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ABSTRACT
This article discusses women’s education in Modern Korea (1876–1945) by focusing on Cho Dong-Sik (趙東植, 1887–1969), the founder of Tongwŏn Girls’ School (Tongwŏnŭisuk, 東媛義塾) in 1908. When this school merged with Tongdŏk Girls’ School (Tongdŏkyŏhakgyo, 同德女學校) in the following year, he took over the latter’s management and devoted himself to women’s education until his death. Cho Dong-Sik devoted his life to women’s education with a firm belief in education and striving to do what he believed to be the best of his capacity. His concept of women’s education reflected the concept of innate gender equality rather than the gendered hierarchal view of Confucianism in the traditional era. His early ideas on women’s education reflected a Confucian notion of ‘Wise Mother, Good Wife’, but they gradually evolved into a more nationalistic version of the idea.
Notes
1 Ki-Un Hahn, Hankuk kyoyuksa [History of Korean education] (Seoul: Pakyŏngsa, 1963), 408–21.
2 See Ki-Un Hahn, ‘A Pioneer in Women’s Education: Cho Dong-Sik’, in Kyosa-ŭi ch’ŏlhak [Philosophy for Teachers], chapter 3 (Seoul: Yangsŏwŏn, 1994), 115–26 .
3 Sun-Yang Kim, ‘Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik-ŭi kyoyuk sasang [The Educational Thought of Cho Dong-Sik]’, Kyoyuk munhwa yŏngu [Journal of Education and Culture] 2 (1996): 7.
4 Ibid., 7–19. See also Seok-Young Kong, ‘Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng-ŭi kyoyuk sasang yŏngu [A Study of Cho Dong-Sik’s Educational Thought]’, Inmun gwahak yŏngu [Journal of Humanities] 7 (2001): 243–84; Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik paksa t’ansin paek nyŏn ginyŏm nonmunjip [Collected Papers on the Occasion of the Centenary of Cho Dong-Sik’s Birth] (Seoul: Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik paksa kinyŏm saŏphoe, 1987).
5 Michael J. Seth, Education Fever: Society, Politics, and the Pursuit of Schooling in South Korea (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002).
6 The discourse is that if a man contributes to the nation through his career, a woman contributes to the nation through becoming a wise wife and the education of her children at home.
7 Tae-Je Seong et al., Ch’oesin Kyoyukhak kaeron [Introduction to Education] (Seoul: Hakchisa, 2011), 79.
8 Chosŏn wangjo sillok [The Annals of the Chosŏn Dynasty], March 16, 1406: http://sillok.history.go.kr/id/kca_10603016_001 (accessed April 20, 2021); Sang-Kyung An, ‘A Study on Woman Therapists in Chosŏn Dynasty’ (PhD diss., Kyungsan University, 2000); Kobŏp chŏnyongŏjip (Seoul: Pŏpchech’ŏ, 1979), 606.
9 Chosŏn wangjo sillok, June 12, 1415.
10 Soon-Sook Hong, ‘A Study of the Educational Concept on Women’s Institution in the Late Period of Yi Dynasty’ (Master’s thesis, Ewha Womans University, 1985), 14; In-Su Son, Hankuk kŭndae kyoyuksa [The History of Modern Education in Korea] (Seoul: Yŏnsei University Press, 1971).
11 Ewha paek nyŏn sa: 1886–1986 [100 Years History of Ewha] (Seoul: Ewha Girls’ High School, 1994); Hyo-Chae Lee, Hankuk-ŭi yŏsŏng undong [Women’s Movement in Korea] (Seoul: Chŏngusa, 1989), 47.
12 Hyun-Hee Lee, Hankuk kŭndae yŏsŏng kaehwasa [History of Women’s Enlightenment in Modern Korea] (Seoul: Iuch’ulp’ansa, 1980), 141.
13 Kwanbo [Official Gazette], July 22, 1895.
14 Hong, ‘A Study of the Educational Concept’, 14.
15 Independent, September 26, 1898; September 27, 1898.
16 Lee, Hankuk kŭndae yŏsŏng kaehwasa, 45.
17 ‘Puin Sangso [A Lady’s Appeal]’, Independent, October 13, 1898; Yong-Ock Pak, Hankuk kŭndae yŏsŏng undongsa yŏngu [A Study on the History of the Women’s Movement in Korea] (Sungnam: Chŏngsin Munhwa Yŏnkuwŏn, 1984), 65.
18 Lee, Hankuk kŭndae yŏsŏng kaehwasa, 47.
19 Song-Hee Lee, ‘Hanmal sŏu hakhoe-ŭi aeguk kyemong undong-gwa sasang [Enlightenment movement and thought of the Sŏu Society]’, Hanguk hakpo [Journal of Korean Studies] 8 (1982): 36.
20 Kyung-Hee Kim, ‘Hanguk kŭndae yŏsŏng sahak-ŭi chŏn’gae gwajŏng-e gwanhan yŏngu [A Study on the Development Process of Women’s Private Schools in Modern Korea]’, Yŏngu nonmunjip [Collected Research Papers] 21 (1985): 208–9.
21 Kwanbo, April 4, 1908; Man-Kyu Lee, Chosŏn Kyoyuksa [History of Chosŏn Education], vol. 1 (Seoul: Ŭryumunhwasa, 1949), 149. At this time, the education law was promulgated by the Chosŏn government, which was already under Japanese control. Public schools were under the oversight of the government, but private schools were not controlled by the government.
22 Ki-Sung Ahn, Taehan-ŭi kyoyuk yŏksa [Educational History of Korea] (Seoul: Hakchisa, 2016), 509.
23 Lee, Chosŏn Kyoyuksa, 149.
24 Independent, April 21, 1896.
25 Hwangsŏng Sinmun, September 8, 1898.
26 Independent, September 13, 1898.
27 Hwangsŏng Sinmun, February 6, 1908.
28 Taehan Maeil Sinbo, August 11, 1908.
29 Ibid.
30 Yong-Ha Shin, ‘Sinminhoe-ŭi ch’anggŏn-gwa kŭ kukkwŏn hoebog undong [The Establishment of the Sinminhoe and Its Fight for Korean Independence]’, Hanguk hakpo [Journal of Korean Studies] 3, no. 3 (1977): 29.
31 Kim, ‘Hanguk kŭndae yŏsŏng sahak’, 212.
32 Shizuko Koyama, Ryōsai kenbo to iu kihan [On the Ideal of ‘Good Wife, Wise Mother’] (Tōkyō: Keisō Shobō, 2001), 35–51. According to Koyama, in the case of Japan, the Ryōsai kenbo thought emerged between the Meiji Restoration (1868) and the First World War. See Aya Kawamoto, ‘A Comparative Study on the Idea of “a Wise Mother and Good Wife” in Chosŏn and Japan from the Age of Enlightenment to the Early 1940s’ (Master’s thesis, Seoul National University, 1999), 1.
33 Nagako Tanie, ‘A Study on the Normative Women’s Appearance in Korea’ (Master’s thesis, Korea University, 2003), 11.
34 Mansebo, June 28, 1906; August 2, 1906.
35 Hyaeweol Choi, ‘“Wise Mother, Good Wife”: A Trans-Cultural Discursive Construct in Modern Korea’, Journal of Korean Studies 14 (2009): 5–6.
36 The concept of a ‘wise mother’ emphasises the need to educate children well, whereas the concept of the ‘good wife’ emphasises the function of providing harmony within the family. The main reason for the different order is that the mother–child relationship is more important in Korea, while marital relations have traditionally been considered more important in Japan. See Hae-Jung Cho, Sŏng, kajok kŭriko munhwa [Sex, Family and Culture] (Seoul: Chimmundang, 1997), 54. Another reason is that ‘WMGW’ had initially been more common in Japan until minister of education Kikuchi Dairoku (菊地大麓) popularised the term ‘GWWM’. See Kaku Sechiyama, Higashi Ajia no kabuchōsei: jendā no hikaku shakaigaku [The Patriarchal System in East Asia: A Comparative Gender Sociology] (Tōkyō: Keisō Shobō, 1996), 143–4; Tanie, ‘A Study on the Normative Women’s Appearance in Korea’, 11.
37 Yang-Hee Hong, ‘A Study on the View of “Wise Mother and Good Wife” in Colonial Korea’ (Master’s thesis, Hanyang University, 1997), 1–3.
38 Ibid., 3.
39 Jirō Shimoda, Joshi kyōiku [Women’s Education] (Tōkyō: Kinkōdō, 1904), 287; Tanie, ‘A Study on the Normative Women’s Appearance in Korea’, 13.
40 Koyama, Ryōsai kenbo, 5.
41 Jun Mi-Kyung, ‘Hyŏnmoyangch’ŏe kwanhan yŏngu (1920–1930) [The discourse on WMGW (1920–1930]’, Hanguk kajŏng gwallihak hoeji [Journal of Korean Home Management Association] 22, no. 3 (2004): 91.
42 Kiyoshi Fukawa, Kindai Nihon josei rinri shisō no nagare [The Evolution of Moral Ideas in Relation to Women in Modern Japan] (Tōkyō: Ōtsuki Shoten, 2000), 123; Tanie, ‘A Study on the Normative Women’s Appearance in Korea’, 13.
43 Kawamoto, ‘A Comparative Study’, 21.
44 Koyama, Ryōsai kenbo, 49; Tanie, ‘A Study on the Normative Women’s Appearance in Korea’, 14.
45 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi [Biography of Cho Dong-Sik] (Seoul: Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng ginyŏm saŏp’oe, 1979), 39.
46 Sŏdang was the most common type of private school during the Koryŏ and Chosŏn dynasties and continued to prevail even in the early twentieth century until the introduction of a modern education system. Sŏdang were small, private, local institutes in which the Chinese classics were taught by a schoolmaster to children aged about eight to 15 who were from landed gentry or commoner families.
47 Kwanbo, September 3, 1906.
48 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi, 85.
49 Sang-Rak Ha, ‘Kyŏngsŏng goawŏn-e taehan sogo [A Study of the Kyŏngsŏng Orphanage]’, Hyangt’o Sŏul [Local Seoul] 45 (1988): 123. Much influenced by Confucianism, Yi Pil-Hwa founded the orphanage in October 1905 at personal cost. The orphanage was Korea’s first modern educational institution for orphans.
50 Tōru Umakoshi, Hanguk kŭndae daehak-ŭi sŏngnip-kwa chŏn’gae: daehak model-ŭi chŏnpa yŏngu [The Formation and Development of Modern Universities in Korea: Studying the Spread of University Models] (Seoul: Kyoyukkwahaksa, 2001), 93.
51 Kim, ‘Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik’, 8.
52 The Chungang School is today Chungang High School, where Kim Seong-Su was in charge of management from 1915, and is now operating with Korea University as a school for the same foundation called the Korea Central Academy. Having been elected the second vice-president of South Korea in May 1951, Kim Seong-Su was a businessman, educator, journalist and politician. Chungang School still prides itself today as a traditional private school that promotes the spirit of nationalism.
53 Yu Kil-Chun was an intellectual and politician who learned western ideas while studying in Japan and the United States during the 1880s: Min-Ho Jeon, ‘Yu Kilchun-gwa Hŏlbŏt’ŭ-ŭi kyoyuk sasang pigyo yŏngu [A Comparative Study on Yu Kil-Chun’s and Hulbert’s Educational Thought]’, Hangukhak yŏngu [Journal of Korean Studies] 39 (2011): 386.
54 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi, 112.
55 Ibid., 98.
56 Ibid., 114.
57 Hanguk yŏsŏngsa [The History of Korean Women] (Seoul: Ewha Womans University Press, 1972), 309.
58 ‘Dongduk Girls’ High School’, Encyclopaedia of Korean Culture, https://100.daum.net/encyclopaedia/view/14XXE0016343 (accessed April 12, 2021).
59 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi, 122.
60 Hahn, ‘Pioneer in Women’s Education’, 117.
61 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi, 123.
62 Ibid.
63 Ibid., 121–3.
64 Kim, ‘Hanguk kŭndae yŏsŏng sahak’, 241.
65 Tongsik Cho, ‘Yŏsŏng kyoyuk-ŭi kŭmmu [The Primary Task of Women’s Education]’, Ch’ŏngch’un [Youth] (June 1917): 50.
66 Han-Cho Kim, ‘Ilche sidae-ŭi kyoyuk-kwa Chun’gang sŏnsaeng [Education during the Japanese Colonial Period and Teacher ch’un’gang]’, in Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik paksa t’ansin paek nyŏn ginyŏm nonmunjip (Seoul: Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik paksa kinyŏm saŏphoe, 1987), 67. The New Cultural Movement is a generic term to refer to various enlightenment movements that flourished after the March First Movement during the 1920s and that tried to respond to Japanese imperialism, including the New Education Movement, the Press Publishing Movement, the Youth Movement, the Peasant Movement, the Labour Movement and the Women’s Movement. See Shi-Yong Ko, ‘Ch’ŏndogyo-ŭi sinmunhwa undong [Cheondogyo’s New Cultural Movement]’, Sin chonggyo yŏngu [Journal of the Korean Academy of New Religions] 27 (2012): 99. In 1920, there were 985 organisations of all types registered with the colonial police. These were local youth groups, religious organisations, educational study groups, academic societies and social clubs. By September 1922, the number of organisations had swelled to 52,728. See Michael E. Robinson, Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920–1925 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988), 49–50.
67 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi, 256.
68 Tonga Ilbo, June 23, 1920.
69 Tongsik Cho, ‘Che myŏngsa-ŭi Chosŏn yŏja haebanggwan [Intellectuals’ Perspective on the Liberation of Korean Women]’, Kaebyŏk, September 25, 1920. Kaebyŏk is a modern magazine with connections to the Ch’ŏndogyo religion, published in the 1920s.
70 The schools that participated in the event were Chinmyŏng School (140 students), Yanggyu ŭisuk (85), Sangdong School (51), Sŭngdong School (44), Pohagwŏn School (32), Yangwŏn School (17), Yŏngshin School (24), Tongdŏk School (24) and Pongmyŏng School (9). See Taehan Maeil Sinbo, October 23, 1908.
71 Taehan Maeil Sinbo, May 14, 1910.
72 Tonga Ilbo, June 19, 1925.
73 Kwanbo, February 2, 1895.
74 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik paksa t’ansin paek nyŏn ginyŏm nonmunjip, 22.
75 Kim, ‘Ilche sidae-ŭi kyoyuk-kwa Chun’gang sŏnsaeng’, 71.
76 Chungoe Ilbo, May 20, 1930.
77 Kim, ‘Ilche sidae-ŭi kyoyuk-kwa Chun’gang sŏnsaeng’, 71.
78 Cited in Hyen-Seo Pak, ‘Cho Tongsik-ŭi In’gansŏng [The Humanity of Cho Dong-Sik]’, in Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik paksa t’ansin paek nyŏn ginyŏm nonmunjip, 215.
79 Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik sŏnsaeng jŏngi, 247.
80 Ibid., 250–1.
81 Chungoe Ilbo, October 7, 1928.
82 Chungoe Ilbo, November 10, 1929.
83 Chosŏn T’ongsin, November 8, 1934.
84 Hwangsŏng Sinmun, May 4, 1906.
85 Taehan sarip chung godŭng hakgyo janghoe 80-nyŏnsa: 1919–1999 [Eighty Years of the Korean Association of Private Secondary School Principals: 1919–1999] (Seoul: Taehan sarip chung godŭng hakgyo janghoe, 1999), 75.
86 Ibid.
87 Tonga Ilbo, January 28, 1930.
88 Yong-Jin Hahn, ‘Ilche sikminji kodŭng gyoyuk chŏngch’aek-kwa Kyŏngsŏng jeguk taehak-ŭi wisang [Colonial Japanese Imperialism in Higher Education Policy and Keijō Imperial University’s Status]’, Kyoyuk munje yŏngu [Research on Educational Issues] 8 (1996): 161.
89 Shigeki Okazaki, Jidai wo tsukuru nan: Shiobara Tokusaburō [A Man Who Shapes an Era: Shiobara Tokusaburō] (Tōkyō: Ōsawa tsukiji shoten, 1942), 163; Hanguk kyoyuksa (Seoul: Kyoyuk ch’ulp’ansa, 1972), 336.
90 Mizuno Naoki, Ch’angssi gaemyŏng [Name changing programme] (Seoul: Sanch’ŏrŏm, 2008), 312.
91 Hahn, ‘Ilche sikminji kodŭng gyoyuk chŏngch’aek’, 161.
92 Kim, ‘Ilche sidae-ŭi kyoyuk-kwa Ch’un’gang sŏnsaeng’, 64.
93 Fujitani Takashi, Race for Empire: Koreans as Japanese and Japanese as Americans during World War II (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011), 271–8.
94 He was designated as a ‘pro-Japanese activist’ by the Special Act on Investigating Anti-National Activities under the Japanese Occupation, which was enacted in 2003 for writing in newspapers and lecturing during the Pacific War: Ch’inil inmyŏng sajŏn [A Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Individuals] (Seoul: Minjok munje yŏnguso, 2009).
95 Maeil Sinbo, March 9, 1942.
96 During the Japanese colonial period, Japan implemented the policy of ‘Japan and Korea are one body’ (Naesŏn ilch’e, 內鮮一體). Most Koreans regarded it as an empty propaganda slogan.
97 The idea of kokutai is that the family, the smallest unit of the state, should be subordinate to the state and obey the emperor (Tennō, 天皇): Sang-jung Kang, Naeshŏnŏllijŭm [Nationalism] (Seoul: Isan, 2004), 157; Fukaya Masashi, Ryōsai kenbo shugino kyōiku [Education of GWWM Thought] (Tokyo: Reimei shobō, 1998), 11–13.
98 Sang-Ho Nam, ‘Kŭndae Ilbon-ŭi kukch’eron-gwa kyŏngsin sungjo [Peasants and Policy in the Showa Wartime Period]’, Ilbonhakpo [Korean Journal of Japanology] 86 (2011): 320.
99 Kim, ‘Ilche sidae-ŭi kyoyuk-kwa Ch’un’gang sŏnsaeng’, 72.
100 Ibid., 73.
101 Ibid., 64. The phrase referred to is ‘Until the day when the East Sea’s waters and Mount Baekdu are dry and worn away, God protects and preserves us. Long live our school!’
102 Minju saenghwal [Democratic Life] (Seoul: Kukchŏng gyogwasŏju, 1966), 120–1; Kim, ‘Ch’un’gang Cho Tongsik’, 14.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Yong-Jin Hahn
Yong-Jin Hahn (lead author): Yong-Jin Hahn is a professor at Korea University in South Korea. He is interested in the conceptual history of education, educational ideas in East Asia, Japanese education, etc. He has recently published ‘Obara kuniyoshiŭi chŏnin’gyoyungnon yŏn’gu [A Study on Obara’s Whole Person Education Theory]’, Han’gugilbon’gyoyuk’akyŏn’gu [Korean Journal of Japan Education] 24, no. 3 (2020): 1–19, and Yong-Jin Hahn and Hyun-Jung Shin, ‘Munmyŏngsajŏng chŏnhwan’giŭi chŏnin’gyoyung kaenyŏm chaego [A Review of the Concept of Whole Person Education in the Transition Period of Civilisational History]’, Inmunsahoe 21 [Journal of Humanities and Social Science] 12, no. 1 (2021): 843–58. He can be contacted by email at [email protected]
Min-Ho Jeon
Min-Ho Jeon (corresponding author): Min-Ho Jeon is an assistant professor at Korea University in South Korea. He is interested in the educational history and politics of modern Korea (1876–1945). He has recently published ‘Kaehwagi hakkyogyoyugesŏ kŭndaejŏng wisaenggaenyŏmŭi hyŏngsŏng [A Study on the Formation of Modern Sanitary Concepts in School Education During the Period of Enlightenment (1881–1910) in Korea]’, Han’gukkyoyuk’akyŏn’gu [Korea Educational Review] 26, no. 2 (2020): 231–57. He can be contacted by email at [email protected]