A Critical Review of Preceding Researches on [Records of Gisaeng and Changgi] and Correction of Academic Errors － Concentrating on [A Study on Gisaeng in Colonial Korea (II) : Focusing on Characteristics of Gisaeng Association] by Suh Jiyoung (2005)
Authors:   Korean Association for Literacy, Lee Jeongnam 
Published: September 2022

Among the researches that actively utilized bibliographies on [Records of Gisaeng and Changgi], this study concentrated on [A Study on Gisaeng in Colonial Korea (II) : Focusing on Characteristics of Gisaeng Association] by Suh Jiyoung (2005). This study interpreted and analyzed historical records and bibliographies of the time objectively and empirically to correct academic errors and distorted facts caused by the misunderstanding and misreading of the Gisaeng and prostitute-related documents in [Records of Gisaeng and Changgi].
[A Study on Gisaeng in Colonial Korea (II) : Focusing on Characteristics of Gisaeng Association] by Suh Jiyoung (2005) involved numbers of academic errors and distorted facts as follows : 1. All discussions were made under the fundamental misconception that Gisaeng and prostitute are similar or equivalent concepts, 2. “Gisaeng” who were not included in the state-regulated prostitution system were distorted as persons who had to be controlled and managed under the state-regulated prostitute policy, 3. “Hanseong Prostitute Association” was completely mistaken as “Hanseong Gisaeng Association,” and were regarded as the same group including both prostitutes and official Gisaeng at the same time, 4. The research committed logical contradiction and error by examining the “Characteristics of Gisaeng Association” in the documents related to prostitutes instead of documents related to Gisaeng in the bibliographies on [Records of Gisaeng and Prostitute], 5. The contents related to Gisaeng and prostitutes were mixed up and remained as incomplete research that failed to review the characteristics of Gisaeng Association and Prostitute Association, 6. The research committed an error of hasty generalization by focusing on few controversial and negative articles in defining the characteristics of “Gisaeng Association” over 35 years of the Japanese colonial period, 7. Although Gisaeng were involved in “Charity Concert Activities” for orphanages, natural disasters, and midwife training schools out of the “Pure Purpose and Intention” for the country and people without commercial benefits throughout the Korean Empire Period and Japanese Colonial Period, such activities were regarded and distorted as the “Responsive Behaviors” done in awareness of conventional views that treated Gisaeng as the causes of demoralization and as “activities” done to improve the public image of Gisaeng of the time.
In conclusion, the serial researches, [A Study on Gisaeng in Colonial Korea (I),(II),(III)], by Suh Jiyoung were often cited in works about Gisaeng, the state-regulated prostitution system, gender, sexuality, feminism, and prostitution system because of the titles, “Study on Gisaeng” during “Japanese colonial period (Colonial Period, Japanese Colonialism).” However, as recent researches pointed out various academic errors and distortions, the serial researches by Suh Jiyoung are inappropriate to represent the researches on Gisaeng during the Japanese colonial period. In other words, the researches on Gisaeng during the Japanese colonial period are not empirical, detailed, or comprehensive enough to define the characteristics of Gisaeng and Gisaeng Association(Gwonbeon) during the Japanese colonial period. Thus, the following researches have to make related attempts. In cases of citing the researches by Suh Jiyoung, the researchers must review the researches by Suh Jiyoung additionally and thoroughly to secure the academic validity before citing them.