ABSTRACT

‘Christian pyrexia’ and ‘education fever’ have contributed greatly to the empowerment of women in Korea and helped with the transformation of Korean society more broadly. This article begins with an overview of the Confucian gender constructs and delimiting social expectations of women in the pre-modern period. It then focuses on the changing socio-political landscape in the late nineteenth century, which set the stage for the arrival of Protestant missionaries, who would transform the educational system. Han’gŭl, the ‘vulgar’ script of women, was soon the evangelising tool of the Protestants who established various institutions to educate ‘modern’ Korean girls and women. This radically transformed their place in society, from passive bystanders in a history that had ignored them. The fever for Christianity, linked with education as a tool for equality amidst the burgeoning of nationalism, was palpable in schools set up in Korea as the dark period of Japanese rule drew near.

摘要

“基督教发热”和“教育热”极大地促进了韩国妇女的赋权，并帮助韩国社会更广泛地转型。本文首先概述了儒家的性别建构并界定了前现代时期对女性的社会期望。然后，它重点关注十九世纪末不断变化的社会政治格局，这为新教传教士的到来奠定了基础，他们将改变教育体系。汉古尔女性的“粗俗”文字很快成为新教徒的传福音工具，他们建立了各种机构来教育“现代”韩国女孩和妇女。这从根本上改变了他们在社会中的地位，从忽视他们的历史中的被动旁观者。随着日本统治的黑暗时期的临近，基督教的热潮在韩国建立的学校中显而易见，这种热潮与教育作为民族主义兴起中实现平等的工具联系在一起。