A Study on the Status of Women in the Late Joseon Dynasty: Focusing on Before and After the Era of Empress Myeongseong

Cesarica Myeongseong, znana tudi kot kraljica Min, je v poznem 19. stoletju, skupaj z možem kraljem Gojongom, vladala državi, ki so jo močno zaznamovali pritiski s strani zunanjih velesil, kot so bile Rusija, Kitajska in Japonska, ter notranja razklanost in nasprotujoča si mnenja glede modernizacije države, ki je sledila koncu korejske izolacijske politike za časa dinastije Joseon leta 1876, s podpisom mirovne pogodbe Ganghwa z Japonsko. Status žensk skozi obdobje vladavine dinastije je bil precej slab. Ženske so bile v družbi, ki je temeljila na neokonfucijanskih principih, podrejene moškemu. Ženske naj bi bile predstavnice neokonfucijanskih vrlin idealne ženske, skrbele za moža in domače gospodinjstvo, njihova glavna naloga pa je bila družini roditi moškega potomca. Velika večina žensk je bila neizobraženih, nepismenih, omejene so jim bile pravice znotraj zakonske zveze, dedovanje in pravice sodelovanja pri čaščenju prednikov. Cesarica Myeongseong je bila velika podpornica modernizacije in številnih reform, ki bi Korejo približali modernim zahodnim narodom. Spodbujala je prihod tujih odposlancev, učenjakov in misijonarjev, katerih glavni cilj je bil širiti zahodne vrednote in krščansko religijo. Misijonarke, predvsem iz ZDA in Kanade, so ustanovile številne šole za izobraževanje ženskega dela populacije. Pismenost in izobraženost je posledično med ženskami močno narasla, prav to pa je izpostavilo problematiko zastarele percepcije korejske družbe o vlogi ženske zunaj in znotraj doma. Zaradi svojih dejanj in povezovanji s Kitajsko in kasneje Rusijo, so bila mnenja o vlogi in sami osebnosti kraljice, kasneje cesarice Myeongseong različna. Večina japonskih zgodovinarjev jo virih prikazujejo sovražno, prav nasprotno pa jo zahodni viri prikazujejo kot inteligentno in politično spretno žensko, ki je s svojim vplivom na politiko poznega obdobja Joseon posredno močno zaznamovala tako status žensk kot tudi potek razvoja Korejskega polotoka.In the late 19th century, Empress Myeongseong ruled over the Joseon dynasty. Also known as Queen Min, the empress was the wife of King Gojong. Pressures from foreign powers such as Russia, China, and Japan, internal divisions, and conflicting views on the modernization of the Joseon dynasty heavily influenced the Joseon dynasty. The need for modernization came after the end of Korea’s isolationist policy during the Joseon Dynasty in 1876, with the signing of the Ganghwa Peace Treaty with Japan. The status of women during the reign of the dynasty was rather poor. In a society based on neo-Confucian principles, women were considered inferior and subordinate to men. The role of women was to represent the neo-Confucian virtues of an ideal woman, caring for her husband and domestic household, and their main task was to give birth to a male offspring to continue the paternal bloodline. The vast majority of women were uneducated, illiterate, had limited rights when it came to marriage, inheritance, and the right to participate in ancestral rites. Empress Myeongseong was a strong supporter of modernization and reforms that would bring Korea closer to modern Western nations. She encouraged the arrival of foreign envoys, scholars, and missionaries whose main goal was to spread Western values and the Christian religion. Missionaries, mostly from the US and Canada, established several schools to educate the female population in the Joseon dynasty. As a result, literacy and education among women rose sharply. This new perception of women challenged an outdated perception of Korean society about the role of women outside and inside the home. Because of her actions and connections with China and later Russia, opinions about the role and personality of the Queen herself, later Empress Myeongseong, differed. Most Japanese historians portray her as an evil and hostile woman, while Western sources portray her as an intelligent and politically adept woman who, through her influence on the politics of the late Joseon dynasty, indirectly yet strongly influenced both status women and the development of the Korean Peninsula