Nobi

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Korean spelling
Korean alphabet : 노비
Hanja : 奴婢
Revised Romanization : Nobi
McCune-Reischauer : Nobi

Nobi refers to the Korean slave system from the 4th to the 19th century. Male slaves were called no ( 奴 ) and female slaves were called bi ( 婢 ). Nobi means male and female slaves . In Old Joseon , someone who committed a theft became a slave to his victim. In Buyeo , murderers were sentenced to death while the rest of the family were enslaved. When the master died, his slaves were often buried with him as an offering. Prisoners of war were also enslaved during the Three Kingdoms' era . Often times they served the successful military leaders they defeated. Poor families often sold their children, who were ultimately enslaved.

660, 4% of the Korean population were slaves. For comparison: in ancient Greece it was 30%, in Rome the proportion of slaves was 35%.

Web links

  • Mark A. Peterson: Korean Slavery (PDF; 100 kB) . February 16, 2000 (English).