4 trailblazers in a traditional world

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    Social Science History Association

    Trailblazers in a Traditional World: Korea's First Women College Graduates, 1910-45Author(s): Jihang ParkSource: Social Science History, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Winter, 1990), pp. 533-558Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of the Social Science History AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1171331 .

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    Trailblazersna Traditional orld:Korea'sFirstWomen ollegeGraduates, 1910-45JIHANG PARK

    TO THE WESTERNvisitor round heturn fthecentury, oreanwomen eemed hemost ecluded nearth.sabellaBishop, headventurousnglish raveler hovisited orea nthe astyearsofthenineteenthentury,eportedhatwomenherexperienceda unique onfinement:romhe losing f the ity ates fSeoulatdusk, ll men xcept or heblind ndofficials erebanishedfrom hestreets; hen, ndonly hen,n thesafetyf a male-free arkness, ere hewomen t ibertyo strollndmake ocialcalls. Andthehigherhe woman's tatus, hemore evereherseclusion. hequeenherselfoncededhat heknew ittle fhercountry,aving ever eenthe treetsf Seoulbydaylight.hisdeprivationtemmed romhepeculiar racticefrigidlyegre-gatingndsecluding irlswhen heyeached he geofsix Allen19o8; Bishop 1898;Gliinicke1904; Jones1896). The customwasobserved o faithfullyhat ishop,during er xtensive oreanJihangarksassociaterofessorfhistoryt nhaUniversity,orea.AuthorofProfit-sharingnd ndustrialo-partnershipnBritishndustry,880-1920:ClassConflictrClass Collaboration?1987),she has alsopublishedumerousarticlesnwomen's ssues f nineteenth-ndtwentieth-centuryritainn our-nals ncludingast ndPresentnd heJournalf ocialHistory.incereturningto her ountry,he has undertakenomparative-perspectiveesearch n Korea.She is currentlyngagedna study fworking-classormationnKorea. Theauthorwishes o thankMs. Y. Kim attheregistrar'sffice f EwhaWomen'sUniversity,eoul,for ermissiono examine he niversity'sollege egister.Social Science History14:4 (Winter199o). Copyright I199oby the SocialScienceHistory ssociation.cc 0145-5532/90/$I.50.

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    534 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYtravels, ever aw a girlwho ooked bovesix. The traditionalKoreansociety hereforeacked he"brightnesshichgirl ifecontributeso socialexistence"Bishop1898: 42).The subordinationf womenwas evidentnevery spectoflife.AnEnglishmanisitingorea everal ears fter ishopwasshocked t thecustomwhereby omenwerenotgiven nameof theirwn:they imply doptedhefather'surnamendwereknown nly s thedaughter,he ister,r thewife f someman(Gluinicke 904: 42). A Koreanmanwore mourning atfor hreeyears fter isfather'seath; e wore tfor nly woyears or isdeceasedmother. Don'tyouwear mourningat fyourwifedies?" oneWesternersked Korean. Oh, no!" he answered."It is easyto geta newwife,butyoucan'tgetnewparents"(Bergman 938: 95). Significantly,oreans vendiscriminatedbetween athernd mother.o theseWesternbservers,oreanwomen eemed ohave ufferedolong nd o much hatomedaytheywould ise p,and he furyntowhichheywill] henworkthemselvesssomethingwful ocontemplate"Allen1908: 98).

    ThatuprisingfKoreanwomen, owever,ailed otake lace.Instead,women reed hemselvesrom hebonds f conventiongradually.hedevelopmentfwomen's igherducationepre-sented uch iberation,nd itbeganfar ooner han nemighthaveexpected. onsideringhehigh egree f social subordina-tionwhich hen revailed,t ssurprisingo earn hat wha,thefirst omen's ollege nKorea,was auncheds early s 1910.Thisarticle, hen, epresentsn attempto find ut whothefirstollege-educatedoreanwomenwere.By analyzinguchimportantactorss socialoriginndregionalndreligiousack-ground, will attempto present clearpicture f the socialcompositionfthosewomen. will lsotryoassess heir ontri-butions otonlynupgradinghe tatus f women n their ativelandbut nhelpingo transformprofoundlyraditionalocietyinto modem ne.Althoughorean ocietywaschangingntheperiod 19Io-45, themodernizationrocesswas painfully low,andthefundamentalocialconventionsemainedntact eneathsuperficialhanges. bviously,uman ehaviorndvalues o notchange vernight.hisarticle hus s also a responseorecentrevisionistrgumentshat end o reverse heconventionaliewof therole of womenntraditionalorea nd tooveremphasizethe mpact fmodernizationuringhe olonial ra Kendall ndPetersonI983). Along heway, will make omecomparisons,

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 535drawingnmyknowledgefthe xperiencef Western omen,particularlyritish omen.IntheWest, eministsfdifferentersuasionsevoted heir ffortsto numerous auses. In Korea,educationwas the focusof thewomen'smovementrom heverybeginningndremainedountil 945-an understandableact, onsideringhat irtuallyllwomenwere lliteratend that he state ducationystem adyetto be established. lthougharious ducationalnstitutionsexistedntraditionalorean ociety,heywere ntendedustformen.A very ewwomenntheupper lass-theyangbanlass-received nstructionn theonmun,heKorean ernacularcript.Stillfewer pper-class omen eceivedneducationnclassicalChinese, he fficial rittenanguageftheYi dynasty.nterest-ingly,ome ourtesans ere monghe elect ewwhodid.Both men and womenfelt hat heemancipationf womenwouldbeaccomplishednly hroughducation,ndvarioususti-fications ere rovided.he male ttitude astypicallyaternal-istic, avoringomen's ducationnorderomakewomen ettermothers.'Manywomen, n the ther and, oundheir ationaleforwomen's ducationnthe nabilityf men oprotect amilylifeand thenation Park et al. 1920; Tonga lbo passim; Tong-nip Sinmoon18 May 1897, cited in Lee 1982: 117-18). Men,after ll, hadbeen inpowerwhen hecountry as reduced ocolonialstatus, ollowing apanesennexationn 1910.Womenwerealso concernedbout hedestructionf thefamily, hichwasbecoming grave ocialproblemnthe1920s.Thearrangedmarriageftenmatchedn educatedman nd n lliterateoman,andmen ncreasinglyivorcedheir ives nthat roundnd re-marriedducated newwomen," raduatesfgirls'high choolsthat adbeen establisheduringhe astyears fthenineteenthcentury.inally,herewerewomenwhoaspired oeducationsanopportunityor he eclamationf he ndividual.I want o bea human eing, ndfor hat mustcquire nowledgendreceiveeducation. owever, e Koreanwomen avenoway oget t. Wehavenomeanswherebyobecome betterndstrongererson."So didoneyoung igh choolgraduatery ut,vainly mploringherwealthyathero sendher ocollege.Eventually,hefled oChina. Notsurprisingly,er radition-mindedatherroughterback home Ch6ng 1925).Inany ase,educationemainedhe oremostomen'sssue n

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    536 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYKorea,and itis notsurprisinghat hefirstrganizedwomen'sagitationn the1890swasaimed testablishingchools or irls.That thrustotwithstanding,heexpansionfeducationmonggirlswasinsignificant.ostKoreanwomen90% in1930)wereilliterate,ndgirls ttendingigh chool,not o mentionollege,constitutednly tinyminority.n 1931, here erenomore han4,554 studentsn 16girls'high chools ormallyecognized ythegovernment.y 1934,thenumberfstudentsad ncreasedslightly,o5,123.

    TheJapaneseolonial ducationolicywasresponsibleor hisextremeimitation.hatpolicywas a slowexpansionfbasicelementaryducationn order oassimilatend"Japanize" ore-ans,coupledwith vigorousffortodiscourageigherducation(Ch6ng1972;Grajdanzer944;Son1971;Tsurumi984).Whenin 1924thegovernment-generalinallycceded o thefoundingof a university,eijo mperial niversity,twasprimarilyor hesake of the hildrenfJapaneseolonials,whosenumber ouldreach443,000 by 1925.TheJapaneselso hopedto stem hegrowingide fKorean nrollmentnJapaneseolleges nd uni-versities ecausetheywere hemost usceptibleo "dangerousthoughts,"speciallywith ommunismaking old nJapannthe1920S (ibid.:307). AtKeijo,thenumberfKorean tudentswasdeliberatelyept nder 0%: thefirstear's nrollmentists44 Koreans, s comparedo 124JapaneseSon 1971: 192). Be-sides, heywere ranteddmissionnly othe acultyfmedicineand that f law and literature;heywerebarred romhecol-legeof liberal rts, onsidered potentialotbed fnationalistconsciousnessibid.: go;Tsurumi984:307). Under his duca-tional olicy,twasnowonder hat venhigh choolgraduateswere onsideredintellectuals."twas almost nthinkable,hen,that womanmighteceive college ducation.Secondarychool raduateshowantedigherducationhoseeither o enter wha or to go abroad,usually o Japan.Onemedical chool orwomennd everalwo-yearolleges or rain-ingfuturelementaryndkindergarteneachers ere vailable,butEwharemainedhe nly our-yearomen'sollege nKoreauntil 938,when three-yearollege, ookmyong,asstarted.2Twoyears eforehe nd oftheSecondWorldWar, othEwhaandSookmyong ere onvertednto ne-yearrainingchools.Founded yAmerican issionaries,whabegan s a girls' chool

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    Trailblazersna Traditional orld 537in 1886with nly single tudent.tdeveloped apidly,owever;thefirstollegecourseswere fferedn I9Io, and threewomenweregraduated n 1914. The government ecognized t in 1925,when t was formallyeorganized,ndbetween 914and 1945the ollegeproducedome 00 graduates.Of thosewho studiedbroad,more han o% choseJapan;herestwent o the U.S. andother ountriesKimand Lee 1933:121). In 1930, therewereonly153 students t Ewha, while 173Koreanwomenwere tudyingtJapanesenstitutions.ust owinsignificanthisnumber as can be seen fwe uxtaposetwiththefemalepopulation,whichin 1930 was 10,039,219. Womenbetween15 and 19 numbered ,042,493, and theaverage age atthetime fenteringollegewas 18 (EwhaWomen'sUniversity1925-45; Kwonetal. 1975: 150). Thus if we compareourfigureof326 to theentire emalepopulation ge 15-19, we get0.03%,or 3 in Io,ooo. For Korean women as a whole, thefigurewasonly3 out of 1oo,OOo.InKorea, nd oa degreenJapan,ducation asbasedonseg-regationndseparatetandards.choolswere trictlyegregatedbysex, andgirls'schoolswereobliged o adopt specialcur-riculum. herewerevirtuallyocoeducationalnstitutionsntil1945. In the 1920s several universitiesnJapan llowedwomento attend s auditors ut refusedo granthem egrees.KeijoImperialUniversity,heonlyuniversityn Korea,was an all-male nstitution.ndcolleges pentowomen ffered limitedcurriculum.tEwha,only hree epartmentsere stablished,literature, usic, ndhomeeconomics-all intended o servewomen n their utureoleas mothersndwives.Particularlyinstructiveas what aybehind he stablishmentf home co-nomics n women's ducation.nthe1920s n ncreasingumberofyoungmenreturnedromheU.S. with ollegedegrees ndwanted o marry ollege-educatedomen. n response o thisdemand, hehome conomics epartmentas setuptoprepareEwhawomen s desirable rides yteachinghem ow to cookWesternood.Understandably,hedepartmentoonacquiredhenicknamef"thedepartmentf thedaughter-in-law"MinandPark1981: 513).Women nterestednsubjectsther haniterature, usic, ndhomeeconomics aturallyonsiderednrollingtJapaneseol-leges. n fact, t was felt hat hebrighterirlswent oJapanese

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    538 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYTableI KoreanollegetudentsnJapan,930, y isciplineandgender Female MaleMedicine 43 56Teachers' ollege 31 61Homeconomics 30 0Literature 21 412Art 11 31Economics 9 281Law 8 659Music 7 7Agriculture 6 135Science 3 77Commerce 3 212Miscellaneous I 71Total 173 2,002Source: ark1975: 20.institutionsnd the esser alents emainedt home.As a result,Ewha ost heprestiget hadgainednthe arly ays ibid.: I60;Sinyosongct. 1933:28). As TableI shows,Japanese ollegesprovided reater ariety. noticeable eature f Table I is thedifferencenmen's ndwomen'smajors.Whereas majorityfmenwere tudyinguch ubjectss law, conomics,griculture,andcommerce, omen tayednthemore raditionallyemininefields.Aremarkablexception asmedicine,nwhichhe argestnumber fKoreanwomenwere ngaged. hiswas becauseofageneral elief hatwomenwerewell uitedothehealingrts, swe shallsee later n. In anycase, althoughmostwomenwerestillnvolvednsubjects raditionallyssociated ithhem, ther,more dventurouspiritsnteredaw, conomics,nd the ike-normally alepreserves.On theother and, ostudyhepatternfcollege pplicationsin Korea is to observe heway n which utside evelopmentcanaffectareer hoices nwomen's igherducation. hecom-petitionor nteringwhaCollegehad been briskn theearlyyears, speciallyor he iteratureepartment.owever,he rendhadchanged adicallyy1939,as Table 2 indicates. he litera-

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 539Table2 Applicationo women'sollegesnKorea,1939Tobe Rate fadmittedpplicantsompetitiondmittedEwhaLiteratureepartment 50 19 - 19MusicDepartment 30 28 - 25Home conomicsDepartment 40 94 2.35 40College fMedicine 6o 75 1.25 62Elementaryeachers' ollege 400 1,494 3-74 400Ewha chool orKindergarteneachers 50 68 1.36 50Choongangchool orKindergarteneachers 40 93 2.33 40Source:Tongalbo 6 Apr. 939.ture nd musicdepartmentsecruitedewerpplicantshan heyhoped oadmit,while hehome conomicsepartmentemainedpopular.3o be sure, he ncreasinglyifficultconomic ondi-tionsthatresultedwhenJapanwagedwaron Manchuria ndChina nthe1930sreducedmploymentpportunitiesor itera-turegraduates. moredecisive actornrestrictedmploymentopportunities,owever, as distrustftheEwhawomen's ca-demiccapability, entionedbove. Secondarychools, npar-ticular,referredomen rainednJapanoEwhagraduates.The ackof nterestnmedicalchool, hough edicineuaran-teed ifelongmployment,s nterestingvidence fwhereollegeeducation toodfrom woman's erspective.twas,accordingto Tonga lbo (6 Apr. 1939),because women elt hat five-yeartermwas too longa time o spend tudyingorwhateverfortunendprestigehepracticefmedicinemight ringnthefuture.Womenmustmarryeforetwas too ate.Conversely,heteachers' ollegecourseguaranteedoo% employmentet ookonly woyears ocomplete. otsurprisingly,anywomenwhoviewed career s an intermediatetep eforemarriagereferredteachers' ollegeto medical chool.The fragilityf women'shigherducationsfurthervidencednhigh ropoutates:morethanhalf he womenwho entered wha ntheperiod1914-45withdrew.ndeed, n someyears hedropout atewas as high

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    540 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYas 80%. The reason: s soon as a suitablemanwasavailable,woman's ducation as generallyerminated.Whatwas the social compositionf thefirstollege-educatedwomen n Korea? tmust e noted irsthat he nalysisndcon-structionftheir ocial characterre not asytasks: nformationon theearlyEwhagraduatess extremelyimited,nd sourcesconcerninghegraduatesfJapaneseolleges re all too scarce.Fortunately,here s a source oncerningwhawomen fterhecollegewas reorganizedn 1925:records f 19o womenwhograduatedrom he iteratureepartmentetween927 and1944(EwhaWomen'sUniversity925-45).Bydrawingn these ndother cattered aterials,ncludingontemporaryewspapersndmagazinesndvarious eriodtatistics,ecananalyze he ocialcompositionf thesewomen.Althoughhe ocialorigin f thegraduatesfJapaneseolleges annot eaccuratelydentified,ecansafelyssume hatheywere fsimilarocialorigin,onsid-eringhat igherducation as restrictedoonly tinyectionfKoreanwomenwhowerepresumablyromhemore rivilegedclasses. Analysis f Ewha womenwillthus uggest broaderpicturefthe ollege-educatedomenf19Io-45 as a whole.When hemissionariestartedchools or irlsnthe ast de-cadesofthenineteenthentury,heyoundt lmostmpossibleoattracttudents:uspicious orean arentselt hat heWesternerswould ell their aughtersnto laverynforeignountriest thefirstpportunity.nder uchcircumstances,t s notsurprisingthat he arly whastudents ere itherrphansrgirls rombackgroundfextremeoverty.arfromeing ictimized,ow-ever, uchgirls,fthey istinguishedhemselvescademicallyttheEwhagirls' chool,were ccepteds studentstthe ollegeand continuedo receive inancialupport. ot nfrequently,heywent n tograduate. he first oreandean of thecollege, p-pointed fterheJapanese orcedheAmericanmissionariesoleave he ountryn1939,was a case inpoint.Other raduatesnthe arly ayswere lsofrom oorfamiliesndcompletedheireducationnly hroughoansfrom he ollege,which hey aidbackbyteachingtthe chool ollowingraduation.By 1920,girls rom esternized iddle-classamilies adbe-gunto enter hecollege, ndthecompositionfEwha womenbecamemore iverse. n 1918,Ewhahad41 studentsltogether,

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    Trailblazersna Traditional orld 541Table 3 Geographicalorigins fstudentst Ewha andJapanesecolleges Japanesenstitutions

    Ewhaa %) Female%) Male %)Seoul/Kyonggib 74 (38.9) 26 (13-1) 363 (Io.I)Northeast 28 (I4-7) 20 (IO.I) 503 (14.0)Northwest 49 (25.8) 71 (35-7) 8o8 (22.5)Southeast 3 (I.6) 47 (23.6) 9oo (25.0)Southwest 7 (3-7) 26 (I3-1) 704 (19.6)Midlands 14 (7-4) 9 (4-5) 316 (8.8)Manchuria 10 (5-3)Unknown 5 (2.6)Total 19o 199 3,594Sources: Ewha Women'sUniversity925-45; Park1975:918. Hereafterlldataconcerninghe Ewha women re fromhecollegeregisternless tatedotherwise.aAll women.bTheprovinceurroundingeoul.of whom16 weresupportedytheir arentsnd25 partly ythecollege. n thenextyear, o of40 students ere upportedbytheir arentsnd the other 0 partly ythecollege;none,however,eceived full cholarshipEwhaWomen'sUniversity1967:245).The literatureepartment,hichhadabsorbed heearly ol-lege, produced 90 graduatesexcluding Japanese) etween1927 and 1944; of these,170women rovidednformationnfamily ackground,ncludingddress, eligion,ather'sccupa-tion, ndfamilyroperty.nethingecomesmmediatelybvi-ous. As Table3 shows, lmost alf fthem40.5%) camefromthenorthernrovinces.he northernomen epresentedn evenhigher roportionnthe tudentstJapaneseolleges, 5.7%, amuchhigher roportionhan he men's36.5%. The northwestalonerepresentedore han thirdfthe otal.Onereason orthiswas obviouslyhatWesternulture asfirstntroducedndmissionaryctivity as concentratednthis egion.t is under-standable hat enlightened"nd"progressive"orthernerseremore ager han heparentsnthe outh osend heir aughterstocollege.Anothereasonppears ohavebeen he elativeros-

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    542 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYTable Occupationroupingsffathers,others,nd theramilymembers OtheramilyFather%) Mother%) members%) Total%)Agriculturea 33 (26.4) I (9-I) 15 (44.1) 49 (28.8)Business 46 (36.8) 4 (36.4) 8 (23-5) 58 (34.I)Industry 7 (5.6) - - 7 (4 1)Professional 39 (31.2) 6 (54-5) II (32.4) 56 (32.9)Total 125 II 34 170aIncludesne n ishery.perityfthenorthwest.y6ngyang,he enterftheregion, orinstance, adfarmorewealthyesidentshan nyother ity nKorea:while n other itiesfewer han % ofthepeoplewerewealthyhadpropertyfIo,ooowon rmore), y6ngyangouldclaimthatmore han alf f tspopulation as-an exceedinglyhighproportionKim 1982: 279-80). As we will see later n,family ropertyas a decisive actornone'sreceiving collegeeducation.What s important,n anycase, is theconsiderableoverrepresentationfthenorthernomen.Perhaps he most mportantactorn identifyinghe socialcharacterfcollege-educatedomens thefather'sccupationand socioeconomic ackground. s Table4 shows,approxi-mately 7% ofthefathers ere nbusiness;nother1% werein theprofessions-doctors,ducators,ivil ervants,ndminis-ters.Together,hey epresentedwo-thirdsf all Ewhafamilies,whereas ewerhan 0%were ngagednagriculture.f we com-parethis esultwith hedistributionfoccupationsnthe ntirepopulation, ecansee ustto what xtent usiness nd thepro-fessions reoverrepresentednour ample.n 193O nd n1940,theagriculturalector mployedn overwhelmingajorityfthe aborforce-approximatelyoutofevery workingeople(Table5). Business ouldclaim nly ofevery 6orso and thecivilservice nd theprofessionsnly bout in40. As lateas194oKoreawas still predominantlygriculturalociety.Thiswastrue ven houghnthe 920s, theJapaneseadbegunindustrializationn Korea-a stepgeared o imperial enefits.Althoughndustrializationadproduced quarter illionactoryworkersy 1939and a large-scaleeasant prootingadtaken

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 543Table Occupationroupingsf he opulations a whole

    1930%) 1940%)Agriculturea 16,165,983 82.I) 17,089,247 74-4)Business 1,253,895 (6.4) 1,825,185 (8.0)Industry 449,262 (2.3) I,o80,222 (4-7)Professional 523,105 (2.7) 709,571 (3-1)Unemployed/others 1,293,342 (6.6) 2,250,378 (9.8)Total 19,685,587 22,954,603Sources:KimandLee 1933;ChOsen overnment-General93ob,1940.aIncludes ishery.place,thebasicsocial structureemainedargely nchangede-causetheJapanesemonopolizedhemodernizationrocess. ur-ing he1930osndthe arly 940sKorean roupsnd lasseswereexcluded rom hemodernizingctivityxcepts laborersr ow-level echniciansndbureaucrats.he anded lassremainedheeliteuntil1945,and their litismwas encouraged ytheJapa-nese,whousedKorean andlordsoextractice ndtogovernhecountrysideor hemCumings 984:489-9I).4 In 1929, forn-stance, he arge andowners,ho onstitutedmere .7% oftheentirearmingopulation,ontrolled7.1%of he enants,artialtenants,ragriculturalaborers nd exercised powerfulege-monyKim1982: 276).5TheJapanesencursionntondustryndthe apitalmarket asalso substantialromhevery arly ears.As early s 19II, of 152 firms hoseheadquarterserebasedinKorea, og9wereownedbytheJapanesendanother 6 hadJapanese-Koreano-ownership.y 1941,94.5% wereJapanese-owned, ndpaid-upapitalnthe ig nterprisesasalways 0%or moreJapanesehroughouthe olonial ra.ThosefewKoreanswhoprosperedncommercend ndustryidso inleaguewiththeJapaneseCumings 984;Kim1982).In this ontexthe isproportionateresencef hemiddle lassamongEwha families as special significance.twas also trueinnineteenth-centuryngland hat hemiddle lass showed hegreatestnterestnthehigherducationf tsdaughters.owever,itshould e rememberedhatnKorea nthe 920Sand he1930sthe ourgeoisie asnumericallyerymall ndnotyet powerfulforcensociety,nlikeheBritishmiddle lass.Besidesthefather'sccupation,amily ropertys themost

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    544 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYTable Family ealthfEwha tudents,928 nd fter

    Numberf tudents %< Io,o00 won 30 22.I10,000-49,999on 41 30.50,000-99,999 on 16 11.8SI0oo,ooo on 20 14.7Unknown 29 213Total 136importantactorvailable o us indistinguishinghe ocialchar-acter fEwhagraduates.hecollegeregisterocumentsamilypropertiesf womenwho entered he ollege n 1928 and after(Table6). Even fwe consider s virtuallynpropertiedhose 9womenwhofailedorecordproperty-suchnassumptionouldof coursenot be true, s demonstratedythecase ofYongayPark,whosebrotherwned good-sized irm-more hanhalfcamefrom amilies hopossessedo,ooowon rmore.Followinghegovernment-generalurveys, e have definedIo,ooo won as thedividinginebetween hewealthynd thosebelow ibid.: 280). There renocomprehensiveata o establishthepercentagef thepopulationhat elongedo this ategory,yetthe data availablefor everal ities ndicate hat hisgrouprepresentedess than % of thepopulationn those ities. eoplewith50,000 won or morewerefarmore carce,rangingrom0.07% to0.3%.6 Yet we find uch group omprising6.5% ofEwha families.n 1930,when he owest ivil ervantfKoreannationalityeceived 87 won as an annual ncome, uitionndotherxpenses t Ewha were ome300wonper nnumChosenGovernment-General93ob:66I, 677-79)7 Clearly, nlyanaffluentamilyould fforduch substantialxpense.Thepre-dominanceffamily ealthmong whawomen, hen, eflectssignificanthange romhe arly ays,when whawomenwere,ifnotorphans,t leastvery oor. t is particularlytrikinghatat least20 womenwerefromxtremelyealthyamilies,hosewithIoo,ooo won ormore. fwe breakdownthefiguresortheextremelyealthy,inehad Ioo,ooo-200,ooowon;three,200,000-300,000 won;five, 00,000-500,000won; ndthree,500,000won rmore.ThesocialprominencefEwhawomens furthervidencedy

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 545the nclusionf their athersn theregisterf the argestand-owners ndthe Who'sWhoof Koreanbusiness. he listofthelargestandownersuringheJapaneseccupationnfive rov-incessurvives,ndwe find hree athersfEwha women istedas owning o6, 130, and221 ch6ngbos one ch6ngbo quals 2.45acres).The criterionor nclusion as30ch6ngbos,ndonly 45menwere isted s havingoo ormore h6ngboshroughouthefive rovincesHangook ongchony6ngje 6ngooso 985:99,212-13).8 That 3 of 49 Ewha familymemberswho earnedtheirliving romgricultureere istedmong he argestandownersinKorea s significant.e alsofind Ewha fathersncludednWho'sWhoin Business nSeoul, an enormous verrepresentation(Ky6ngs6nganggongoeuiso 923).9Therewere,of course,familieswithmeager roperty:ourfamilies ad essthan ,ooo won, ndfourwomen,neof whomwas adopted ya missionary,ppear ohavehadno immediatefamily,et lonefinancialssets.Yet he ominancef hewealthyamong whawomen ughto be recognized.nterestingly,fwelookclosely t theoccupationsf thosefathers ith 0,000 ormorewon,wesee thatxactly alf he otal f36werenagricul-ture,whereas nly I were n business nd3 intheprofessions.Ananalysis fthewealthiestwith 00,000 wonormore) howsan evenmoredramaticisproportion:were nagriculture,inindustry,nd I in business. hisfindingndisputablyonfirmsthat hewealthiestoreans uringapaneseuleweremembersfthe anded lass.

    Theprominencefthat lassamonghe athersfEwhagradu-atessuggestshat ythe1920s,notonly hemiddle lass butthe anded lass as well hadcome torecognizehe mportanceofseeing o their aughters'ducation.Were hesemendifferentinattituderomthersngagednagriculture?fso,perhapsheclearest ifferenceay ntheireligiousackgroundTable ). Thepercentagef Christiansnthe anded lass s smaller yalmostIo percentageoints han t is among ll Ewhagraduates. ycontrast,onfucianismlaimedmembersrom he anded lassat a percentage ore han wice s high s from heEwhapopu-lation s a whole.Nevertheless,he49.0% figuref Christiansamong athersnagricultureas an mpressivelyigh roportioncomparedo that fChristiansnthegeneral opulation.Indeed, neof hemost istinctiveeaturesfEwhawomenwas

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    546 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYTable ReligiousackgroundfEwha raduates

    All Ewha Fathersn Koreansgraduates%) agriculture%) in1930a %)Christian III (58.4) 24 (49.0) 314,534 I.6)Confucian 14 (7-4) 9 (18.4)Buddhist 2 (I.I) - 403,027 2.0)Noanswer 63 (33.2) I6 (32.7)Total Igo90 49Source:ChOsenGovernment-General93ob: 6o-6INote:Thecensus idnot ake nto ccount onfucianism,hichwas to Koreansnot omuch religions a way f ife.aThetotal opulationfKorea n1930wasI9,685,587.their eligious ackground:lmost o% wereChristian.his isnot urprising,onsideringhatWesternulture astransplantedlargely ymissionariesnd that hoseKoreanswhoconvertedoChristianityere robablyhemost pen othe dea of women'seducation. venso, for here o havebeen so overwhelmingChristian-familyepresentationt EwhaCollege n a predomi-nantly on-Christianocietys significant.orthatmatter,6ofthefathersn oursamplewereChristian inisters.hese weremenof littlemeans,barely ble to affordo substantialn ex-pense. It is probable hat heir nterestay less in their esiretogivetheir aughters higherducation hanntheir opeofmaking hem incereChristianshroughurtherducation t amissionaryollege.Evenmore ignificantsthepresencef andownersith on-fucianbeliefs mongEwha families. espitetraditionaland-owner orms fconduct,hesemenwere ufficientlyrogressiveto send heir aughtersocollege.Thetypicalandowneras saidtoallowgenerous xpenses orhis son's ooselifebut o refusehisdaughterven dress.Thus, heEwhafather hospent 00wonperyearforhisdaughter'sollege ducation as a strikingexceptiono the code of conduct ollowedya typical oreanlandownerfthis eriod.In conclusion,hen,t ssafe osaythat hemajorityfEwhafamilieswere affluentorthernersssimilatedo ChristianndWesternulture. catterednformationnthegraduatesfJapa-

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 547nesecolleges dentifiedhem s similarlyffluent. hereas heannual uitionnddormitoryees t Ewha mountedo380won,theminimumxpenses or Korean tudentnJapanwere480wonperyearTongalbo 17Feb. 1934;EwhaWomen'sUniver-sity1967: 248, 254). Korean tudentsnJapan, owever, eremore rominentociallyhan whawomen. omewere romris-tocratic amilies,whetherhetraditionalristocracyr thenewpeerage abricatedytheJapanese, hereas herewereno suchwomen tEwha.'oEvenso, a majorityf women oth t Ewhaand atJapaneseollegeswerefrom middle-classackground.Theprogressivenessf theKoreanmiddle lass,at a timewhenit was an extremelymall ection fsocietynd acked nyrealprestige,hould enoted.Did the firstollege-educatedomen,who were pparentlyowellrespectedntellectuallynKorean ociety,ctuallyiveuptoexpectationsntheworking orld?Whatwere heresultsf ob-taining college ducationna countryherewomen ad neverbefore ad theopportunity?nd how didJapanesemperialisminfluenceomen's areer ursuits?Female mploymentadbecome major oncerny he1920oswhenwomen ntered hepaid aborforcenconsiderable um-bers.Notsurprisingly,heprimarybstacle o women ursuingcareerwassexualdiscriminationna tradition-boundociety. hechief rgumentgainstwomen'smploymentasthattwould einjuriouso childrennd thehome.Even tssupporterstronglyobjectedo thencreasingendencyfwomen o tressareer verdomesticwork: Women an never eavehome; heir oremostresponsibilityestsnthehome" Tongalbo 18Jan.1936).Butwomenncreasinglyttemptedoget ut ftheir onfinedphere,even houghmploymentpportunitiesere itifullyimited.Although, enerally peaking,most Koreanwomen oughtwork s a solutionoeconomic istress,hatwasnot heprimaryconcernfourcollege-educatedomen,whoweremainly romwell-offamilies. heir rincipaloncern asto be independent.Highlyducatedwomen,ngeneral, ere eeply issatisfiediththetraditional arriagendcomparedt to slavery.o be free,they rgued,womenmusthave an occupationnd be economi-cally ndependent.nephysician,graduatef medical ollege

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    548 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYTable Professionalroupingsy endernKorea, 93o

    Ratio fmaleMale Female Total to femaleChristianminister/preacher 1,513 978 2,491 1.5:1Doctor 1,958 35 1,993 55-9:1Journalist/writer 1,496 20 1,516 74.8:ITeachera 13,587 2,271 15,858 6.o:ICivil servant 49,507 Io8 49,615 458.4:1Source:Ch6senGovernment-General930a:142-43.aThis ncludes art-timenstructors,any f whomwerewomen nd hadnocertificate.inTokyo,wasdeterminedo find way o ivewithoutelyingna man ndhavingoputupwith is"arrogant,old-bloodednddespoticyranny"Han1936:164;Tongalbo7 Nov.1924).In terms f career hoices,our women how similaritiesotheir istersnWesternations. etthere renotable ifferences.The most istinctiveeaturefwomen'smploymenturing apa-nese rule-whichis thecase eventoday-was a strict ivisionof aborbetween he exes.Occupationspentowomen angedfrom he moreprofessionalnes-teacher,doctor,ournalist,midwife,urse-tosuchobsas saleswoman,elephoneperator,andfactory orker.ythe1930s, mploymentpportunitiesadbecome lightly ore iverse; omenwere dmittedothe anksofpharmacists,ank ellers,ngineers,ndtaxidrivers.

    AsTable8 shows, he ccupationsn whichwomenwere eastrepresentedncluded he ivil ervice,medicine,nd ournalism/writing.o be sure,Koreanmen lso experiencedhe njusticeofunderemploymentnthose ccupations.n 1926,fornstance,therewere719 Japaneses against 85 Koreansnthe udicialbranch. fwe considerudgesalone,we find 48 Japanesesopposed oa mere 0Koreans.t sno wonder hatwomenaw-yersndwomenudgeswere onexistent.owever,nother ieldswhichwere ess nfluencedy mperialistolicies, uch s medi-cine,womentill eld ar ewerositionshanmen. n1930, herewere nly 5medical octors,8dentists,nd65pharmacistsna female opulationfmore hanIo million.Like their ritishisters,ollege graduatesn Korea tendedto find eachinghemost uitableccupation. owever, hereas

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 549Table9 DistributionfKorean ndJapaneselementarychoolteachersn Korea ndtheiralariesinwon)Korean JapaneseNo.of eachers Salary No.of eachers SalaryMale Female Male Female Male Female Male Female1922 2,598 201 52 48 1,o94 213 115 751926 4,682 421 52 48 1,803 343 114 791928 5,185 415 52 48 1,993 304 117 791930 5,6ol 460 53 49 2,259 289 115 80Source:Ch6sen overnment-General93ob: 30-31.Table o National riginfteacherstKorean irls'high choolsTeachers

    Japanese Korean Foreign StudentsPublic 6 schools) 62 17 I 1,556Private(Io schools) 29 III 14 2,866Total 91 128 15 4,422Source: h6sen overnment-General93ob:38-39.teachingositionsnBritainapidlyxpandedhanksothe stab-lishmentfstate ducation,eachingpportunitiesnKoreawereseverelyestricted.hiswaspartlyecauseofthe olonial du-cation olicy ointedut bove, ndpartlyecause nly smallnumberf schools ould bsorb ollegegraduates.Women oundit difficulto obtain venelementarychoolpositions. able9indicates hedouble discriminationhe Koreanwomenhad toface. In 1930, forevery12 male teachers,herewas onlyIfemale eacherwhohad obtained er certificatend taughttgovernment-recognizedlementarychools."ConsideringhatJapanesewomen otalled 3%oftheirmalecolleagues, hedis-criminationgainstKoreanwomen ecomes bvious. qual paywas a remotedeafor othJapanesendKoreanwomen;ven o,Koreanwomen eceivednly 1%ofthe alary ftheir apanesesistersnd43% ofthe alary fJapanese ale eachers.During apaneseule, he emand or lementarychool each-erswas sustainedven withoutompulsoryducation ndeven

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    550 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYthoughmostKoreanparentsouldnot ffordosendtheir hil-dren oelementarychool.However,he ituationnsecondaryschool was quitedifferent.n all 16 girls' chools, herewereonly 28Korean eacherselectedromome 0 million oreans,whereas hemuch maller apaneseopulationoastedpropor-tionatelyargreaterepresentationn high choolteaching,sTable Io indicates. ublic chools,bytheway, mployed farhigher roportionfJapaneseeachers,urthervidence fJapa-nesecolonial olicy.We cannot ayhowmanywomenwere ncludednthose 28Koreans,but a women'smagazineamentedn 1925that herewereonlyone or twowomen eachers t each school.Morelamentablewas thatwhile"men are teachinguchimportantcourses s mathematicsnd iterature,omen each nly ewing,cooking, rembroidery"XYZ 1926:64). Evenso, secondaryschoolteaching asregardeds themost esirable areer pentowomen.Only ollegegraduates ere ualifiedor t,andthesalary hey eceivedwas one of thetwohighest, longwithdoctor's. t is not urprising,hen, hat eaching asconsidereda most espectableemale rofession.thad,however,negativeside as well:standingor onghourswasbelievedobe harmfulto thewomb, nd chalkwasthoughtocause the hen ncurabletuberculosis.eachingwas also consideredoringndmonoto-nous.A formerigh choolteacheraidbluntlyhat teachinglifewas likeprison ife" Roundtable1933: 23). Teacherswere atfirsteeply ommittedndconsideredeachingacred,yet heywere oontorealize hathere asnothingacredn"talkingikea gramophonevery ay, verymonth,ndevery ear" TongaIlbo II Mar.1928).Consequently,eachingoon ostfavorntheeyes fmanywomen.On the otherhand, ournalism, hichhad becomeopentoKoreanwomen or hefirstimenthe1920s,gained opularitywith reat apidity,s indeedthad nBritainythe urnfthecenturyPark1987).However, hereasnBritainwomen oundjournalistic ork lentiful,herewere nly handful f womenjournalistsnKoreabefore 945; ven henhey ere iredargelyas "a noveltyra flowernthe ffice" ndassignednly o ma-terial onsidereduitable or hewoman's age.Moreover,heprimaryesponsibilityfthe arlyournalistsasadvertising,e-causemagazines orwomenwere lmost nheardf(Siny6s6ng

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 55Mar.1932:48-50). The dearthfemploymentpportunitiesot-withstanding,ournalismoonsurpassedeachings thecareermostdesired y youngwomen. n theearly1920s,mosthighschoolgraduates adhopedfor careernteaching;nly fewyearsater, hefirsthoicewas a careern ournalismSinyo'sngMar. 1926: 52).Itmay eem urprising,ut nKorea, s opposed otheWest,a medical areerwas considereduitableorwomen-a curiouslyprogressivettitude. preponderancefKoreanwomen tudentsinJapanwere tudying edicine,s we haveseen,andone ofthefew nstitutesoundedorwomen nKorea n the1920Swasa medical chool. This was in sharp ontrasto theexperienceofthoseWestern omenwhochosemedical areers. s we haveseen, in theKoreanviewwomenwerebynature ind,gener-ous,andgentlend thus uitableomedicine. t the ametime,medicinewascompatible ith ome ife; hats,anindependentpractice nabled hewomandoctor o combine erprofessionwith erhousework.hiswasan enormousdvantagena societywhere woman's esponsibilityt homewas believed obe farmoremportanthannyprofession.Evenin medicine, owever, omenhadto deal withdeep-rooted iscrimination,hich roceededrom fundamentalis-trustf heir bilitiesnd nassumptionhathey ereessrespon-sible hanmen.Patients,ubious bout he bilityfwomen oc-tors, referreden;hospitals,ware f this rejudice,endedoemploymen. When hey iredwomen tall, itwasmainly e-cause they ould getthemfor owerpay (Pyrlk6ngon ug. 1924:52; Mar. 1927: IOI). Atthe ame ime,women octors ho riedto concentraten theirwork y remainingnmarried erenottolerated; heywere too "strong-minded"ChokwangMay 1937:235). Suchprejudiceimplyouldnot e overcome.nthe egin-ning,womenwere onvinced hat twoulddisappearwhen heyacquiredkills hat aralleledhose fmen.Unfortunately,houghwomen cquiredhe kills, he rejudiceemained.

    In thefirst alfofthetwentiethentury, ore han 0o%ofKoreanwomenmarriedeforege 20 and99% marriedyage45, a fact eflectingheprevalentelief hat veryonemust emarriednd hat heworstmarriage asbetterhan omarriagetall. The normalgeof bridewas16or17 Kwon tal. 1975: 5-46). College-educatedomenwere huswell bove verage ge

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    552 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYwhen heymarried,ndfoundtall themore ifficultocombinemarriagendcareer. nderstandably,ollegegraduatesendedomarrys soon as they raduatedrtogiveuptheir areers hemomenthey idmarry.esentinghe imitedesultsftheirdu-cationalabors, he arlymissionariest Ewhawent o far s tourgegraduatesoremainingleMin ndPark 981:398).Ina nationwhere o fewwomenwere ducated,hosewomenwho werecollege graduatesndyetremainedociallynactivewere everelyriticized.nterestingly,heir usbands,ndnot hewomen hemselves, ereblamedfor hatnactivity-afurtherindicationfwomen's ubordinatetatus.When riticsomparedKoreanwomenwithWestern omen,hey raised he atterorsuccessfullyombining arriagendcareer.A more rogressiveopinionven ncouraged omen o sacrifice arriagenorderopursuea professionPy6lk6ngonNov. 1932: 42; Tonga lbo 12Mar.1928). On the ther and, hemajorityfcollege-educatedKoreanwomen elievedn the raditionalamilyrameworkndchosemarriagever career. rogressivenougho believe hatsinglewomen eeded mployment,heywere till ound ythebelief hatmarried omenhould emainthome. ven hemosthighlyducatedndtrainedrofessionalsendedoabandon heircareer ftermarriagendbecome as traditionals any gnorantwoman" (Kim 1934: 26; Y6s6ngMay 1937: 54).Somewomen, fcourse,did choosea career vermarriage.Ewha, nparticular,as known or roducing largenumberfunmarriedrofessionals:majorityfthegraduatesntheI9Ioperiod emainedingle. hey robablyid obecause, s the irstgraduatesfthe ollege, heywere eeplyonsciousftheiroleas pioneers.Also,themissionaries,ho themselves ereoftenunmarried,resumablynfluencedheirtudents. ordidunmar-riedprofessorst Ewha hide heir ispleasure hen heir ormerstudents ed.MissA. Kim,fornstance,ell llwhen he heardof the ngagementfa formertudentntheU.S. She hadfullyexpected he tudentoreturnothe ollege nddevote er ifeexclusivelyoteaching,ust s sheherselfaddoneMin ndPark1981: 269, 531-32).To be sure, ollege-educatedomenwerepart f theI% ofthefemale opulation horemainedingle or herest ftheirlives.And someofthemmade t clearthat hey esentedheirsingle tatus.Jongkyuon, a famousndrespectedeachern

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 553Korea,declared hat theres nothingmorepitifulhan n oldmaid" and advisedher tudentsot obe choosy ndthusmisstheopportunityormarriage. ther econdarychoolteachersmaintainedsimilarttitudend,when he pportunityame,un-hesitatinglyhosemarriagever career(Siny6s6ngov. 1931:31; Py6lk6ngon ec. 1926: 67).Under uchcircumstances,numberf womenwereboundto be involvednnonmaritalex.ThegraduatesfJapaneseol-leges, nparticular,erenotoriousort. nthe1920s, the newwomen"were epresentedythese raduates, hoprotestedhetraditionalexualprohibitionsnd marital onds.ComparedothegraduatesfJapaneseolleges,Ewha womenwereon theconservativeide,though nown s themost iberal nd west-ernized n Korea. This was no doubtdue to the missionaries'influence;heschools hey oundedmphasized igid isciplineand tight elf-control.heir trict ttitudesnnoyed oththeirstudentsnd outside bservers, hoclaimed hat he Western-ers,while npaper dvocating omen'smancipation,oliticalrights,nd equality, estrictedheir tudents' reedom ecause"theyook downupon ndunderestimateoreanwomen"Cho1924: 82).12 Anyrelationshipsnd evencasualencounters ithmenwere trictlyrohibitedntheirchools, ndthedormitorysystem asusedmost ffectively.nthematterfmarriage,here-fore, hecollegegraduates, ith heexceptionf a few bravespirits,hared he amedestinys their neducatedisters:heywere hrowno an unknown anpicked ytheir arents. s acompensationor heirgnorancefthe ppositeex,these oungwomenwereadvised implyoreadnovels nd observemen'snatureRoundtable93i).Forwomenuccessfullyopursuehe ruitsfhigherducationagainst heoppositionf a deeply raditionalociety,here adto be a bondofsisterhood. ormallytwas a spiritualond,butsometimest was also biological.As with heGarrettistersnBritain,we findnKorea,among thers,heKimsisters,whobecamepioneersn distinctields. heyncludedsther ark, hefirst oman octornKorea shewas trainedntheU.S. in thelastyears fthenineteenthentury); aria hin, he irst omanteacher ta secondarychool; ndBaesaeKim, he irstormallytrained urse nKorea.Anothermportantlementwas strongmaternalupport-afindingontraryo what liveBanks 1987:

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    554 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYch. 3) argues oncerningheBritisheminists.ignificantly,4of the 190 Ewha women tudiedn this rticle adno father,andmothersften ad oleresponsibilityor heirducation.hemothers ere eterminedoseetotheiraughters'ducations apartialompensationor heirwnharshxperiencen ifePahk1954; Kim 1964).A mutual elpnetwork ightlso havebeenhelpful,utthenumericalnsignificancef professionalomenmade that m-practical,ndonly very ewprofessionalrganizationsereformedn theyears 19Io-45. The firstwas the KoreanAssocia-tion fNurses, oundedn 1923.Teachers,whoconstitutedhelargestwomen's roup,werenonethelessna tinyminoritynddidnotform heirwnprofessionalrganizationntil 929. Eventhen, heseorganizationsereaimed ess at thepromotionfwomen'snterestsndrightshan tprovidingnewopportunityfor ocializing.In thiscontextwe mustpointout that n Korea, unlikenineteenth-centuryritain,here asalmost osignificantocialwork ctivelypromoted ywomen Vicinus 1985;Walton1975).In Korea,thenumberfwomen evotinghemselvesocharityandcommunityettlementemained inimal. here eem ohavebeenseveral easons or his.One, obviously, as theabsenceofanysuchtraditionnKorean ociety, hich adbeenrigidlyhierarchicalorcenturies. nother as the extremeimitationimposed n all women's ctivities.he mostmportanteason,however, as the xistencefa nationaliberation ovementndthe ttractiontheld or llpatrioticoreans.ftheAmericanndBritish omenstablishedtraditionf ocialreform,heKoreanwomen uttheirnergiesothe trugglegainstJapaneseule.The nationalistovement astoKoreanwomenwhat he trugglefor uffrageas toBritish omen,nd his ll-importantause t-tracted omen falldescriptions.n1927, heir ombinedffortsresultedn theformationfa unified omen's rganization.n-fortunately,hemovementoon plitntoeft ndright ings.We cannot ccuratelyetermineowmany f or howdeeplyour ollege-educatedomenwere nvolvednthe trugglegainsttheJapanese. learly,omewomen n the arly olonialyears,especiallyhegraduatesf theI9Ios, were ctiventhepoliticalandmilitarytrugglegainst apan. utas Japaneseolonialismstabilized,majority ithdrew.hiswasespeciallyrue fterhe

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    Trailblazersn Traditional orld 555failure f the national prisingn 1919.Ewhawomen,mostlyChristians,hereafterestrictedheirffortsopromotingduca-tion ndattemptingoenlightentherwomen."'omegraduatesofJapaneseolleges, nthe ther and, urnedothe ocialist ndcommunist ovementsnthebelief hat ationaliberationouldbe achieved nly hroughictoryverJapanesemperialism.14tis clear hat nder apaneseule, heutmostriorityasgiven othenationaluestion.t overwhelmedll otherssues ntil1945.In an efforto reconstructhe ollectivedentityfthefirsten-eration f college-educated omen n Korea,thisarticlehasanalyzed heir ocialcompositionndpursuedheir areers ol-lowing raduation.t has also consideredheir ttitudesowardmarriagend otherocial conventionsnorder o understandhecontributionsnd imitationsfthosehighlyducatedwomen ta timewhen t was very areforwomen o go to college.Itis hopedthat longthewaythis nalysis as shed somelightonthe ocialand economic ompositionfKorean ociety ur-ingtheJapaneseccupation. nethings certain: majorityfthefirstollege-educatedomennKorea werefromheupperandmiddle lasses;businessmenndprofessionalsere ominantamong wha families. his s significantecause t the ime hebourgeoisie as notyet powerfulorcensociety;nthis espectat least,theKoreanmiddle lassappearedncreasinglyrogres-siveand adventurous.or hatmatter,ven omemembersfthelanded lass hadbythe1920sbecome ufficientlyrogressiveoseetotheir aughters'ducation.This articlehas also pointed ut that hefirst enerationfcollege-educated omenn Korea failed o liveup to thehighexpectationshepublichadofthemtherewere, fcourse, omeimportantxceptions).t shard o determineowhat xtentheirfailurewas the result f sexualbias orracialdiscriminationrboth.Theexistingocial andpoliticalonditionsbviouslyro-hibited hewomen rom ursuinghe ife owhich hey spired,and na colonial ocietyhe ituationasbound obeaggravated.However,hemainresponsibilityeems orestwith hewomenthemselves.heir eliefs ndbehaviorevealed remendouson-fusion, point learly videnced ytheir ttitudesowardmar-riage ndcareer. o be sure, tmaybe asking oo much f themtohavebrokenhedouble hackles hat ound hem. et, imited

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    556 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYas theirontributionsayhavebeen, hose irstollege-educatedwomen layed nimportantole nopeninghedoor owomen'shigherducationndtoprofessionalareers.As trailblazersn atradition-boundorld, hey lso reflectedhetransformationfKorean ocietytoneofthemost riticaleriodsn tshistory.NOTESI To be sure, hat rgumentas also supportedywomen. uchthinkingwas,ofcourse, art ndparcel ffeministdeologyven ntheWest. eeBanks1986.2 Sookmyongonsistedf twodepartments,ome conomics nd handi-crafts,ndhadfewertudentshan wha.3 The home conomics epartmenteceivedpplicantshree imes ver henextyear Tonga lbo 22 Mar. 1940).4 Therehavebeen nterestingisputesoncerningconomic evelopmentnthe olonial ra.Onegroup efinesolonialKorea s a semifeudalociety,whiletheother iews t as a deformedapitalistne. See, for nstance,Ch6ng ndLee 1984;Kim t al. 1988;Park tal. 1987.5 TheJapanese,ncouragedythe olonial dministration,ere apidlyx-

    propriatinghe and; n 1926,177of the243 largestandlordsnKoreawereJapanese.6 Pyongyangasagain nexception, ith ar reaterepresentationmongtheverywealthy:.o01%f tspopulationad50,000won rmore.7 TheJapanesenthe amepositioneceived83 won, lmost ouble hatsum.Forotheralaries,ee Ch6senGovernment-General930:661,677-79.8 Thedata rebasedon the urveyonductedn1930.9 Thisreferenceook waspublishedrregularly,nd could find nly he1923 edition.Io During apaneseule, ristocratsndpeople fhigh ocialpositiontill t-temptedodissociate hemselvesromhristianityndmissionarychools.ii Because this tatisticounted nly eachers ith ertificates,heratio fwomen eachersomen s lowernTable thannTable8.12 A 1931Ewhagraduate hobecame prominentriter ecalled hat theteaching asso differentrom hat hadexpectednd smacked o muchofa missionarychool" Mo 1936: 4).13 In the astyears fJapanesemperialism,rominentomeneaders, n-cluding elenKim,deanofEwha,were ctivelyngagednpromotinghewar ffortnbehalfftheJapanese overnment.14 Socialismbeganto spread mongKorean ntellectualsn the1920sviathosewho tudiednJapan.ts xpansion asrapid,nd nthe arly 930sthemissionariesomplainedhatheyoungerenerationasfull f ocialistor even ommunistdeas.SeeGrajdanzer944:275.

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    Trailblazersna TraditionalWorld 557REFERENCESAllen,HoraceN. (19o8)Things orean.NewYork: leming . Revell.Banks,Olive (1986) Faces of Feminism: Study f Feminisms a SocialMovement. xford: asil Blackwell.- (1987)Becomingeminists. thens: niversityfGeorgia ress.Bergman, ten 1938) In KoreanWilds ndVillages, ranslatedyF. Whyte.London:John lifford.Bishop, sabella 1898) Korea and HerNeighbors. ew York:FlemingH.Revell.Cho, S. H. (1924) "S6yang 6nkyosaege"To the authoritiesfmissionary

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    558 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORYKim, S. Y., and Y. Lee (1933) Sizi Ch6senkenku Statisticaltudy fKorea).Seoul.Kim, Yongmo 1982) Hangook awhoekecheung 6ngoo Studyof socialstratificationnKorea).Seoul: lchogak.Kim,Yoonwhan, . J.Cho, S. W. Chang,W. Y. Chung,Y. M. Lee, M. K.Kang,Y. S. Kim 1988) Hangook habonjooeu 6ngky6knonjaengDis-putes ncapitalistevelopmentnKorea).Seoul:Taewang.Kwon,Taewhan, . Y. Lee, Y. S. Chang, ndE. Y. Yu (1975)ThePopulationofKorea.Seoul: Seoul National niversityress.Ky6ngs6nganggong oeuiso 1923) Ky6ngs6nganggong y6ngnokWho'swho n businessnSeoul).Seoul.Lee, Hy6nhee 1982) Hangukkundaey6s6ngkaewhasa A historyf the

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