The Story of Jeju, in Pictures

This is the story of an island called Jeju, in the Northern Pacific…

A place like no other, with several thousand years of human civilization in harmony with nature and today the first and only place in the world to receive all 3 UNESCO natural science designations…

And a place in the throes of modernization…

▲…where fields are still cultivated by hand, and labor is nearly always performed communally…not by ‘hired hands’ but villagers who help their neighbor today in the understanding that he or she will in turn be in their field tomorrow, in a system known as mutual aid…

▲…where farms are typically in the benign shadow of an ‘oreum,’ local dialect for the nearly 400 secondary cones that emerged when the central volcano formed this island some 200,000 years ago (last eruption: 1007CE)…

▲…where soil worked for many centuries is now black gold, volcanic soil that once represented hardship because of its stony content, stones cleverly–and laboriously–removed one-by-one to become low stone fences, protecting the soil and plants from the fierce winds that sweep the island–again, cleverly, as the space between stones reduces the wind to a gentle breeze as it passes through the field, and renders the stone wall nearly invincible…

▲…and more black gold at a giant’s feet…

▲…with some creative tilling, always by hand, horse, or hand-driven machinery in these small and often oddly-shaped fields…

▲…where a hiking trail on the ‘oreum’ is likely to require passage through a cow gate…

▲…and one’s trail companions might well be bovine…

▲…where the farmland below can often appear as a beautifully handmade patchwork quilt that tells the story of the people’s lives…

▲…where hiking, and nature, are a daily part of life and the relationship between humans and nature seamless…

▲…where the dead are buried near the living, the gravesite complete with guardians/servants and errand boys, the pillar–one of a pair of grave markers called ‘mangjuseok’ and representing two gates, one for the living and the other for spirit…

▲…an errand boy, one of a pair, called dongjaseok–and the least important of the markers…

▲…a guardian and servant to the deceased, also one of a pair–and the most important of the markers, called ‘muninseok’…

▲…second dongjaseok…

▲…second muninseok…

▲…and the official tombstone, covered in Chinese characters, telling the story of the deceased–identity, accomplishments, and most importantly, lineage, all not so much to memorialize as to introduce the deceased to the spirit world…

▲…and the view from the grave…

▲…and an altar at which to honor the dead…

▲…sometimes, though not often, two family members were buried together, always beneath a grave mound and always surrounded by a low stone fence…

▲…and  at Chuseok, an autumn harvest celebration, the family tends the grave in an annual rite known as bulcho, by cutting and cleaning away the grass and honoring the dead…

▲…and as time passed, the muninseok or guardian/servant was not always included and only the dongjaseok or errand boy and mangjuseok or doorway marker remained–but an errand boy cannot properly serve nor guard the dead…

▲…and in some cases, the dead are relocated to a more propitious site–or, in these modern times, more convenient for the family, and the original grave is left empty…

▲…even though the original site may have been most propitious indeed, with a grand view…

▲…leaving the gravestone, broken, as so much flagstone along a hiking path…

▲…the unsuspecting descendants below…

▲…with the dead overseeing it all…

▲…now with only errand boys and a lineage marker, missing their guardian/servants and the gateway markers of the passage points between the worlds…

▲…and we descend to the world below…

▲…where, sometimes, the trail companions are not bovine but equine…

▲…content, and at ease with humans, a true and faithful companion of Jeju people through the ages, with three varieties: the original Jeju pony; a squat and sturdy horse which is a legacy of the 100-year Mongolian occupation in the 13th century; and, today’s imported thoroughbred…

▲…a place of harmonious existence between human and horse…

▲…where, despite modernization at a breathtaking pace, the ubiquitous stone walls remain…

▲…stone walls that, whether surrounding fields or gravemounds, take some (literal and metaphor) interesting twists and turns…

▲…and, in very modern times, crisply manicured grave mounds all in a row looking sanitized–and segregated from daily life…

▲…inclusive of ‘guardians’ for the patriarch, though now only the decorative sort…

▲…where the fields yet remain rich and fertile…

▲…enriched by the minerals of the volcanic stone and ash…

▲…some graves with modern walls of stone+cement, the wind’s undeniable requirement of passage and the water’s need to breathe forgotten–thus cracking, as is to be expected…

▲…while the ancient techniques of building a stone wall prevail…

▲…and sometimes, though not often, the walls around a grave mound take on a sympathetic circular shape…

▲…a place where that circular shape so common in nature is sometimes reflected in the outline of the fields…

▲…where calves are born in abundance, but sometimes die, leaving the cow (like the one on the right) to bellow incessantly and sniff other nursing calf-cow pairs, in search of her own…

▲…and next to the dairy farm may be the family shrine…

▲…and where graves are typically found in the midst of the fields, sometimes several…

▲…and “crop circles” are merely a farmer’s creativity–and, sense of humor…

▲…where the grave may be the central feature of the field, precisely where a farmer should be laid to rest…and near his family…

▲…where new and old stone fences sometimes meet…

▲…and elaborate family markers are sometimes erected to the dead…

▲…where onions dry in the fields…

▲…and gardens are now sometimes manicured things…

▲…where small farms yet prevail, and garlic dries in mesh bags by the roadside…

▲…and potatoes rest in the field, waiting for the final gathering…

▲…and public schools are elaborate, even in the smallest villages…

▲…where quiet village life is still the norm…

▲…and life has modernized while retaining aspects of the traditional style…

▲…and life in the small village still revolves around the farming fields…

▲…with an occasional home fallen into disuse and utter neglect, reclaimed by nature…

▲…where village life remains behind low stone walls…

▲…and grandfathers spread red algae to dry in the sun, algae likely gathered by their haenyeo (free-diver) wives…

▲…with improvised storage facilities for garlic, potatoes, onions…

▲…and the “olle gil” or walking path found throughout the villages, now lined with cement…which cracks…

▲…a village like so many others on this island, tucked behind stone walls, next to both sea and farm fields, in the shadow of a benevolent giant…

▲…and the small truck used for every need…

▲…and modernized yet small houses retain the flavor of their stone, thatched predecessors…

▲…a place where field work is still done by hand, sometimes augmented by small machinery…

▲…a place where squid is hung on a line to dry, like so much laundry,  the squid boats with their high beams lining up on the sea at night like so many hydro-cars…

▲…and where, at low tide, people comb the seabed for mollusks…

▲…where red algae, a product valued for its medicinal properties, is often found being dried by the sea, in preparation for going to market…

▲…and life revolves around the sea, Seongsan Ilchulbong–a UNESCO-designated 5000-year old tuff cone–presiding in the distance…

▲…an island created by volcano, a world of natural artistry revealed at low tide, where algae and volcanic rock meet…

▲…the red algae sometimes exquisitely colored…

▲…and sometimes looking like a mass of red hair…

▲…with a rocky seabed which, when revealed at low tide, gives strong impression of the ancient lava flow that created this island…

▲…with colorful marine life on a backdrop of volcanic basalt…

▲…and many tiny gold ‘nuggets’, seemingly alive and pliant, which I have yet to identify…

▲…a lone basket left by a haenyeo diving with her ‘sisters’ at sea, her shoes and sundries inside…

▲…sand dunes an uncommon feature in this rock-formed island…

▲…and more mollusk-seekers combing the shallows…

▲…Seongsan Ilchulbong rising over all…

▲…the stunning coastline near Seongsan Ilchulbong…

▲…and a nearby abandoned (house? lookout facility?)…

▲…from which one might peer out to the east through its “eyes”…

▲…which Nature threatens to completely consume…

▲…the local Seongsan Village public shrine/altar, next to the small (house? lookout? altar-keeper?)–and, the sea…

▲…with dual altars inside–and the throngs of Seongsan Ilchulbong tourists kept out…

▲…and the rocky shoreline leading up to what was once a separate tuff cone or parasitic volcanic cone at sea, now connected by land bridge, the majesty of Seongsan evident in the “99″ peaks of her crown…

▲…and another haenyeo facility, just west of Seongsan Ilchulbong…

▲…where a grandmother haenyeo watches over drying red algae…or perhaps merely rests after her morning of diving…

▲…a watery pathway leading to the shore and haenyeo facility, a haenyeo diving in its waters, the ever-present cormorant resting nearby…

▲…haenyeo wetsuits drying in the sun…

▲…an island which includes many Buddhist temples, this one at the base of Seongsan Ilchulbong…

▲…a seaside, open-air, working haenyeo facility to the east of Seongsan Ilchulbong, on Gwangchigi Beach…

▲…unusual rock formations which emerge at low tide, the “gwangchigi” from which this beach derives its name, haenyeo diving in the background, and all at the foot of the queen…

▲…a “4.3″ memorial to victims of a 1948 (~’53) period of violence, a cultural wound yet unresolved…one of many mass graves, this one discovered at Gwangchigi Beach and mentioned by French-Mauritian author and Nobel Prize-winning (2008) J.M.G. Le Clezio, who has stayed on Jeju several times and published an article about the island in GEO, March 2009…

▲…site of 1948 massacre, or mass execution, depending upon one’s ideology…

▲…in nearby Seongsan Village, along a highway, a secret passage so low as to be missed entirely…

▲…a tree growing through it, requiring one to bend low–or, to bow–upon entry (the cement, however, a recent addition)…

▲…to be immediately met with the colorful banners of a small shamanic ‘dang’ or village shrine (aka, ponhyang, or ‘original village’), at which the gods, viewed as ancestors (chosang), are worshipped by the indigenous people (chason), their descendants…

▲…and the sacred tree, conduit between the worlds as in all shamanic traditions, a marriage of tree-and-rock so common on volcanic Jeju, with altar naturally at its base including a still-burning candle, indicating the use of the shrine by shaman (simbang) or devotee (dang-gol) that very day…

▲…the shrine nearly invisible to the public, hidden deep within as one of Jeju’s remaining secret places, garden before, modernity looming overhead, construction foremost…

▲…and the threat to Jeju’s past…and possibly, to its future.

***

This is the story of Jeju Island…

and the story of indigenous peoples and unique, sacred lands…

all over the world.

Women’s Empowerment: Jeju-style, Part 3

(For Parts 1 and 2, see previous posts.)

And so, we can view the 7 Women’s Empowerment Principles within the context of Jeju’s cultural heritage:

1. “Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality”: For Jeju, place emphasis on the traditionally matrifocal and egalitarian cultural principles, reviving and even modernizing the goddess mythology;

2. “Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination”: For Jeju, emphasize the traditional communal labor practices and reorganize them to fit modern society; also, support and increase the current peace and human rights initiatives;

3. “Ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all women and men workers”: For Jeju, expand upon the “eochongye” model of collective economics which also provides for the well-being of its workers, including retirees and those in need; and, provides support to those of lesser skill;

4. “Promote education, training and professional development for women”: For Jeju, continue to emphasize the Confucian value of lifelong education; provide a variety of business and leadership courses for women [such as a recent training course for female CEOs and entrepreneurs, provided by Jeju Small and Medium Business Administration];

5. “Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women”: For Jeju, this is also an expansion of the “eochongye” model, in particular as it relates to the diving women’s economic cooperatives and decision-making processes; additionally, emphasize Jeju women’s self-reliance and independence, and provide networking opportunities;

6. “Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy”: For Jeju, re-conceptualize the island-wide system of small villages with their local councils, applying ideas of “town hall” and “community” also to city life and provincial governance; secondly, make the best use of strong community bonds known as ‘kwendang’; thirdly, support relevant NGOs and similar structures, and develop new ones as needed;

7. “Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality”: For Jeju, utilize and perhaps even coordinate the island’s numerous research institutes [NGOs, private and public] and government initiatives.

**

Each principle can be supported by an existing or traditional feature of Jeju’s culture, if highlighted and enhanced for this purpose. This also reorders features of Jeju’s traditional culture in modern terms, which may serve the purpose of cultural preservation and encourage a renewed value of traditions.

There is no need to invent new ways of empowering women. Nor is it appropriate to import methods from another, remarkably different culture.

Rather, a strengths-based model such as this begins with an analysis of the culture within which women are to be further empowered, looking at both positive and negative features of that culture.

Then, for maximum results and cooperation among both women and men, we must creatively build upon that foundation – finding methods to strengthen women’s position in the society which draw from the attributes that women already have, and other methods to understand, decrease and ultimately eliminate those features which stand in their way.

The most important consideration should be the cultural features to be found in each region.

**

On Jeju, it has been said for some time that Seolmundae Halmang, the island’s giant, grandmotherly, yet all-powerful creator Goddess, is sleeping.

In the words of Korean scholar and mythologist Koh Hea Kyoung, from her nationally recognized 2010 book on Jeju’s creator goddess Seolmundae, “In the Beginning was the Goddess”:

“Discovering great goddesses from the beginning of the world and reviving them in today’s world is my dream as well as the path to a new era – when reason and emotion, humans and nature, and men and women can co-exist in true harmony.”

For the empowerment and equality of Jeju women, to the benefit of both women and men: it is time to awaken Seolmundae Halmang.

Women’s Empowerment: Jeju-style, Part 2

(For Part 1, see previous post.)

There are several dominant influences in Jeju society which must be considered in order to achieve true empowerment for Jeju women: Goddess mythology, Shamanism, Neo-Confucianism, collective labor practices, invasions and assaults, poverty and recent affluence.

The first consideration is the conflict between the relatively recent emphasis on a Neo-Confucian, patriarchal social structure and a much older heritage of Goddess mythology and shamanic practices. The latter, coupled with the labor tradition of the diving women, had once resulted in an egalitarian and even matrifocal traditional culture.

Jeju Island’s creation myth is that of a giant goddess, the grandmother of all, Seolmundae Halmang. Numerous other goddesses can be found in the mythology of Jeju’s traditional culture, indicating the psychological underpinnings of the Jeju woman’s strength.

In the Neo-Confucianism that took particular stronghold in Korea approximately 5 centuries ago, and on Jeju more recently, the woman is relegated to a secondary role in the society. The hierarchy of this social structure also carries over into the workplace, which keeps working women at an artificially lower status.

On the positive side, Confucian ideals support lifelong education, something valued quite highly throughout Korean society.

Communal labor methods in the villages, a requirement for survival in this once harsh landscape and climate, represent a second consideration. A variety of practices such as anchovy harvesting, fishing and diving, farming, millstone grinding, and more resulted in strong community bonds and required women to work side-by-side with men. With modern technology and the decrease in these practices, there is far less need for communal labor and economic cooperatives, though the legacy remains.

Korea’s emphasis on militarism since the war of the mid-20^th century, coupled with Jeju’s multiple historic assaults including mass executions in 1948~53 by Korean military forces, have exaggerated the insularity of this island community. It is valid to say that Jeju’s society is inwardly focused, somewhat resistant to outside influence, and self-reliant as a result. A powerful commitment to peace and human rights initiatives has also emerged.

In Korea, including Jeju, corporations and government are typically modeled after the military system to which all young men are conscripted and of which women for the most part have no knowledge or experience – a distinct disadvantage for women in the workplace.

Finally, Jeju has historically been an impoverished island, largely as a result of its isolation and harsh climate. In modern times, due to both industrial and technological advances as well as a shifting economic focus, this is no longer the case. The conflict between poverty consciousness and frugality versus relative affluence and comfort is another factor for consideration.

**

Several initiatives are underway to improve the status of Jeju women.

A women’s special committee has existed in Jeju government for several years. Since 2006, when Jeju became a more self-governing region, women have been appointed to five council seats out of the 44 in total. Recently, a women’s special committee has also been formed within the council. The Seolmundae Women’s Center, named for the island’s creator goddess, is a government-sponsored facility.

Jeju has a longstanding NGO women’s association which focuses on policy, and another which provides shelter and counseling to women in need. There is a center for single mothers with multiple supportive features. A branch of the YWCA provides many programs for women; a variety of private women’s organizations also exists, including a branch of BPW which places emphasis on the Women’s Empowerment Principles as designed by the UN.

One exciting new government initiative, the Jeju Women’s Governance Forum, includes members from a variety of sectors and is focused on education, research, networking, and policy determination.

**

(Part 3 to follow.)

Jeju Women’s History

[My article, reprinted from Jeju Weekly. Photos added.]

A Look at Jeju Women’s Lives Throughout Time

The history of Jeju women’s culture

Part 1 of a 2-part series

The history of the “strong Jeju women” is significant to understanding the women’s society of today.

At the core of Jeju women’s culture is the island’s mythology, beginning with a goddess-oriented creation myth and including multiple other goddesses. The longstanding shamanic religious tradition, of particular importance to women and including many female shamans, supports this mythology.

A two-volume book series on the topic of Jeju women’s history has been published online by the Jeju Development Institute (JDI) under the guidance of its president, Yang Young-oh. Following extensive research involving multiple scholars, together the books constitute more than 1,500 pages, with volume I addressing pre-Joseon era to 1910 and volume II covering 1910 to 1945.

Moon Soon Deok, senior researcher at JDI and an expert on Jeju women’s culture, led a 23-member research team for the second volume which was published earlier this year.

Several key events throughout history have contributed to the constitution of Jeju women’s society.

For more than a hundred years around the time of the 12th century, Mongolian troops occupied this island. According to historian and mythologist Kim Soonie, Jeju representative of the Cultural Heritage Administration, this was actually favorable to Jeju women as the Mongolians viewed women in a relatively egalitarian manner. During this time, a majority of Jeju women participated in the labor force and even learned to ride horses according to Mongolian custom, for example.

Confucianism became the guiding social system of the mainland under the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), and was introduced to Jeju as well. It took hold primarily in the farming and mid-mountain villages where political exiles and other mainlanders typically settled, but was largely ignored by the coastal communities. The diving women, long devotees of the island’s shamanic traditions, rejected Confucianism’s hierarchical and male-centered ideals.

This resulted in two nearly distinct women’s cultures, according to scholar and author Han Rimhwa, in that women of the inland villages, with their newly adopted Confucian ideals, viewed the free and independent ways of the coastal women as “low-class” and “vulgar” behavior. These inner and outer regions seldom permitted intermarriage and had little to do with one another beyond trade of goods, according to Han.

For 200 years during this time, the people of Jeju were not permitted to leave the island. Scholars Moon, Kim, and Han all cite this period as particularly significant regarding the changes it brought to Jeju society, especially to its women.

A number of local women became common-law wives to the political exiles who were banished to the island. It was a source of pride, according to Kim, to bear a son who was the first to bring a new name – a new family line and registry – to Jeju.

“When the exile husbands returned to their original lives – and wives,” Kim described, “the Jeju women remained here with their families and community.” There was no stigma against them, and they were free to remarry – or not, as they chose, their children were typically supported by their absent father. A certain number of these exiles chose to remain on Jeju Island with their new families.

Several notable women emerged from this era, in particular the legendary entrepreneur and philanthropist of the 18th century, Kim Man Deok. As early as the 16th century, the renown of “medical women” Jangdeok and Gwigeum of Jeju reached the royal court. The “yeachong” were women who served in the military during the time of the Joseon dynasty.

Following this era came the period of Japanese colonization which, according to Kim, was also favorable to female workers as the Japanese included women equally in the labor force. However, according to Moon, there was “not much work for women” during this time due to various restrictions, and many women went to Japan to work in factories – and some as “hostesses” in bars and the equivalent. Many also ran “cottage industries” or home-based businesses organized by the Japanese during this time.

There are no documented “comfort women” from Jeju, those forced into sexual service to the Japanese troops, as can be identified on the mainland. However, there is speculation among many scholars, including Moon, Kim, and Han, that this was inevitably the case but that, as Jeju is a very small society, none have ever reported it in order to avoid the shame it would bring upon their families.

Notable women of this time, featured in the small museum at the Seolmundae Women’s Center, include Kang Pyung Guk, an educator and advocate for women’s rights; Choi Jeong Sook, first female superintendent of the Jeju education authority; Kim Shi Sook, leader of the independence movement on Jeju; and, Koh Su Seon, Jeju’s first female physician, among others.

Part 2 of a 2-part series

The women of Jeju are notoriously strong of body and mind – and will. Often considered “natural feminists” by scholars from the mainland and elsewhere, there is no denying that Jeju is historically an egalitarian and matrifocal culture in which women have been at the center of their homes and communities, and a driving economic force.

Is strength of character woven into the Jeju woman’s DNA? Is the famed “Strong Jeju Woman” born – or made?

The era known as “Sasam” or “4.3” followed the Japanese colonial period, a time of political unrest throughout Korea which resulted in violent anti-Communist crackdowns by the military and police forces and counter-rebellions by citizens, with the ultimate demise of up to one-tenth of Jeju’s population.

According to scholar and author Han Rimhwa and many others, the women’s experience of this time represents a multi-layered tragedy.

“Men and boys were typically the target of execution,” Han reported, “and the women had to bear not only the terror and hardship of that time but the loss of their husbands and sons as well.”

She elaborated, “Women were often raped, and many offered themselves sexually in trade for their family members’ lives. One woman I interviewed told me, ‘at that time, I wanted to kill myself – but I lived, for the sake of my family.’”

Han further recounted that many women went to the mainland or to Japan as refugees during this time, following the deaths of their loved ones, in a vain attempt to escape the violence and sorrow they had experienced. “They couldn’t forget the images, though,” she said, “and some committed suicide as a result.”

Historian and mythologist Kim Soonie, Jeju representative of the Cultural Heritage Administration, reported that women often volunteered for duty in the navy during this time, in a belief that this display of nationalism would protect their family members by counteracting any accusations of “communist” or “insurgent” which were being applied, often arbitrarily, to the people of Jeju.

In this modern era, much has changed for Jeju women.

Sudden change came to the community structure of Jeju Island in the 1970s, according to Han and others, due to the central government’s “Saemaeul” or New Villages economic movement as well as the advent of television and other media.

Highways began to crisscross the island, bringing increased mobility and interaction between regions, and tourism became a major industry on Jeju during that time.

Today’s women are more highly educated and professionally oriented than their ancestors. The haenyeo and farming women’s communities have shrunk considerably, and a majority of Jeju citizens, including women, live in the capital city – or off the island.

In this modern era, when traditions are rapidly disappearing and the definition of community and women’s roles are undergoing great change, identity has become the critical issue.

“Jeju women need enlightenment in order to improve Jeju,” Kim said. “We are selling our souls for tourism and money – but there’s more than this. We need soul healing,” she expressed.

“Young Jeju women are strong, but less so than their ancestors,” Moon opined, stating that she felt upset by this.

“What does it mean to be a Jeju woman today?” Han mused. “We have a new identity now – but we don’t know what it is. We need to rebuild Jeju women’s society – and take care of each other.”