The baekjeong (Korean: 백정) were an untouchable caste in Korea,[1] originating from some minority, nomadic groups of disputed ethnicity.
Based on information in the Goryeosa, the chief surviving history of Goryeo Korea, scholars assume that a baekjeong is "a person who has no burden of duties (역, 役)".
[10] King Sejong also put them on the family register, gave them lands to plant, settled them into fixed communities, and tried to keep them under state control.
[16] Near the end of the Joseon Dynasty, a mutual aid organization for the baekjeong was established, called Seungdongdoga (승동도가; 承洞都家), with representatives from various communities.
[17] The organization was involved in taking action, coordinating improvements, and acting at times as the official representative of the baekjeong in legal matters.
[20] In spite of this, "baekjeong" is widely used in Korean restaurant names, denoting barbecue establishments where raw marinated meat is served and cooked at the table.
[23] Slaughtering animals, leather making--these kinds of unclean duties were avoided by other Koreans, and so were filled de facto by baekjeong.
[23] They were also considered in moral violation of Buddhist principles, which led Koreans to see work involving meat as polluting and sinful, even if they saw the consumption as acceptable.
[25] Baekjeong could not live in a roof-tiled house and were not allowed to wear silk clothes or leather shoes or a gat[26] (a traditional Korean horsehair hat).
[26] Baekjeong were not allowed surnames and were forbidden the use of certain characters in their personal names, such as 仁 "benevolence", 義 "righteousness", 禮 "rites", or 智 "wisdom".
[27] Although this uprising was ultimately unsuccessful, it was an important impetus behind the Gabo Reform, and helped to abolish the class structure that had placed legal restrictions on certain groups.
[30] Between these human and financial resources, an emphasis on progressive models, and feelings of social deprivation and discrimination, the conditions were ripe for the baekjeong to mobilize for change.
[30] One of the earliest of these movements was in 1910 when Chang Chip'il, later an influential member of the Hyeongpyeongsa, unsuccessfully attempted to establish a trade union for butchers.
"[31] It advocated both for individual civil rights as well as communal fellowship, recognizing that the group must maintain its identity under the strain of changes such as urbanization and industrialization which threatened to atomize the community.
[31] At the 1931 national conference, they stirred controversy within the movement by introducing a dissolution proposal, feeling that the organization had abandoned its original aims in favor of those of the bourgeois intellectuals directing it.
[31] The dissolution proposal failed, but not without further alienating more conservative members of the movement, who were already financially strapped from broader economic conditions in Korea.
[31] Even more fatal for the movement was the arrest of a number of young radical members, who were accused of establishing a secret communist organization, the "Hyeongpyeongsa Youth Vanguard", which authorities said demanded struggle against feudalism and the abolishment of private property.
It appears likely that the "organization" was a construction by Japanese authorities to ensure the labor wing of the Hyeongpyeongsa would not interfere with their access to leather needed for the invasion of China.
[31] As a result, the Hyeongpyeongsa shifted to the right, abandoning progressive ideals and finally disbanding in 1935, claiming the movement's aims had successfully been met.
[31] The growing power of the radical wing divided the movement, and much of the economic support provided by wealthier baekjeong was pulled, particularly under the strain of the Great Depression, which had negatively impacted the meat and leather trades.
[33] Their efforts included attacking social discrimination by the upper class, authorities, and "commoners" and the use of degrading language against children in public schools.