Chanyang-hoe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chanyang-hoe or Chanyanghoe (English: 'Promotion Society' or "Praise and Encouragement Association"[1]) was a Korean feminist organization, founded in 1898.[2] It has been referred to as the first women's organization in Korea (though Sunseong-hoe was technically founded in 1896).[3] It aimed to erase the traditional discriminatory Confucian gender segregation by women's education. It has been called the beginning of the women's movement in Korea.[4]
In the 1880s and 1890s, Korea went through a rapid modernization with support of the government, who considered modernization necessary to protect Korea's national independence. Western experts, missionaries, doctors and teachers entered Korea and started schools where girls were accepted, notably the Ewha girls' school, which spread new ideas about women's position in society. Some Korean male intellectuals adapted then prevalent Western ideas that women should be educated in order to raise the next generation, which would benefit the nation.[4] The Western Christian missionary schools were however almost exclusively used by the lower class and orphaned and converted Christian girls, and a need was felt for schools for students from aristocratic Yangban families.[4]
Foundation and membership
The Chanyang-hoe was founded by rich upper class yangban widows in Bukchon in Seoul in 1898, when yangban noblewomen had just recently began to be able to leave traditional seclusion.[4] The goal of the members of the Chanyang-hoe was to free women from the Confucian gender segregation and achieve the same freedom and equality as enjoyed by Western women, and they viewed education as a way to reach that goal.[3] The organization issued the first declaration of women's rights in Korea:
- "Why should our women live on what their husbands earn as if fools, confining themselves to their deep chambers all their lives and subjecting themselves to regulations imposed by their husbands? In enlightened countries, both men and women are equal. Women's skills and principles are equal to those possessed by their husbands... We are going to establish a girls' school with the aim of making women equal to men."[3]
The president of the organization was Yangseongdang Yi-ssi, a member of the Korean royal household, and the vice-president and headmaster was the rich yangban benefactor Yanghyeondang Kim-ssi. It had a membership of approximately 400 people, including foreigners, men, and women of the yangban class. They worked with reform Confucians like Namgung Eok, Bak Eun-sik, Jang Ji-yeon, Yi Jong-il, Jang Hyo-geun, Jeong Gyo and Yu Yeong-seok.[4] They were criticised for catering to the elite: "The members of the Chanyanghoe wear silk coats and they favor the rich by giving out membership cards to them" and not granting membership cards "to members who are poor unless they pay the fees beforehand".[4]