Cheonmin
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 천민 |
| Hanja : | 賤民 |
| Revised Romanization : | Cheonmin |
| McCune-Reischauer : | Ch'ŏnmin |
Cheonmin [cʰənmin] literally means "common citizens". The word was used during the Goryeo Dynasty and the Joseon Dynasty to denote the lower class. Besides Cheonmin there were two other social classes; the upper class was called Yangban , and the middle class Pyeongmin . The Cheonmin lower class included servants in all areas of society. But they are not to be understood as slaves. They were free, and some groups of them lived their lives like ordinary Pyeongmin people . Professionally, they were officials and house servants, but also those who did what was considered indecent work at the time. Like Pyeongmin , they were not allowed to run for office, nor did they have a family tree Jokbo ( 족보 , 族譜 ). Once born as Cheonmin , his / her descendants were Cheonmin too, and there was hardly any opportunity to move up from a lower class to a higher class, while the upper class was in danger of relegation.
Cheonmins were divided into two professional groups: one belonged to the respective authority, and the other was independent. The official Cheonmins were seven professions:
- Gisaeng
- Servant in the palace
- Servants in provincial authorities
- Groom
- Prison guard
- Official in central government
- offender
The independent, i.e. private Cheonmins were eight professional groups:
Remarks
- ↑ Cheonmin was often called Nobi [nobi] ( 노비 ), which has a similar meaning of the slave. However, in Korean one uses Noyeo [noje] ( 노예 ) for 'slave' .
- ↑ The official Cheonmins are called Chilbangongcheon [cʰilbangoŋcʰən] ( 칠반 공천 ), while the private Cheonmins are called Palbansacheon [pʰalbansacʰən] (팔반 사천): Kim Jung-seob, Hyeongpyeong-undong Yeongu, 42.
- ↑ Today we do not know exactly why the servants of the central government were distinguished from those of the provincial authorities. And the names are sometimes vague.
literature
- Park Jong-seong: Baekjeong gwa Gisaeng (박 종성: 백정 과 기생), 2004 Seoul University.
- Kim Jung-seob, Hyeongpeyeong-undong Yeongu (김 중섭: 형평 운동 연구), 1994 Seoul.