A Bibliographical Study on Records of Gisaeng and Changgi and It’s Value and Characteristics

Abstract

This study clarified the fundamental characteristics of the Records of Gisaeng and Changgi, which are frequently misunderstood and misread, examined related data ranging from four existing bibliographies to microfilms since 1988 and the current online service, and thoroughly explored the overall description for the Records of Gisaeng and Changgi.
 First, Records of Gisaeng and Changgi are historically deplorable and miserable records that clearly show that the Gisaeng System, which has been inheriting the traditional cultural art of the Korean Peninsula, female musician, from the Goryeo Dynasty to the Joseon Dynasty and The Korean Empire Period, was forcibly changed by the Japanese Residential-General and police authority without having own power to convert into the Modern Gisaeng System, during the turning point from a pre-modern time to a modern time in the Korean Empire Period.
 Secondly, even though the Korean Peninsula went through extremely chaotic political and social situations since opening a port of Busan in 1876, there was no nationally authorized prostitution system. On September 25, 1908, which was right before the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese Resident-General implanted a Prostitution System, which is the first official prostitution system involving Korean prostitutes. In other words, the Korean Peninsula, which strictly prohibited any prostitution involving money, was degraded into an immoral society (country with an official prostitution system) where people trade sex without any legal punishments. The Records of Gisaeng and Changgi are the bitter historical scars of colonized Koreans who were victims of the prostitution system implanted in the Korean Peninsula.
 Lastly, there needs to be more detailed bibliographical studies that cover the whole contents of Records of Gisaeng and Changgi and publish books that interpret each document about “Gisaeng” and “Prostitute” in Korean. This would allow both related researchers and ordinary people to approach more easily and understand the concept of “Gisaeng” and “Prostitute” during The Korean Empire’s turning point of modernization in more detailed and correct ways. Moreover, there should be clear definitions and new changes in perception of the “Gisaeng Group” as the artist group that inherited the tradition of female musicians and “Prostitute Group” as the prostitute group who lived on prostitution.