Popular Violence in a Confucian World: A Short History of Stone Fighting and its Meaning

Abstract

At the time of the Tan‟o festival, men gathered in the outskirts of cities and in the countryside surrounding the cities and villages of Chosŏn (1392-1910). They formed parties, gathered sticks and stones and fought out bloody battles, often leaving some dead or mangled. This was called “stone fighting” (sŏkchŏn) and was an important feature of life in Chosŏn. The practice of sŏkchŏn was remarkably persistent and only ended in the 20th century. There has been little research on the subject of stone fighting. An article by Ch‟oe Tongyŏl, which was published in 1991, discusses some aspects of sŏkchŏn. 1 Even though Ch‟oe‟s article provides an impressive overview on the sources, it was mostly ignored. Its publication in the journal of a provincial university in Wŏnju, where Ch‟oe was an assistant professor at the time, might have been a factor. Another noteworthy exception is the excellent article on the development of stone fighting by