Editing Caste (section)

=== East Asia ===

==== China and Mongolia ====
During the period of the [[Yuan dynasty]], ruler [[Kublai Khan]] enforced a ''Four Class System'', which was a legal caste system.{{cn|date=February 2025}} The order of four classes of people in descending order were:
* [[Mongols|Mongolian]]
* [[Semu]] people
* [[Han Chinese|Han]] people (in the northern areas of China)
* Southerners (people of the former Southern [[Song dynasty]])

==== Tibet ====
{{See also|Social classes of Tibet}}
There is significant controversy over the [[social classes of Tibet]], especially with regards to the [[serfdom in Tibet controversy]].{{cn|date=February 2025}} There were three main feudal social groups in [[Tibet]] prior to 1959, namely ordinary [[Laity|laypeople]] (''mi ser'' in Tibetan), lay nobility (''sger pa''), and [[monk]]s.<ref>Snellgrove, ''Cultural History'', pp. 257–259</ref> 

{{ill|Heidi Fjeld|no|vertical-align=sup}} has put forth the argument that pre-1950s Tibetan society was functionally a caste system, in contrast to previous scholars who defined the Tibetan social class system as similar to European [[Feudalism|feudal]] [[serfdom]], as well as non-scholarly western accounts which seek to romanticise a supposedly egalitarian ancient Tibetan society.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

==== Japan ====
{{Main|Edo society}}
[[File:Edo social structure.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|A social hierarchy chart based on old academic theories. Such hierarchical diagrams were removed from Japanese textbooks after various studies in the 1990s revealed that peasants, craftsmen, and merchants were in fact equal and merely social categories.<ref name="tokyoshoseki"/><ref name="uki300823"/><ref name="shimonoseki"/> Successive shoguns held the highest or near-highest [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles|court ranks]], higher than most court nobles.<ref name="kakaku">{{cite web |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%AE%B6%E6%A0%BC-43286# |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307120204/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%AE%B6%E6%A0%BC-43286 |script-title=ja:家格 |language=ja |title=Kakaku |trans-title=Family status |website=Kotobank |archive-date=7 March 2024 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>]]
In Japan's history, social strata based on inherited position rather than personal merit, were rigid and highly formalised in a system called {{lang|ja-latn|mibunsei}} ({{lang|ja|身分制}}). At the top were the Emperor and Court nobles ([[kuge]]), together with the [[Shōgun]] and [[daimyō]].{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Older scholars believed that there were {{nihongo3|[[Four divisions of society|four classes]]|士農工商|Shi-nō-kō-shō}} of "[[samurai]], peasants (''hyakushō''), craftsmen, and merchants (''[[chōnin]]'')" under the daimyo, with 80% of peasants under the 5% samurai class, followed by craftsmen and merchants.{{sfn|Beasley|1972|p=22}} However, various studies have revealed since about 1995 that the classes of peasants, craftsmen, and merchants under the samurai are equal, and the old hierarchy chart has been removed from Japanese history textbooks. In other words, peasants, craftsmen, and merchants are not a social pecking order, but a social classification.<ref name="tokyoshoseki">{{cite web |url=https://www.tokyo-shoseki.co.jp/question/e/syakai.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130175341/https://www.tokyo-shoseki.co.jp/question/e/syakai.html |script-title=ja:「士農工商」や「四民平等」の用語が使われていないことについて |language=ja |title='Shinōkōshō' ya ' sì mín píng děng ' No yōgo ga tsukawa rete inai koto ni tsuite |trans-title=Regarding the absence of the terms "Shi-no-Ko-Sho" and "Equality of the Four Classes" |website=[[Tokyo Shoseki]] |archive-date=30 November 2023 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="uki300823">{{cite web |url=https://www.city.uki.kumamoto.jp/2028316 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830135959/https://www.city.uki.kumamoto.jp/2028316 |script-title=ja:第35回　教科書から『士農工商』が消えた ー後編ー　令和3年広報うき「ウキカラ」8月号 |language=ja |title=Dai 35-kai kyōkasho kara "shinōkōshō" ga kieta ̄ kōhen ̄-rei wa 3-nen kōhō uki 'ukikara' 8 tsuki-gō |trans-title=No. 35: The disappearance of the four classes of samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants from textbooks - Part 2 - August issue of the Reiwa 3rd year Uki Public Relations "Ukikara" |website=[[Uki, Kumamoto]] |archive-date=30 August 2023 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="shimonoseki">{{cite web |url=https://www.city.shimonoseki.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/58936.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606001503/https://www.city.shimonoseki.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/58936.pdf |script-title=ja:人権意識のアップデート |language=ja |title=Jinken ishiki no appudēto |trans-title=Update on human rights awareness |website=[[Shimonoseki]] |archive-date=6 June 2023 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>
[[File:The four classes of society by Ozawa Nankoku.jpeg|thumb|The four classes of society in Japan during the [[Edo period]]. The [[samurai]] represented a hereditary social class defined by the right to bear arms and to hold public office, as well as high social status.]]
Marriage between certain classes was generally prohibited. In particular, marriage between [[daimyo]] and court nobles was forbidden by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] because it could lead to political maneuvering.{{cn|date=February 2025}} For the same reason, marriages between daimyo and high-ranking [[hatamoto]] of the samurai class required the approval of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was also forbidden for a member of the samurai class to marry a peasant, craftsman, or merchant, but this was done through a loophole in which a person from a lower class was adopted into the samurai class and then married. Since there was an economic advantage for a poor samurai class person to marry a wealthy merchant or peasant class woman, they would adopt a merchant or peasant class woman into the samurai class as an adopted daughter and then marry her.<ref name="asahi">{{cite web |url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/42642?page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307171356/https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/42642?page=2 |script-title=ja:結婚は主君の許可が必要だが、離婚するときはどうだった？江戸時代「武士」の一生行事 |language=ja |title=Kekkon wa shukun no kyoka ga hitsuyōdaga, rikon suru toki wa dōdatta? Edo jidai 'bushi' no isshō gyōji |trans-title=Marriage required the permission of the lord, but what about divorce? The life events of the Edo period "samurai" |publisher=[[The Asahi Shimbun]] |date=31 January 2022 |archive-date=7 March 2024 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="livedoor">{{cite web |url=https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/24377409/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307171300/https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/24377409/ |script-title=ja:江戸時代の武家の結婚は簡単じゃなかった。幕府の許可も必要だった|language=ja |title=Edo jidai no buke no kekkon wa kantan janakatta. Bakufu no kyoka mo hitsuyōdatta |trans-title=Marriage among samurai in the Edo period was not easy. They needed permission from the shogunate. |website=Livedoor News |date=6 June 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2024 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref> Samurai had the right [[Kiri-sute gomen|to strike and even kill]] with their sword anyone of a [[Four divisions of society|lower class]] who compromised their [[honour]].<ref name=World>[https://samurai-world.com/kirisute-gomen/ Kirisute-gomen - Samurai World]</ref>

[[Japan]] had its own untouchable caste, shunned and ostracised, historically referred to by the insulting term ''eta'', now called ''[[burakumin]]''. While modern law has officially abolished the class hierarchy, there are reports of discrimination against the ''buraku'' or ''burakumin'' underclasses.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nair |first=Ravi |url=http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfeatures/HRF39.htm |title=Class, Ethnicity and Nationality: Japan Finds Plenty of Space for Discrimination |publisher=South Asia Human Rights Documentation System |date=18 June 2001 |access-date=30 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331133636/https://hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfeatures/HRF39.htm |archive-date=31 March 2022}}</ref> The ''burakumin'' are regarded as "ostracised".<ref>{{cite journal |first=William H. |last=Newell |date=December 1961 |title=The Comparative Study of Caste in India and Japan |journal=[[Asian Survey]] |volume=1 |issue=10 |pages=3–10 |doi=10.2307/3023467 |jstor=3023467}}</ref> The ''burakumin'' are one of the main [[demographics of Japan|minority groups in Japan]], along with the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] of [[Hokkaido]] and those of [[Zainichi Korean|Korean]] or [[Chinese in Japan|Chinese]] descent.

==== Korea ====
{{Korean caste system}}
[[File:Korea-History-Goban Game in Seoul Korea 1904 (LOC).jpg|thumb|upright|A typical Yangban family scene from 1904. The Yoon family had an enduring presence in Korean politics from the 1800s until the 1970s.]]
The [[baekjeong]] ({{lang|ko|백정}}) were an "untouchable" outcaste of Korea. The meaning today is that of butcher. It originates in the [[Goryeo-Khitan Wars|Khitan invasion of Korea]] in the 11th century. The defeated [[Khitan people|Khitans]] who surrendered were settled in isolated communities throughout Goryeo to forestall rebellion. They were valued for their skills in hunting, herding, butchering, and making of leather, common skill sets among nomads. Over time, their ethnic origin was forgotten, and they formed the bottom layer of Korean society.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

In 1392, with the foundation of the Confucian [[Joseon dynasty]], Korea systemised its own native class system. At the top were the two official classes, the [[Yangban]], which literally means "two classes". It was composed of scholars ({{lang|ko-latn|munban}}) and warriors ({{lang|ko-latn|muban}}). Scholars had a significant social advantage over the warriors. Below were the {{lang|ko-latn|jung-in}} ({{lang|ko|중인-中人}}: literally "middle people"). This was a small class of specialised professions such as medicine, accounting, translators, regional bureaucrats, etc. Below that were the {{lang|ko-latn|sangmin}} ({{lang|ko|상민-常民}}: literally 'commoner'), farmers working their own fields. Korea also had a [[serf]] population known as the ''nobi''. The nobi population could fluctuate up to about one third of the population, but on average the nobi made up about 10% of the total population.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Junius P. |title=The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-0-87436-885-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl01rodr/page/392 392] |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl01rodr |url-access=registration |quote=10 percent of the total population on average, but it could rise up to one-third of the total. |access-date=14 February 2017 |language=en |year=1997}}</ref> In 1801, the vast majority of government nobi were emancipated,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Youngmin |last2=Pettid |first2=Michael J. |title=Women and Confucianism in Choson Korea: New Perspectives |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |isbn=978-1-4384-3777-4 |page=141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UwgUa6WWFBMC&pg=PA141 |access-date=14 February 2017 |language=en |date=1 November 2011}}</ref> and by 1858 the nobi population stood at about 1.5% of the total population of Korea.<ref name="nobi">{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Gwyn |title=Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-135-75917-9 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J0iRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |access-date=14 February 2017 |language=en |date=23 November 2004}}</ref> The hereditary nobi system was officially abolished around 1886–87 and the rest of the nobi system was abolished with the [[Gabo Reform]] of 1894,<ref name="nobi" /> but traces remained until 1930.

The opening of Korea to foreign [[Christian mission]]ary activity in the late 19th century saw some improvement in the status of the {{lang|ko-latn|baekjeong}}. However, everyone was not equal under the Christian congregation, and even so protests erupted when missionaries tried to integrate {{lang|ko-latn|baekjeong}} into worship, with non-{{lang|ko-latn|baekjeong}} finding this attempt insensitive to traditional notions of hierarchical advantage.{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}} Around the same time, the {{lang|ko-latn|baekjeong}} began to resist open social discrimination.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=In Search of Human Rights: The Paekchŏng Movement in Colonial Korea |title=Colonial Modernity in Korea |first=Joong-Seop |last=Kim |editor1-first=Gi-Wook |editor1-last=Shin |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Robinson |year=1999 |page=326 |publisher=Harvard Univ Asia Center |isbn=978-0-674-00594-5}}</ref> They focused on social and economic injustices affecting them, hoping to create an [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]] Korean society. Their efforts included attacking social discrimination by upper class, authorities, and "commoners", and the use of degrading language against children in public schools.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Korean Paekjŏng under Japanese rule: the quest for equality and human rights |first=Joong-Seop |last=Kim |year=2003 |page=147}}</ref>

With the [[Gabo reform]] of 1896, the class system of Korea was officially abolished. Following the collapse of the [[Enlightenment Party|Gabo government]], the new cabinet, which became the Gwangmu government after the establishment of the [[Korean Empire]], introduced systematic measures for abolishing the traditional class system. One measure was the new household registration system, reflecting the goals of formal [[social equality]], which was implemented by the loyalists' cabinet. Whereas the old registration system signified household members according to their hierarchical social status, the new system called for an occupation.<ref name="proper">{{cite journal |last=Hwang |first=Kyung Moon |date=2004 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |title=Citizenship, Social Equality and Government Reform: Changes in the Household Registration System in Korea, 1894–1910 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=355–387 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X04001106}}</ref>

While most Koreans by then had surnames and even {{lang|ko-latn|[[bongwan]]}}, although still substantial number of {{lang|ko-latn|[[cheonmin]]}}, mostly consisted of [[serfs]] and slaves, and [[Untouchability|untouchables]] did not. According to the new system, they were then required to fill in the blanks for surname in order to be registered as constituting separate households. Instead of creating their own family name, some {{lang|ko-latn|cheonmins}} appropriated their masters' surname, while others simply took the most common surname and its {{lang|ko-latn|bongwan}} in the local area. Along with this example, activists within and outside the Korean government had based their visions of a new relationship between the government and people through the concept of citizenship, employing the term {{lang|ko-latn|inmin}} ("people") and later, {{lang|ko-latn|kungmin}} ("citizen").<ref name="proper"/>

==== North Korea ====
{{Main|Songbun}}
The [[Committee for Human Rights in North Korea]] reported that "Every North Korean citizen is assigned a heredity-based class and socio-political rank over which the individual exercises no control but which determines all aspects of his or her life."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9313174/North-Korea-caste-system-underpins-human-rights-abuses.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9313174/North-Korea-caste-system-underpins-human-rights-abuses.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=North Korea caste system 'underpins human rights abuses' |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=UK |date=6 June 2012 |access-date=3 November 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Called ''[[Songbun]]'', [[Barbara Demick]] describes this "class structure" as an updating of the hereditary "caste system", a combination of [[Confucianism]] and [[Communism]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Barbara |last=Demick |author-link=Barbara Demick |title=Nothing to Envy: Love, Life and Death in North Korea |publisher=Fourth Estate |location=London |date=2010 |pages=26–27}}</ref> It originated in 1946 and was entrenched by the 1960s, and consisted of 53 categories ranging across three classes: loyal, wavering, and impure. The privileged "loyal" class included members of the [[Workers' Party of Korea|Korean Workers' Party]] and [[Korean People's Army]] officers' corps, the wavering class included peasants, and the impure class included [[Collaboration with Imperial Japan|collaborators with Imperial Japan]] and [[Land tenure|landowners]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cha |first=Victor D. |url=http://archive.org/details/impossiblestaten0000chav_j2c1 |title=The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future |publisher=Ecco |others=Internet Archive |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-06-199850-8 |location=New York |page=186 |language=en}}</ref> She claims that a bad family background is called "tainted blood", and that by law this "tainted blood" lasts three generations.{{sfn|Demick|2010|pp=28, 197, 202}}