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The Formation of Southern Manchurian Villages and the Farmer’s Life in the Manchukuo Period

  • Journal of Manchurian Studies
  • Abbr : 만주연구
  • 2019, (28), pp.207~249
  • DOI : 10.22888/mcsa..28.201910.207
  • Publisher : The Manchurian Studies Association
  • Research Area : Social Science > Area Studies > East Asia > China
  • Received : September 30, 2019
  • Accepted : October 24, 2019
  • Published : October 31, 2019

Yoon Hwy Tak 1

1한경대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In South Manchuria, land seldom included the presence of the privileged class, which the work of Chinese immigrants supplanted. Throughout the pioneering process, land inequality became a grim reality. Southern Manchurian villages formed in conditions often devoid of landlords, but plentiful in with a population of poor Chinese immigrants. These conditions often spelled high rates of migration, with farmers finding it difficult to survive and settle. Koreans contributed to the migratory flows often pushed and pulled between Manchuria and Joseon due to poverty. Many of the consequently unemployed farmers also lacked basic literacy skills. In these villages, religious community activities helped to maintain order in ways that led to self-government without landlords. However, ethnic and class conflicts often arose between the Chinese and Koreans, which often displayed signs of the higher social status of the Chinese enjoyed in comparison to their Korean counterparts. Each village had a very high proportion of landowners, including Japanese colonial institutions and Japanese villagers, which often resulted in farmers bearing high burdens when it came to ‘security costs’ or protection racket costs. Moreover, the wide education level gap between landowners and poor farmers did not help the latter’s plight. Like rural villages in North Manchuria, pioneering and colonial elements played integral roles in rural South Manchuria.

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