Editing Caste (section)

==== 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"/>