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| Class | Hangul | Hanja | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yangban | 양반 | 兩班 | noble class |
| Chungin | 중인 | 中人 | intermediate class |
| Sangmin | 상민 | 常民 | common people |
| Ch'ŏnmin | 천민 | 賤民 | lowborn people (nobi,paekchŏng,mudang,kisaeng,namsadang, etc.) |
| Nobi | |
| Hangul | 노비 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 奴婢 |
| RR | nobi |
| MR | nobi |
Nobi were members of the slave class during the Korean dynasties ofGoryeo andJoseon. Legally, they held the lowest rank in medieval Korean society.Nobi were sometimes considered property orchattel, and could be bought, sold, or gifted.
Thenobi were socially indistinct from freemen other than the rulingyangban class, and some possessed property rights, legal entities and civil rights. Hence, some scholars argue that it is inappropriate to call them "slaves",[1] while some scholars describe them asserfs.[2][3] Furthermore, the Korean word for an actual slave, in the European and American meaning, isnoye, notnobi.[3] Somenobi owned their ownnobi.[4]
Some people becamenobi as legal punishment for committing a crime or failing to pay a debt. However, some people voluntarily becamenobi in order to escape crushing poverty during poor harvests and famines.[1]
Householdnobi served as personal retainers and domestic servants, and most received a monthly salary that could be supplemented by earnings gained outside regular working hours.[5][6] Non-resident nobi resided at a distance and were little different than tenant farmers or commoners.[5] They were registered officially as independent family units and possessed their own houses, families, land, and fortunes.[6] Non-resident nobi were far more numerous than household nobi.[7]
The hierarchical relationship between yangban master andnobi was believed to be equivalent to the Confucian hierarchical relationship between ruler and subject, or father and son.[8] Nobi were considered an extension of the master's own body, and an ideology based on patronage and mutual obligation developed. TheAnnals of King Taejong stated: "Thenobi is also a human being like us; therefore, it is reasonable to treat him generously" and "In our country, we love ournobis like a part of our body."[9]
In thechakkae system,nobi were assigned two pieces of agricultural land, with the resulting produce from the first land paid to the master, and the produce from the second land kept by thenobi to consume or sell. In order to gain freedom,nobi could purchase it, earn it through military service, or receive it as a favor from the government.[5]
In 1426,Sejong the Great enacted a law that granted governmentnobi women 100 days ofmaternity leave after childbirth, which, in 1430, was lengthened by one month before childbirth. In 1434, Sejong also granted the husbands 30 days of paternity leave.[10]
Another target of his critique is the insistence that slaves (nobi) in Korea, especially in Choson dynasty, were closer to serfs (nongno) than true slaves (noye) in Europe and America, enjoying more freedom and independence than what a slave would normally be allowed.
The serfdom thesis is based largely on the work of the North Korean scholar,Kim Sok-hyong, who dividednobis into 'resident' and 'non-resident' groups. The former lived under the same roof as their masters, for whom they performed domestic and the greater part of agricultural labour. The latter dwelt far from their masters' houses, cultivating land for which they paid rent to their masters, and possessed their own personal property. In reality, their situation was similar to that of tenant farmers.Kim therefore considered 'resident'nobis to be slaves, and 'non-resident'nobis to be serfs. As the latter group were far more numerous, he concluded that serfdom characterizedChosun society.