page_title: History of the kisaeng
section_title: Joseon
hierarchical_section_title: History of the kisaeng / Joseon
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of a en:Joseon Dynasty en:kisaeng in en:Pyongyang, Korea. Taken in 1890 by en:William James Hall, who died in 1894. Public domain due to age. Retrieved 22 January 2006 from [1] by en:User:Visviva.
context_page_description: The history of the kisaeng covers the entire second millennium, from the Goryeo dynasty to modern South Korea. The kisaeng system first emerged in the early Goryeo period, and was at its height in the middle Joseon Dynasty. The kisaeng were contribute to entertain others, such as the Yangbans and kings. although some kisaeng also held positions of importance in the court or in literary culture. A strange silence hangs over the official histories of Korea when it comes to the kisaeng. They enter only occasionally into official records such as the Goryeosa or Joseon Wangjo Sillok. Yet references to kisaeng are quite widespread in the "anecdotal histories" of later Joseon, and Silhak thinkers such as Yi Ik and Dasan gave some thought to their role and station in society. Even today, many formal histories of Korea pay little or no heed to the story of the kisaeng. For example, Ki-baek Lee's New History of Korea does not contain a single reference to the kisaeng.
context_section_description: Goryeo was succeeded by the Joseon Dynasty, 1394–1910.  During the Joseon dynasty, the kisaeng system continued to flourish and develop, despite the government's deeply ambivalent attitude toward it.
  Joseon was founded on Neo-Confucian ideals, and the Neo-Confucian scholars of the time took a very dim view of professional women and of the kisaeng class in particular.  There were many calls for the abolition of the kisaeng, or for their exclusion from court, but these were not successful—perhaps because of the influence of the women themselves, or perhaps because of fear that officials would take to stealing the wives of other men. One such proposal was made during the reign of Sejong, but when an advisor of the court suggested that the abolition of the class would lead to government officials committing grave crimes, the king chose to preserve the kisaeng.
  During the brief and violent reign of Yeonsan-gun, 1494–1506, kisaeng became symbolic of royal excess.  Yeonsan-gun treated women as primarily objects of pleasure, and made even the medicinal women into entertainers (yakbang gisaeng).  Yeonsan-gun brought 1,000 women and girls from the provinces to serve as palace kisaeng; many of them were paid from the public treasury.  He may have been the first to institute a formal hierarchy among them, dividing the kisaeng of the  palace into "Heaven," those with whom he slept, and "Earth," those who served other functions.
  In 1650, all kisaeng were made slaves of the government.  The kisaeng attached to a government office were known as gwan-gi, or "kisaeng of the office."   Their role did not, by law, include sexual service to the officeholder; in fact, government officials could be punished severely for consorting with a kisaeng. However, in practice kisaeng were often forced to serve the officeholder.  A distinction was sometimes made between those gwan-gi who were obliged to sleep with the officeholder, and those who were not.  This distinction was featured in the popular lay Chunhyangga.
  The Gabo Reform of 1895 officially abolished the class system of Joseon, and slavery as well.  From that year forward, all kisaeng became nominally free.  In practice, many kisaeng, like many other slaves, continued in servitude for many years.  In addition, many of those who were freed had no alternative career; they continued as entertainers, now without the protections afforded by kisaeng status.  During the subsequent decade, many of these kisaeng went to Japan to work.
caption: Kisaeng in Pyongyang, 1890.