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The Housekeeping and Management Style of Nampyeong Cho During the 3 years 9 months -Centered on 『Byeongjailgi』

  • Korean Language & Literature
  • 2010, (75), pp.313-357
  • Publisher : Korean Language & Literature
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature

Heesoon Moon 1

1배재대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Nampyeong Cho, the wife of Nam I Woong(1575-1648), wrote 『Byeongjailgi』 while seeking refuge during Byeongjahoran, the second Manchu invasion of Korea, in December 1636(Byeongja) until returning to her original house in Seoul in 1640(Gyeongjin), three years and eight months later. She was from the gentry class and had a comparatively stable married life, this book calmly recorded her thoughts on daily life and the issue of life and death when faced with war, separation from her husband and the death of her children. Firstly, 『Byeongjailgi』 graphically records the situation at a time when the destiny of the nation was at severe risk and the thoughts of a wife from the highest class as she journeyed to refuge. This book vividly reflects the impending situation and the life of people who had to cope with such hard times. We can confirm the locality and place names in the Hoseo area, which was selected as a shelter. This book also helps to research some of those names which cannot now be found. Secondly, her housekeeping style is unique as a 'subjective producer.' This goes against our prejudice that the life of most women living at that time would have existed only as a passive, supportive wife. The character and performance of ancestor worship by Nampyeong Cho includes the philosophical introspection on life and death. She maintained a maternal love for her one dead daughter, four sons and two daughters-in-law and kept perfect records of every anniversary of her ancestors' death and birth date ceremonies. The land run by the family of Nam I Woong was one of the basic foundations for stable living. But in fact, she contributed greatly to the expansion of existing land and servants which were accumulated by her husband and used those resources in her housekeeping. Frequent giving and taking of gifts helped to consolidate a network for the Nam I Woong family and through this Nampyeong Cho also could sustain her household. It is understood that such giving and taking of gifts at that time functioned as a show of respect and helped to form a kind of community spirit. Thirdly, it is known that Nampyeong Cho was a merciful humanist in terms of her relationships and management of others. The book presents a glimpse of her female virtues on each day, and it is felt that her sense of virtue was higher than many of the moral guide books for women of the Chosun Dynasty. In forming relationships with others, such as her husband, her children, children of concubines, daughters-in-law, relatives, honored guests and servants, she showed altruistic love, tolerance and respect for human rights and this led to open family relations. Her wholehearted consideration and love was reciprocated by others. Her character and way of life surely gives us an instructive example.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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