Courtesans in Military Uniforms : Chosŏn Korean Courtesan Performance and Diplomatic Missions to Qing China

• In Event: Travel and Performance in Late Chosŏn Korea

Abstract

This paper examines courtesan performance in the context of Chosǒn officials’ diplomatic visits to the Qing court. Following the itinerary found in the records of the visit of 1712 as a prototype, the paper will analyze the semantic and structural meanings of the particular pieces of courtesan performance presented in prefectural government offices in Pyǒngan Province. The primary focus of this courtesan performance was not so much to display the individual talents or physical attractions of a particular woman as a collective mode of dedicating a formal encomium to national delegates. Courtesan performance in this respect profoundly confirms the status quo within the context of domestic politics and social hierarchy. Close analysis of each work such as “Performance of a Departing Boat,” the sword dance, and the martial entertainment, however, demonstrates that their performance embodies elements that destabilized the dominant discourse by crossing the boundaries of gender, social status, and Confucian rules of decorum. This paper pays particular attention to cross-dressing and martial arts incorporated into various kinds of courtesan performance to argue that the courtesans who fulfilled the normative obligations for themselves as government property simultaneously exercised their capability of creating multivalence. The paper thereby explores the expressive potential of the courtesans within the particular historical and cultural contexts of the courtesan system.

Author

• Hyun Suk Park, University of California, Berkeley