''Hopae'' were identification tags carried by
Koreans
Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula.
Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply re ...
during the
Joseon dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...
, recording the bearer's name, place of birth,
status
Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to:
* Status (law)
** City status
** Legal status, in law
** Political status, in international law
** Small entity status, in patent law
** Status confere ...
and residence.
[Grayson 2002: 108] The tags consists of the persons name, birthdate, and where they were born. The ''hopae'' system helped the government in tax collection and retrieving runaway slaves.
History
The ''hopae'' system was initiated by
King Taejong in 1413, apparently on the basis of a similar practice by the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
in China.
[Duncan: 212] Taejong declared that ''hopae'' must be carried by all males aged 16 and older.
[ The desire to control migration was cited as a major reason behind the system in the edict which established the ''hopae'' law. However, it was abandoned only three years later in 1416, after the completion of the new household registry; this may have been because the ''hopae'' were no longer necessary after the completion of the registry, or the opposition which commoners demonstrated to the requirement of carrying ''hopae''. The ''hopae'' system was promulgated and abolished several times in the following years.
]King Sejo
Sejo of Joseon (2 November 1417 – 23 September 1468), personal name Yi Yu (Korean: 이유; Hanja: 李瑈), sometimes known as Grand Prince Suyang (Korean: 수양대군; Hanja: 首陽大君), was the seventh ruler of the Joseon dynasty of K ...
revived the system in 1458, again with the aim of controlling the movement of people, this time in order to aid in suppressing the rebellion by Yi Jing-ok in Hamgil Province, which found widespread support among peasants who had fled from their homes; the law would remain in effect for twelve more years.[
''Hopae'' again fell into disuse, but were revived by Prince Gwanghae in the early 17th century. One game played with ]dominoes
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also c ...
in modern Korea takes its name from the ''hopae''.[Hutt et al. 1999: 104]
People of different social classes wore different coloured tags. The ''yangban
The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil servants and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats ...
'' class wore yellow, high-ranking yangban officials wore ivory while the lower-ranks wore ones of deer horn. Commoners wore small wooden tags while slaves carried large wooden ones.
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
* {{cite book, title=Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary, publisher=Routledge, location=United Kingdom, date=1999, last=Rutt, first=Richard, author2=Pratt, Keith L. , author3=Hoare, James , isbn=0700704639
External links
Pictures of ''hopae''
from the Academy of Korean Studies
Pictures of ''hopae''
from Museum.co.kr
Joseon dynasty
Korean caste system
Identity documents