Jump to content

Jeju people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeju People
제주사름, 濟州人
Group of Jeju haenyo
Regions with significant populations
 Jeju Province600,000
Languages
Jeju, Korean (Pyojun-eo)
Religion
Korean Shamanism, Christianity, Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Koreans

The Jeju people or Jejuans[a] are an indigenous people of the Jeju Island, distinct from ethnic Koreans of the mainland, which is geographically located in the East China Sea. Administratively, they live in Jeju Province, excluding Chuja Islands, an autonomous self-governing province of South Korea.[2]

Jejuans speak the Jeju language, which is considered to be one of the two branches of the Koreanic language family, as it has no mutual intelligibility with Standard Korean or any other Korean dialects in the Korean Peninsula. Jejuans also have unique cultural traditions that are distinct from mainland Koreans.[3][4]

History

[edit]
See also: Jeju Province § History

Origins

[edit]

Modern humans have lived on Jeju Island since the early Neolithic period (about 10,000 to 8,000 years ago). According to legend, three demi-gods emerged from Samseong,[5] which is said to have been on the northern slopes of Hallasan and became the progenitors of the Jeju people, who founded the Kingdom of Tamna.[6]

Tamna

[edit]
See also: Samseong mythology and Tamna

There is no historical record of the founding or early history of Tamna.

After the establishment of Tamna, in the first century AD, Tamna people started active trade with Baekje and Silla on mainland Korea, Han China and Yayoi period Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Chola dynasty of South India. Later, Tamna became a tributary state of Baekje and Silla, and was subsequently annexed by Joseon.[7][8]

Invasion of Goryeo

[edit]

Tamna briefly reclaimed its independence after the fall of Silla in 935. However, it was subjugated by Goryeo in 938 and officially annexed in 1105. However, the kingdom maintained local autonomy until 1404, when Taejong of Joseon placed it under firm central control and brought the Tamna kingdom to an end. One interesting event that took place during these later years of Tamna was the Sambyeolcho Rebellion,[9] which came to a bloody end on Jeju Island in 1274.

Japanese occupation

[edit]

In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, including Jeju, inaugurating a period of hardship and deprivation for the islanders, many of whom were compelled to travel to the mainland or Japan for work. Residents of Jeju were active in the Korean independence movement during the period of Japanese rule.[10]

After Korean independence

[edit]

1948 Jeju Massacre

[edit]
Main article: Jeju uprising

On April 3, 1948, against a background of an ongoing ideological struggle for control of Korea and a variety of grievances held by islanders against the local authorities, the many communist sympathizers on the island attacked police stations and government offices. The brutal and often indiscriminate suppression of the leftist rebellion resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of both villagers and communists, and the imprisonment of thousands more in internment camps.[11]

In 2006, almost 60 years after the Jeju Uprising, the government of South Korea apologized for its role in the killings and promised reparations.[12] In 2019, the South Korean police and defense ministry apologized for the first time over the massacres.[13]

Culture

[edit]
See also: Jeju Province § Society and culture

Jejuans have a culture and language that are distinct from that of the Korean Peninsula. Jeju is also home to thousands of unique local legends. Perhaps the most distinct cultural artifact is the ubiquitous dol hareubang ("stone grandfather") carved from a block of basalt throughout the island.[14]

Language

[edit]
Main article: Jeju language

Jeju is the indigenous language of the Jejuans. UNESCO lists it as "critically endangered",[15] with most of its speakers being elderly. The younger generation tends to speak Standard Korean due to the educational system enacted by the South Korean government, which does not allow Jejuan language schools, and has repressed its usage especially during the country's authoritarian era (e.g. under Syngman Rhee, Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan) up until the 1990s.[16]

The South Korean government, including the National Institute of Korean Language and the country's Ministry of Education, continues to label Jeju language as a Korean dialect, specifically an "unintelligible Korean dialect", although it has no mutual intelligibility with Standard Korean or any other Korean dialects for that matter on the Korean Peninsula.[17][18]

Ever since the 2000s, the majority of South Korean academic publications had switched to the term "Jeju language" rather than considering it as a dialect. The only English-language monograph on Jeju, published in 2019, consistently refers to it as a language as well. Among native speakers, the term Jeju-mal "Jeju speech" is most common.[18]

Religion

[edit]

Shamanism is a native religion of Jeju Island, and its teachings are mixed with Confucianism and Buddhism. Jeju Island is also one of the areas in which shamanism is most intact.[19] Other religions practiced on Jeju Island include mainstream Buddhism and Christianity.

Notable Jeju people

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Jeju: 제주사름; Jeju RR: Jeju-sareum; Korean: 제주인; Hanja: 濟州人; RR: Jeju-in,[1] also spelled Cheju people or Chejuans

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kim, Seongjin 김성진 (December 1, 2011). "육지에 살아도 마음은 강정에...'강정사랑 제주사름' 출범". 제주의소리. Retrieved March 23, 2024. 서울 등 다른 지방으로 나가 생활하는 제주인들이 만든 '강정을 사랑하는 육지사는 제주사름(사람)'이 1일 출범했다.
  2. ^ "Jeju Special Autonomous Province". Archived from the original on September 26, 2004. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  3. ^ "Beyond tangerines and beaches: Jeju's unique culture". The Korea Herald. November 13, 2011. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022. Jeju Island, a volcanic tourist attraction off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, has developed its unique culture over thousands of years due to its people's relationship with nature and mythology.
  4. ^ Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 191–192. ISBN 0313316171.
  5. ^ "Jeju (Cheju) Island Travel Information: Samseonghyeol". Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  6. ^ Lee, Peter H.; de Bary, William Theodore: Sources of Korean Tradition, Volume I: From Early Times Through the Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, (1997), ISBN 978-0-231-10567-5.
  7. ^ 浦野起央. 朝鮮の領土:【分析・資料・文献】. 三和書籍. ISBN 978-4862512024.p332
  8. ^ 拳骨拓史. 韓国人に不都合な半島の歴史. PHP研究所. ISBN 978-4569808000.
  9. ^ Tamna timeline Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Jeju-gossi, February 23, 2011.
  10. ^ Hilty, Anne (2011). Jeju Island: Reaching to the Core of Beauty. Korea Essentials. Republic of Korea: The Korea Foundation.
  11. ^ Wheeler, Wolcott, "The 1948 Cheju-do Civil War", Korea WebWeekly, archived from the original on October 12, 1999, retrieved April 21, 2014
  12. ^ O, John Kie-Chiang (1999). "Korean Politics: The Quest for Democratization and Economic Development". Cornell University Press. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ AFP (April 3, 2019). "South Korean police apologize and army expresses regret for 1948 Jeju massacres". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  14. ^ Taylor, Phoebe (July 23, 2018). "What Are Jeju Island's Dol Hareubang?". Culture Trip. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  15. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  16. ^ Brenzinger, Matthias; Yang, Changyong (September 2017). "Jejueo of South Korea". In Seals, Corinne A.; Shah, Sheena (eds.). Heritage Language Policies around the World. Routledge. pp. 185–199. ISBN 9781317274049.
  17. ^ Shields, Steven L (December 31, 2019). "Studying Jeju Island's endangered language". The Korea Times. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Korea's other language — Jejueo / Jejumal (제주어 / 제주말)". The Language Closet. May 12, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  19. ^ Choi, Joon-sik . Folk-Religion: The Customs in Korea. Ewha Womans University Press, 2006.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeju_people&oldid=1259659078"