Korea is renowned for its fierce educational competition. With an elite population boasting highly literate levels and enrollment rates that rank among the highest worldwide, this nation excels at education.
This special issue examines the Korean phenomenon of “education fever” from various perspectives. Kevin Cawley highlights ‘education wave’ of late 19th-century as an instance of self-empowerment by women previously excluded from higher education.
The Birth of Modern Education
Koreans place great value in education. They view it as the key to social mobility and success. Many parents spend significant sums of money on private tutoring for their children to create an environment in which academic achievement is encouraged – even expected!
Neo-Confucianism emphasizes the value of education for personal improvement, reflecting both Korea’s history of technology exportation and innovation as well as a societal commitment to providing an educated workforce.
After 35 years of Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945, Korea began adopting modern educational systems from Europe and North America. This has contributed to South Korea’s economic development and technological advances which have propelled it as a world leader across multiple industries. Furthermore, Western schools allowed for an increase in basic education across many disciplines such as medicine, mathematics, geography, foreign languages and arts beyond just Confucian classics alone.
The Birth of Confucianism
Korean government policies have dramatically expanded class size and school hours to meet surging demand, and students from all socioeconomic levels perform exceptionally well on international examinations like PISA. Yet the chaebol family conglomerates that dominate South Korean society serve to perpetuate traditional social stratification by restricting upward mobility; their policies maintain an educational system which keeps millions dependent on corporate pensions for retirement support.
Early Korean Confucianism thrived from printing Chinese texts and spreading a new Confucian philosophy supported by yangban (aristocratic ruling class) members. This was Neo-Confucianism – a recalibrated form of Confucianism which overtook Buddhism as Korea’s primary spiritual and philosophical tradition during Joseon Dynasty 1392-1910.
Neo-Confucians stressed the role of moral education in shaping human affairs, especially within monarchical regimes. They placed special importance on morally upright individuals such as their king who had obligations towards his subjects he ruled, as well as an hierarchy-structured relationship between men and women where women expected to bow submissively before fathers, husbands, or sons; contrary to this trend however was Zhu Xi’s teachings which impacted Korean Neo-Confucians approach towards metaphysical developments within Confucianism influenced Korean Neo-Confucians to form metaphysical developments in Confucianism.
The Birth of Christianity
Christianity had a profound effect on Korean society during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Christianity spread on its own prior to Catholic and Protestant missionaries arriving, thanks to Gospels written in Chinese script and translated hymnals available for Korean. Christianity also appealed to Koreans by exalting a divine hand behind all good fortune, encouraging economic participation (by emphasizing hard work as contributing to God’s glory), encouraging entrepreneurship, as well as offering the promise of salvation after life.
However, when many Koreans were forced to worship the Japanese Emperor under Japanese colonial rule in the 1930s and 1940s – an obligation imposed by Japan – refusing to comply equated Christianity with patriotism and resistance against Japanese imperialism in their eyes. Unfortunately however, Protestant churches which adhered to Puritan reformed theology that disallowed veneration of ancestors caused social and family strain in Confucianist Korea that ultimately resulted in separations within families; churches also became active participants in organizing antigovernment coalitions of students intellectuals workers and farmers against government interference from government forces.
The Birth of Islam
Islam first arrived in Korea during the Unified Silla period during the 9th century with Muslim Persian and Arab traders arriving from Iran and Arabia. One early indication of their presence can be found in figurines with distinct Persian characteristics for royal guardians; Muslims generally settled urban areas and many established close ties to Koreans of their same ethnicity.
Christianity quickly spread in Korea because it was coupled with accessible education and literacy. Early Christian texts were translated from Classical Chinese – used by upper class yangban – into Hangeul, an easier language understood by ordinary Koreans. Catholic missionaries promoted Hangeul for this very reason.
Islamic studies were revived during the Korean War when Turkey deployed soldiers under UN command to aid Allied forces. These soldiers taught local populations about Islam, leading some converts to form the Korea Muslim Society in 1955. Although this effort proved successful, its impact remains modest and faces unique challenges: one woman reported facing prejudice due to wearing her headscarf publicly while another felt her family disapproved of their conversion and made it harder for her to socialize with peers.
The Birth of Buddhism
South Korea’s high educational attainment levels have played an instrumental role in its remarkable economic boom over the past 70 years, yet challenges remain as the nation aspires to becoming a true global power instead of one of Asia’s “tiger economies.”
Buddhism was an integral component of Korean culture during the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods, drawing support from royalty and educated aristocracy alike. Temples with pagodas began losing popularity, while monk vows of celibacy became prevalent. In the 10th century however, meditation schools such as Seon were introduced – liberating Buddhism from traditional iconography and architectural patterns, freeing temples from pagoda use while offering liberated forms of prayer for meditation practice.
Just as China did, Korea also saw many different Buddhist sects flourish; each school focusing on one aspect of faith such as scripture or meditation. Monk Wonhyo attempted to bring these disparate doctrines closer together using the parable of the blind men and their elephant. With this concept in mind he developed what is known today as harmonization (hwajaeng), where Buddhist doctrines are not classified as positive or negative but instead recognized as different aspects of a single teaching system.