they
perceived as legitimising political and economic oppression from both Korean élites
and foreign powers. As they stood in opposition to previous histories and their political
underpinnings, they proposed their own visions of past, present, and future Korean
societies. In so doing, they helped to move the popular struggle for the democratisation of
South Korea toward the centre of the national narrative.
The 1970s were a time of enormous change in South Korea as the Bak regime
embarked upon a policy of rapid industrialisation coupled with a move towards an
increasingly authoritarian political system. As the economic policy shifted towards the
creation of heavy and chemical industries, people moved into the cities and swelled the
ranks of the urban working classes. The resulting social and economic dislocations in
combination with an increasingly oppressive political environment gave rise to a vigorous
labour movement. Some writers saw in these popular struggles the key dynamic forces of
Korean history and sought to work for the liberation of workers, farmers, and the urban
poor through the production of a chamyeo munhak (participatory literature) that provided
a critical view of industrialisation from the perspective of the labouring underclasses.
South Korean Protestant theologians also took an interest in the struggles of the period
and organised ministries to address the problems of democracy and human rights. These

12 • A History of Korea
writers and theologians saw the underclasses, collectively called the minjung (the people, the
masses), as the agents of historical development and as such, authentic historical subjects.
From this standpoint, the democratisation and unification of Korea as a fully independent
nation state would come about only through the agency of the masses.
The minjung perspective remained largely within the literary and Protestant
theological communities during the 1970s but with the opportunity for democratic
reform presented by the fall of the Bak regime in 1979, it spread widely throughout
the cultural and academic spheres of South Korean society. Numerous organisations
adopted the ‘mass line’ (minjung noseon), giving rise to minjung perspectives in the arts,
education, social sciences, and humanities.1 By the mid-1980s younger historians were
developing new research organisations devoted to producing minjung history. Although
there was no theoretical or methodological consensus on what exactly constituted minjung
historiography, it is possible to identify some general themes. 2
First, minjung historiography was a consciously political project intent on facilitating
social change. Minjung historians were highly critical of previous renderings of Korean
history as mired in Japanese colonial perspectives and lost in archaic academism; indeed,
they often saw earlier scholarship as little more than tools for the legitimisation of oppressive
regimes and economic systems. The minjung history texts written in this period were to
serve as vehicles to raise the consciousness of the masses and arm them in their struggle for
democracy, self-determination, and national reunification.
Second, the minjung historiographical project sought to establish the masses as the
subjects of historical development, the primary agents moving human history. While this
perspective was by no means new in the 1980s, it was bolstered by the growing numbers
of industrial workers and the rapidly developing South Korean labour movement. This
organisation and resistance became the object of research projects looking for the historical
development of the agency of the masses throughout Korean history and acted as a unifying
theme throughout much of minjung historical studies.
Third, minjung historians sought to uncover histories of resistance and expose
histories of oppression. Peasant resistance to exploitation in all forms figure prominently in
minjung histories while élite culture, philosophy, religion, and statecraft were reinterpreted
as the tools of social and political domination. Bringing the stories of the struggles of the
masses to light and exposing the oppressive nature of the political and intellectual systems

1
See Wells, ed, 1995 for an overview of the different manifestations of minjung movements and
perspectives.
2
This discussion of minjung historiography draws upon Wells (1995), Abelmann (1996), Yi (1999),
and Jeong (2001) and does not cover fully the many trends and forms of minjung history in South
Korea. For a detailed review and critique of the minjung perspective in Korean historical scholarship,
see Yi (1999). For a ‘practitioner’s perspective’ on minjung historiography, see Kang (1995).

Translator’s Preface • 13
of the ruling classes throughout Korean history served to establish a narrative of struggle
and resistance that linked the then current movements for democratisation and unification
to the developmental process of Korean history in which the masses gained their rightful
position as authentic historical subjects.
Fourth, minjung historiography was concerned deeply with establishing a scientific
understanding of Korean history. In this case a scientific understanding is not to be taken
as a positivist historiographical method but rather as a materialist conceptualisation of
historical development broadly dividing the course of human history into primitive, slave,
feudal, and capitalist phases of development.3 In tandem with this characterisation of
historical development, minjung historians posited a continuing maturation of the masses
as the true agents of historical change. Within this framework, Korean history was seen
through the lenses of changing modes of production and the dynamic development of the
historical agency of the masses. The supposed scientific nature of this perspective was to
provide a base from which historiography could be used not only to understand the past but
also to predict the future as an extension of a materialist developmental trajectory. 4
A History of Korea is one among several general history texts published from
the minjung perspective.5 The book is divided into five parts entitled ‘Primitive Society,’
‘A ncient Society,’ ‘Medieval Society,’ ‘Early Modern Society,’ and ‘Modern Society.’ With
the exception of Part One, each section concludes with one or more appended discussions
providing more detailed treatments of the themes the authors deemed most important
in understanding the social formations and dynamics of each period. These discussions
cover the topics of ideology, land tenure, status systems, religious and political thought,
imperialism, women’s history, and modern historiography. The organisation of the book
clearly illustrates the authors’ concern for writing a history not of the rise and fall of states
and royal houses but rather of the development of social formations. 6 The topics of the
discussions focus the attention of the reader on the issues of ideology and systems of
political, economic, and social control, on the struggle of the masses throughout Korean

3
For an analysis of periodisation in general Korean histories of the twentieth century, see Jeong
(2001: 108).
4
This concern for a scientific approach grounded in historical materialism shows an intimate
relationship with Marxist historiographical practice but the nationalist focus on the Korean
masses as a particular historical subjectivity renders a simple Marxist labelling problematic. In
addressing this issue, Yi Gidong (1999: 115) suggests that the minjung perspective is the ‘Korean
edition of Marxist historiography’ (hanguk pyeon mareukeuseu juui yeoksahak).
5
Other texts include Hanguk minjungsa [History of the Korean Masses], Hanguk Minjungsa Yeonguhoe,
1986; Hanguksa gangui [Lectures in Korean History], Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe, 1989; Baro boneun
uri yeoksa [Our History in Proper Perspective], Guro Yeoksa Yeonguso, 1990.
6
It has been argued that Korean materialist historians have been unsuccessful in abandoning the
dynasty as the foundation of periodisation and have only replaced the names of states and
dynasties with Marxist conceptual categories (Jeong, 2001).

14 • A History of Korea
history against exploitation, and on the writing of minjung history as a form of political
practice contributing to the construction of an independent, democratic, and unified
Korean nation-state.
A History of Korea is a manifesto, a conscious call for a particular interpretation
of Korean history for deployment in the democratisation, unification, and class liberation
movements of the period. The authors could rightly assume that their intended audience,
primarily Korean university students in introductory Korean history courses, had already
been exposed to a variety of issues in Korean history throughout their primary and
secondary education and so the received historiographies critiqued and reinterpreted from
the minjung perspective were already widely known. The key issue for the minjung historians
was the centrality of the masses and their development as historical subjects through
their continuous struggle against oppression and exploitation through successive social
formations. With this purpose and intended audience in mind, it is not surprising that many
of the names, dates, and definitions that one might expect in a more conventional history do
not figure prominently in the narrative of A History of Korea. While this organisation is not
especially problematic in the original context in which the text was written and read, it does
present obstacles to the task of producing a meaningful translation for non-Korean readers
who may come to this text with little or no background in Korean history. I have tried
to use commonly accepted English translations for special terminology and periodisations
wherever possible but there were many cases in which I opted to use Korean words for terms
absent in English with a brief definition embedded in the text where the term first appears.
I have also added common era dates, especially in the frequent cases of references to reigns
and dynasties as temporal markers.
This translation could not have been completed without the efforts of Yun Gilseop
who checked the translation of problematic passages and fielded numerous questions on
syntax and usage. Adam Bohnet provided considerable assistance in the translation of
chapters twenty through twenty-three as well as the sixth discussion concerning women’s
history. I also wish to express my appreciation to the Korean Literature Translation
Institute for their patient support throughout this project and to the original General
History Compilation Committee of the Korean Historical Research Association for their
contributions to the study and interpretation of Korean history.

Bibliography
Abelmann, N 1996: Echoes of the Past, Epics of Dissent: A South Korean Social Movement.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Guro Yeoksa Yeonguso 1990: Baro boneun uri yeoksa [Our History in Proper Perspective].
Seoul: Guro Yeoksa Yeonguso.
Jeong, D 2001: Hana ui yeoksa, du gae ui yeoksahak [One History, Two Historiographies].
Seoul: Johap Gongdongche Sonamu.
Hanguk Minjungsa Yeonguhoe 1986: Hanguk minjungsa [History of the Korean Masses].
Seoul: Hanguk Minjungsa Yeonguhoe.

Translator’s Preface • 15
Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe 1989: Hanguksa gangui [Lectures in Korean History]. Seoul:
Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe.
— 1992: Hanguk yeoksa [History of Korea]. Seoul: Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe.
Kang, M 1995: ‘Contemporary Nationalist Movements and the Minjung’ in South Korea’s
Minjung Movement: The Culture and Politics of Dissidence. Honolulu, Kenneth M
Wells, ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Wells, K, ed 1995: South Korea’s Minjung Movement: The Culture and Politics of Dissidence.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
— 1995: ‘The Cultural Construction of Korean History’ in Kenneth M Wells, ed: South
Korea’s Minjung Movement: The Culture and Politics of Dissidence. Berkeley: University
of California Press.
Yi, G 1999: Jeonhwangi ui hanguk sahak [Korean Historiography in a Changing World].
Seoul: Iljogak.

16 • A History of Korea
 Introduction

B
oth Korean society and the world are changing radically and questions naturally
arise as to how history will develop and about the very nature of history itself.
It is the duty of the historian to answer these questions and many have come
to be concerned about how to respond. To date, the response of Korean historians has
been the publication of general histories, which have contributed to the systemisation
of the development process of Korean history. However, we no longer believe that these
results sufficiently address the issues that now confront history and historiography or
that they provide a vision of how to proceed in the future. There is now an acute need for
a new kind of general history that can build a vision of the future from a position that
understands the development process of Korean history more scientifically and grasps
contemporary themes and contradictions. The Korean Historical Research Association
is an attempt to meet this demand for a new general history.
The Korean Historical Research Association (Hanguk Yeoksa Yeonguhoe) was
founded in the fall of 1988 with the goal of contributing to the true democratisation
and independence of Korean society through the adoption of a scientific and practical
historiography based on an appropriate world view. In July of 1990, the publication of this
book was planned on the basis of the search for a scientific historical consciousness and
methodology that first brought the Korean Historical Research Association into being.
In the following September, we formed the General History Compilation Committee
and began to explore and analyse the general histories that had been published to date.
These histories understood historical development in terms of changes in the power of
ruling élites and even while they constructed comprehensive history in terms of cultural
history, culture was taken to mean the culture of these ruling élites. Moreover, lacking
a consistent historical perspective, they did not establish interrelationships between
historical events and systems and, as histories linearly enumerating events by time
period, they were not even comprehensible. Furthermore, even though some sought to

Introduction • 17
 establish a progressive historical perspective, there were many instances where
the practical content did not integrate the results of progressive research.
With this assessment, the compilation committee was divided into research
divisions based on time period. Research and education teams were assigned by
period gathered to discuss and formulate an overall table of contents and then more
than fifty members of the Korean Historical Research Association created the first
draft of the text. The draft was the result of the cross pollination of the various
discussions among these teams. We mediated the creation of overall systems and
differences of opinions among the research divisions and teams in the compilation
committee.
In December of 1991, we assigned revision committee members, and on the
basis of the first draft, began the task of giving coherence to the narrative. Over a
two-month period, we completed the manuscript through a process of discussion,
adjustment, revision, and refinement in order to come to a consensus as to the basic
foundation of the narrative for each period.
Since this book was created through a thoroughly communal effort there
are cases in which we could not achieve consensus and thus some items could not
be included. In this way, this text is of a character fundamentally different from
previous general histories written by individual historians. As we created this
book, we strove to maintain the following principles:

1. To maximally reflect all results of academic research up to 1991.

2. To create a narrative centred upon the formation and development

of the contradictions and forces of change in each period from the
perspective of the development of social formations and to throw
into relief the historical character of each period.

3. To periodise Korean history on the basis of the phases of

development of social formations and to consider the special qualities
and historical themes of social formations and contradictions of each
period.

4. To maintain a consistent perspective and to produce a narrative

replete with historical facts on the basis of hard evidence.

5. To include appended discussions on those central points difficult

to grasp in the overall structure of the general narrative in order to
heighten the reader’s consciousness of the historical character of each
period.

18 • A History of Korea
 Despite these efforts, the text has a number of unsatisfying characteristics.
First, we were not able to clearly stipulate the character of the social formation of
each period. Although this reflects the level of concern for historical methodology
in the Korean academic community, it stems from the assessment that an excessively
rigid stipulation schematises the process of historical development and cannot
explain the character of the societies of each period.
Second, this book is limited in that it does not deal adequately with the
histories of culture, everyday life, and foreign relations. The research association
does not have enough specialists in the first two fields and in the case of the history
of foreign relations we have included it when we decided it had a significant influence
on the formation and transformation of social formations.
Perhaps the greatest limitation is that we could not but omit the history of
North Korea. Writing such a history is difficult given the research environment
and restrictions in approaching the sources and it is thus difficult to place North
and South in the same visual field. Regretfully, we must leave these issues for future
consideration.
We think of this book as a kind of process. On the basis of the many
problems we encountered while writing and our readers’ criticism, we will strive to
more scientifically systematise Korean history. Finally, we express our appreciation
to the people of Yeoksa Bipyeongsa (Historical Criticism Publishers) who worked so
hard on this project. We look forward to the critiques of our readers.

Korean Historical Research Association

February, 1992
Part One • Primitive Society
1 | Primitive Communal Society

1 | People and Labour: Human Evolution

W
hen human ancestors were first active on the face of the earth, they walked in
a clumsy, hunched posture. With the passage of time they became accustomed
to walking on two feet and standing erect. It is from this point that the skills
of hands and feet became differentiated. This process was extremely slow and arduous.
The differing roles of hands and feet and the ability to walk erect represent the point at
which humans cast off their animal characteristics in the process of evolution. Hands
continued to develop as sticks and stones were used in the search for food. In this way
ancient humans, different from, yet similar to, modern humans, appeared millions of years
before the present.
The use of fire played an important role in the differentiation of humans from
animals and holds great significance in the history of primitive humans. In their animal
state, humans too were afraid of naturally occurring fire and avoided it. But from the
point they began to use fire they were able to protect themselves from wild animals and
also discovered that cooked meat was far more tender and delicious than raw meat. Fire
gave humans a degree of power to dominate natural forces and thus humans completely
moved beyond their previous animal state. The human use of fire began 400,000 to
500,000 years ago.
The process of human biological evolution in which modern humans appeared
was completed long after ancient humans first appeared, perhaps 40,000 years before
the present. During this time the earth went through a variety of climatic changes. There
were repeated cold glacial periods interspersed with relatively warm interglacial periods
suitable for human habitation. This period in which humans first appeared on the earth
and continuously evolved and developed before classes were differentiated and states
were established is called the Primitive Era. This was an extremely long period that
takes up more than 99 percent of human history but the rate of social development was

22 • A History of Korea
extremely slow and humans were interested only in surviving from day to day, avoiding
starvation, and protecting themselves from the elements and wild animals. The struggle
with nature was the primary factor that governed people’s lives.

Humans and Labour The natural world existed even before the appearance of humans,
and humans themselves were in turn part and parcel of the natural world, but they could
not live merely as a part of the larger natural environment. For the sake of survival, they
had to obtain food through the use of their physical and mental strength and meet their
goals by modifying the natural world. Thus, given the creation of tools and the purposeful
transformation and processing of nature through labour, human existence was not at all
passive. Humans established themselves as active and autonomous subjects.
The ability to engage in labour, more than anything else, played the most decisive
role in the human evolutionary process. Labour began as tools were first produced. Animals
too catch their food with sharp claws and teeth and there also are cases in which apes use
sticks or stones to obtain food but they cannot fashion wood or stone into tools used to meet
their own needs like humans. This is an important difference between animals and humans.
Although the power of the human body is limited and weak, it can be expanded though the
use of tools and efficiently applied to the task of labour.
A single individual, however, has no power before nature so humans naturally
lived in groups because survival on one’s own was too difficult. Working together in
groups, people needed to verbally communicate their intent to one another. They initially
communicated through hand and body gestures or shouts but as vocal organs capable of
producing clearly defined syllables developed, they came to employ language. Through the
use of language, group society could be more strongly maintained. Moreover, the use of
language brought logical and structured thought that resulted in the beginning of great
intellectual development.
Producing tools and engaging in labour, building a society, and purposefully and
creatively working with others are the most important characteristics that separate humans
from other animals. The mode of labour in a society and the binding reciprocal human
relations in the labour process were hereafter no longer simply means of survival but
functioned as the fundamentals of thought, daily life, and culture.

2 | Human Life in Primitive Society

Group Society The long primitive period during which humans fashioned implements
from chipped stone is called the Paleolithic Period. Paleolithic people generally lived
in caves, in the shelter of cliff overhangs, or erected simple shelters near rivers and the
sea to avoid the elements and used tools made from both chipped stone and sharpened
bone. Although they also gathered fruit and hunted animals, these resources were not
always waiting nearby and so it was often the case that people were unable to obtain even
the most basic items needed for survival and commonly died from starvation, exposure,
and attacks from wild animals. Life was characterised by constant instability and it was

Part One • Primitive Society • 23

impossible to have any interests beyond simple self preservation.
Paleolithic people formed small groups and lived a nomadic life. These groups
formed naturally and in most cases were based on blood relationships. Members of other
groups were thought to be the same as animals and were the objects of caution. Interactions
between groups were rare. Obtaining food and drink, hunting, and consumption, and
indeed the entire life of the individual took place within the context of one’s own group.
Groups exceeding 30 to 40 individuals were unusual. As the earliest social forms that
humans managed, this kind of formation is called group society.
The members of these groups communally raised children and divided and consumed
the food they gathered or obtained on the hunt. The consumption of large quantities of
food by a single individual was not tolerated because it could mean the death of another
member of the group. In such cases, the offending individual was banished. Expulsion from
the group meant certain death.
Everything within the group was egalitarian with the exception of a sexual division
of labour based upon physiological characteristics in which men engaged in the hunt while
women gathered wild fruits and vegetables and tended the children. Natural limitations
were great and the ability to operate in this context was at an extremely low level.
Despite these obstacles, society at this time was far from stagnant. Although the
process was slow, human wisdom and culture developed steadily. The basic form of group
society hardly changed but the methods for producing tools improved as time went on.
At first they used simple stone tools but the craftsmanship gradually improved and the
techniques of embellishment multiplied. By the end of the Paleolithic Period, people were
using a variety of stone implements specifically designed for a variety of purposes, such as
knives, hatchets, and scrapers.
The climate and environment of the Korean peninsula during the Paleolithic Period
was quite different from modern times. There were times when it was both hotter and
colder than the present. Both the bones of woolly mammoths, creatures that lived in much
colder periods, and the fossilised bones of water buffalo and hyena, creatures that lived in
hotter regions, have been found at Korean Paleolithic sites. Starting from about 10,000
years before the present, the climate, flora, and fauna of the Korean peninsula were largely
the same as the present day.

Clan Society By the end of the period in which chipped stone tools were used, small, thin
layers of chipped stone were being fashioned and eventually, people were grinding stone
and using more elaborate ground stone implements. The time period in which ground stone
tools were used is called the Neolithic Period. Of course, not all or even a majority of stone
implements used during the Neolithic were made of ground stone but their appearance was
an important development in comparison to the previous period.
Another important aspect that distinguishes the Neolithic Period is the appearance
of earthenware. The use of earthenware brought enormous change to human eating habits.

24 • A History of Korea
Earthenware was used in numerous ways to prepare, transport, and store food. Comb
Pattern pottery is the most typical example of Korean Neolithic earthenware. Comb
Pattern pottery appears not only in Korea but has also been discovered on the shores of
the Bohai Bay in China, showing that the Neolithic people of this culture had settled over
a broad area.
The Neolithic innovation that brought the greatest transformation to human life was
the advent of agriculture. People at first noticed that fallen seeds produced fruit the following
year. Later they learned that it was possible to obtain far greater quantities of fruits and
vegetables by planting and tending seeds rather than by foraging in the wild. Agriculture was
the earliest productive activity through human labour. Previously humans merely obtained
natural materials as they found them but from this point they were able to produce needed
products and materials at will.
With the beginning of agriculture, social life changed as well. Planting and harvesting
crops required anywhere from a few months to a year so once the seeds were planted people
did not move but rather stayed in one place tending their fields and waiting for the harvest.
In comparison to pre-agricultural times, life was more stable and populations naturally
increased. As people settled in one place, they gradually came to form villages and the
extent of human society greatly expanded. By the end of the Neolithic Period, breeding
domestic animals began. As people no longer travelled the land on the hunt and instead
raised and slaughtered their own animals, they devoted ever increasing portions of their
energies to the pursuit of agriculture.
Neolithic people wore clothing made from fibre threads and generally lived
in dugout dwellings by the sea or on river banks. There were no longer any cave or cliff
overhang dwellings. Houses were most commonly dug out from the earth and covered
with a roof and usually housed around five people. This unit, most commonly composed of
an adult man and woman and their children, represented a basic social unit quite different
from the group societies of the Paleolithic Period.
It was the clan, however, and not these residential groups that was the primary unit
of production and consumption. These groups formed clans and in turn formed villages.
Agricultural activity, to say nothing of fishing, hunting, and gathering, was still impossible
on the basis of individual residential units composed of only a few people. Agriculture was
still in its infancy, depending upon implements made of wood, horn, or stone and the task
of burning fields to bring new lands under cultivation required the effort of many people so
production generally depended on the labour of the whole clan, within which distribution
and consumption was naturally communal. Through the practice of agriculture, life became
more stable in comparison to previous times but in a situation where agriculture itself was
greatly restricted by natural factors, people came to have a great interest in nature. Neolithic
people believed that not only people but also inanimate objects in nature such as mountains
and stones also had souls so they made artistic objects expressing the incantation of prayers
for a bountiful harvest. Female figures made of clay excavated at the Yulli shell mounds in
Busan and Sinam-ni in Yangsan are representative of these pieces.

Part One • Primitive Society • 25

Primitive Egalitarianism Group societies and clan societies are called primitive
communities. A primitive community, as a kind of economically self-sufficient miniature
universe composed of groups or clans, contains all the conditions necessary for reproduction.
This society is characterised by egalitarian human relations based upon communal
ownership of the means of production, communal labour in the agricultural process, and
the communal distribution of the resulting products required for everyday life. Given the
primitive level of agricultural technology, a single family or individual did not have the
necessary strength to overcome environmental conditions so the struggle for survival had to
be a communal labour and the basic means of production, starting from the agricultural
implements, were communally owned. It was thus natural that the results of this labour
were communally distributed.
Division of labour by sex and age existed even in primitive communities, albeit in a
minor form. Rearing children, gathering food, and producing earthenware were women’s
duties while hunting and fishing were entrusted to the men but as agriculture took on
greater productive importance men gradually played greater roles in farming as well.
The role of experienced elders was crucial to understanding natural dangers and the
habits of animals, while the role of the young and strong was of central importance in luring
and capturing animals. Those elders with experience in hunting large dangerous animals,
migration, and warfare played leading roles and the members of the group acted in complete
accordance with their guidance. This behaviour was far from domination in that the elders
played a leadership role for the benefit of all the constituent members of the community.
In primitive communities, class relations between constituent members did not form and
there was no domination or exploitation of one human being by another. Thus, even the
heads of communities were not dominant or powerful and did not exceed the role of a guide
in social and economic life.

3 | The Disintegration of Primitive Communal Society

Surplus Production and Private Ownership Primitive society degenerated with
the development of agriculture. As productive capabilities increased, people became
capable of producing more than just the basic necessities of life. This was the beginning
of the objective conditions capable of giving rise to those who would be able to enjoy a
rich life through the appropriation of the products of the labour of others even though
they themselves did not work. By the end of the Neolithic Period, egalitarian relations
between the constituent members of society were already beginning to weaken. The
use of bronze implements provided the decisive starting point for this dynamic. The
Korean Bronze Age began around 1000 BCE. Bronze was not used so much for
agricultural implements as it was for weapons and other kinds of tools. Using the
sharp edge of bronze implements, people were able to produce a variety of wooden
agricultural implements and these modified tools, used with the older stone and
bone tools, played an enormous role in the development of Bronze Age agricultural
productive capacity.

26 • A History of Korea
 With the development of agriculture, the importance of large scale communal labour
gradually decreased. Rather than devote the entire clan to agricultural tasks, it became
more efficient for units smaller than the clan to permanently concentrate and apply their
labour power to a particular parcel of land. As the role of men expanded in agricultural
activity, they began to take on more important roles in family relations. Groups of several
couples and their offspring gathered around patriarchs and formed extended families which
grew into the primary units of production and consumption.
Land, ponds, and forests were still basically communal property but agricultural
implements and products had become private property. Thus the surplus accumulation
occurred not on the basis of the clan, but within the unit of the extended family. The
extended families that were able to secure large numbers of people capable of farming
were able to accumulate greater quantities of product. This led to the expansion of private
property relations to land. Following the advancement of private ownership of product,
extended families began to be differentiated by wealth and poverty. Egalitarian relations
thus collapsed through this matrix of ownership and, along with the growing division of
labour, society became divided into classes.

Division of Labour Bronze tools were the first metal implements that humans fashioned
by adding tin or zinc to copper. There were continuous social changes in the production and
use of bronze implements. First, the copper and other ores had to be mined. Then moulds
had to be made to produce the desired implements. The die-cast tools, with some stone
polishing, were perfect copies of the originals. This complex production process necessitated
the expansion of mines and investment in man power skilled workers. As mining and trade
in raw materials developed, groups of artisans appeared that had abandoned agricultural
labour and devoted themselves to the specialised production of bronze implements. This
represented the genuine appearance of a social division of labour.
The raw materials for bronze ware were uncommon and produced in small quantities
so not just anyone could own jewellery, tools, or weapons made from copper or bronze.
The patriarchs of great families who held great power and had accumulated private wealth
monopolised bronze implements and thereby made a conspicuous display of their social and
political position. The bronze implements excavated from Korean Bronze Age tombs were
primarily the private property of patriarchs. Ordinary people were buried with a few pieces
of earthen ware or stone tools.
War was a frequent occurrence during the Bronze Age. Material inequalities
provided the grounds for strife between groups. This was especially true in famine years
when groups without sufficient food supplies raided neighbouring groups to seize their food
stores. Many houses of that time period were destroyed by fire. While some of these were
surely accidental fires, the majority were fires resulting from these kinds of raids. It was of
primary importance for a great warrior to secure a variety of weapons to conduct warfare
with neighbouring groups and so they produced numerous short swords, axes, arrow heads,
spears, and clubs from bronze.

Part One • Primitive Society • 27

 These transformations in production, private ownership, differences of wealth and
poverty between groups and individuals, handicrafts and the division of labour, regional
trade, and the conduct of warfare and plundering shook the foundations of the long
standing primitive communal society. Now, as the form of primitive communal society
based upon egalitarian relations underwent these considerable changes, it began to move
into an altogether different stage of development.

28 • A History of Korea
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