page_title: Kisaeng
section_title: Joseon dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: Kisaeng / History / Joseon dynasty
caption_attribution_description: Kisaeng TITLE: Korea CALL NUMBER: LOT 11356-3 [item] [P&amp;P] REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-79991 (b&amp;w film copy neg.) RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication. SUMMARY: Kisaeng of palace. Full lgth., seated, (8 - facing right - right side of face is most visible.) MEDIUM: 1 photographic print. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [between 1910 and 1920] NOTES: Title and other information transcribed from caption card and item. LOT subdivision subject: Korea. Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection (Library of Congress). Caption card tracings: Korea -- Misc. -- 1910-1920; Shelf. FORMAT: Photographic prints 1910-1920. REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA DIGITAL ID: (b&amp;w film copy neg.) cph 3b26987 CONTROL #: 2001705585
context_page_description: Kisaeng, also called ginyeo, were women from outcast or slave families who were trained to be courtesans, providing artistic entertainment and conversation to men of upper class. First appearing in Goryeo, kisaeng were the government's legal entertainers, required to perform various functions for the state. Many were employed at court, but they were also spread throughout the country. They were carefully trained and frequently accomplished in the fine arts, poetry, and prose, and although they were of low social class, they were respected as educated artists. Aside from entertainment, their roles included medical care and needlework.
  Kisaengs play an important role in Korean conceptions of the traditional culture of the Joseon. Some of Korea's oldest and most popular stories, such as Chunhyangjeon, feature kisaeng as heroines. Although the names of most real kisaeng have been forgotten, a few are remembered for an outstanding attribute, such as skill or loyalty. The most famous of these is the 16th-century Hwang Jini.
context_section_description: Goryeo was succeeded by the Joseon dynasty, which lasted from 1394 to 1897. 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 Korean Confucianism, and these 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 the Great, 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 Yeonsangun, 1494–1506, kisaeng became symbolic of royal excess. Yeonsan-gun treated women as primarily objects of pleasure, and made even the medicinal kisaeng (yakbang gisaeng) into entertainers. 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 play Chunhyangga.
  The Gabo Reform of 1895 officially abolished the class system of Joseon dynasty, 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 elsewhere to work.
caption: A Kisaeng girl c. 1910
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