This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Korean Nobi in American Mirror: Yi Dynasty Coerced Labor in Comparison to the Slavery in the Antebellum Southern United States

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Young-hoon Rhee ()
Donghyu Yang ()
Abstract

The purpose of this article is to critically respond to the recent research trends in the United States which define the nobi in the Korean history as slaves and Koryo and Choson as slave societies. Our comparative study of the nobi system in the 15-17th century Choson and the black slavery in the American South has found several common features in the two institutions: both nobi and slaves comprised one third of the respective population; both were personal property of their masters and subjects of purchase, sale, and inheritance; most black slaves and some nobi were worked, fed, and clothed by their masters. We also found major differences. Although the average size of nobi-holding by the Choson yangban(ruling class) was smaller than that of slave-holding by American planters, there were cases of ultra-large-scale ownership by royal families and bureaucrats, very rare in the Unites States. The bigger the ownership size, the larger the share of independent peasant nobi, who were in possession of property rights, legal entities and civil rights. We also see critical differences between the two groups in cultural aspects. Black slaves remained isolated from the free people to the last, both because of their 'intrusive' origin that they were recruited from the alien land, and because of religious and secular prejudices nested toward their unerasable skin color. In the case of Choson nobi, collective memories about their 'extrusive' origins were very obscure, and most importantly, they were fused with freemen other than yangban without clear dividing line. These differences strongly influenced the process of their liberation. While in the United States, the moral and religious crusades which saw black slaves as owners of pure soul played effective roles, there was no substantial change in the perception of human nature in Choson, where the changes in the political landscape - the decline of yangban society which had counterbalanced the power of king - assumed a key factor. All these similarities and differences considered, we come to the conclusion that generally speaking, it is inappropriate to call nobi in Choson slaves.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://econ.snu.ac.kr/~ecores/activity/paper/no26.pdf
Our checks indicate that this address may not be valid because: 400 Bad Request. If this is indeed the case, please notify (Seo seung-Hee)
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute of Economic Research, Seoul National University in its series Working Paper Series with number no26.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Dec 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:snu:ioerwp:no26

Contact details of provider:
Postal: San 56-1, Silim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742
Phone: 82-2-880-5433
Fax: 82-2-888-4454
Email:
Web page: http://econ.snu.ac.kr/~ecores/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Seo seung-Hee).

Related research
Keywords:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc and its associated services are free for contributors and users, and do not accept any advertising.

This page was last updated on 2008-10-3.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.