Baekjeong
| Baekjeong | |
| Hangul | 백정 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Baekjeong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Paekchŏng |
The baekjeong (백정) were an “untouchable” outcast group of Korea, often compared with the burakumin of Japan and the dalits of India and Nepal.
Before the Mongol invasions in the mid-thirteenth century, the outcasts in Korea, called the gorisuchae, were divided very lightly into two camps: (1) the hwachae or suchae, who hunted and butchered, and were seen as crude; and (2) the jaein (재인 才人), who were principally actors, entertainers, minstrels, prostitutes, and so on, and were sometimes described as "frivolous". Near the end of the Goryeo era, the term hwachae-suchae replaced gorisuchae to refer to the outcasts.
The term baekjeong itself means "common people". In the early part of the Goryeo period (918–1392), the outcast groups were largely settled in fixed communities. However, the Mongol invasion left Korea in disarray and anomie, and these groups gradually became nomadic.
The latest theory in Korea is that the baekjeong were the surrendered Khitans from the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. Following the decisive defeat of the Khitans by General Gang Gam-chan, the surrendered Khitan tribesmen were scattered throughout Goryeo in isolated villages to keep them from rebelling en masse. As the Khitan Liao dynasty fell to the Jurchens in Manchuria, the Khitans had nowhere to return to and were slowly absorbed by the Koreans in the following centuries. Befitting their nomadic origin, the Khitans were prized for their skills in hunting, butchering, skinning, and leather tanning. Over time, they became the meat- and skin-working underclass of Korea. They also brought dog eating, which is a nomadic staple, to the peninsula, spreading dog eating to other members of the Korean underclass. Following the Mongol invasion a century later, Koreans looked at the baekjeong as potential fifth column allies of the Mongols and mistreated them. This became institutionalized following the ousting of the last Mongol contingents from Goryeo under King Gongmin. By the beginning to Joseon Dynasty, the baekjeong had solidified as the lowest class among Koreans.
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