Wrongful Deaths

Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth-Century Korea

Sun Joo Kim, Jungwon Kim, Sun Joo Kim, Jungwon Kim

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780295804965
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Historia coreana

This collection presents and analyzes inquest records that tell the stories of ordinary Korean people under the Choson court (1392-1910). Extending the study of this period, usually limited to elites, into the realm of everyday life, each inquest record includes a detailed postmortem examination and features testimony from everyone directly or indirectly related to the incident. The result is an amazingly vivid, colloquial account of the vibrant, multifaceted sociocultural and legal culture of early modern Korea.

CASE 1

AN ADULTEROUS WIDOWER MEETS A VIOLENT DEATH

Yang Hang-nyŏn (P'yŏngyang, P'yŏngan Province, 1866)

ADULTERY, THE ROOT CAUSE OF MURDER IN THIS CASE, IS ONE of the most common sources of violence and misery throughout human history and has been regarded as a crime in many societies in which marriage and patriarchy are the social and moral foundation. During the Chosŏn dynasty, both adulterous men and women were punished by law following Ming codes. According to an article in the Great Ming Code:

In all cases where a wife or concubine commits adultery with another, if [her own husband] himself catches the adulterer and the adulterous wife at the place of adultery and immediately kills them, he shall not be punished. If he only kills the adulterous lover, the adulterous wife shall be punished in accordance with the Code [Art. 390] and be remarried or sold by her husband.¹

The relevant punishments prescribed in the Great Ming Code for all cases of fornication with consent were eighty strokes of beating with a heavy stick; a woman who had a husband received ten additional strokes.² Chosŏn legal practitioners introduced their own adjustments that eventually deviated from the original Ming statutes. For example, the level of punishment differed in accordance with the offender's status: capital punishment was encoded for an adulteress of yangban status from the early sixteenth century onward, while an adulterous commoner woman in the late Chosŏn was often enslaved. There were also cases where an adulterous man, especially one of lower status who had had illicit sex with a yangban woman, was severely punished, even with the death penalty.³ However, to reinforce the principle of female chastity, late Chosŏn elites made much more strenuous efforts to regulate women's sexual behavior rather than men's. Legal scholars have noted inequalities for members of different social status groups and genders, as revealed in legal statutes and practices in Chosŏn Korea, as one of the country's prevalent legal characteristics.⁴

In the same vein, it had become acceptable by law for a husband to kill an adulterer on the basis of hearsay or suspicion alone, most likely in an effort to more strictly control women's sexual behavior and make women even more subject to the patriarchal family order than ever before. This change moved away from the original article 308 of the Great Ming Code, which stated that the only unpunishable crime was the husband's immediate killing (tŭngsi salsa) of the adulterous couple when they were caught in the act by the husband himself (kanso ch'inhoek).⁵ Case 1 fits nicely into this tendency in the late Chosŏn period. The principal offender, Mr. Hong, originally confessed that he had killed the victim, Mr. Yang, after he learned that Yang had sexually harassed his wife during his absence. In his third deposition during the first inquest investigation, however, he changed his story to sound as though he had caught the two in the act of committing adultery and killed the adulterer Yang right there. Whereas the first inquest official naturally reasoned that the case fell under article 308—catching the adulterer in the act and immediately killing him—the second inquest official's concluding statement implies that Yang was murdered only after Hong's wife complained to him about Yang's harassment of her (so that it was not very clear whether or not adultery had taken place).

To the provincial governor, however, it did not matter whether or not Hong caught the adulterer in the act and immediately killed him. In his reasoning, the killing took place not because of a single incident on that tragic night but because the incident fanned the flames of jealousy in Hong following many previous episodes of flirtation and suspicious behavior between his wife and Yang. Therefore, the provincial governor concluded without much hesitation that Hong's killing of Yang—whether or not it took place on the spot—did not constitute a crime, although his act of indiscriminate stabbing and premeditated arson to hide his killing did. For that crime only, Hong was sentenced to “one round of beating” (ŏmhyŏng ilch'a).⁶ Ms. Kim, Hong's wife, was also sentenced to one round of beating for her lewd conduct. From the existing record, it is not clear whether or not she was subsequently enslaved; her fate was to be determined solely by her husband.

The phrase “requital for a life” (sangmyŏng) appears in every inquest report, for the close relative of the victim always finishes his or her opening testimony with an appeal to redress the grievance suffered by the deceased with the sacrifice of another life—that of the perpetrator. It seems to have been assumed that punishing the perpetrator would relieve the grief and resentment of the survivors. It is apparent that people of all walks of life in the late Chosŏn commonly accepted this notion. Yet as William Shaw observed in his review of late eighteenth-century death review cases, “nothing indicates that the principle was applied mechanistically.”⁷ In fact, as Shaw found, “the establishment of full culpability in the legal sense took precedence over the task of providing requital for the death of the victim,” and it was uncommon for defendants in capital cases to receive a death sentence.⁸ Similarly, Hong, the defendant in this case, as well as other principal offenders in other murder cases translated in this book, does not seem to have received capital punishment. The provincial governor found that Hong's killing of the adulterer was not a punishable crime. In this case, Yang, the dead man, was the culprit, not Hong, so the plea for requital for a life by Yang's family was not applicable.

While it is true that Hong's testimony varied over time, he confessed to killing Yang in his very first deposition. Why might he have confessed this? Perhaps Hong was a reasonable person who realized that, under the circumstances, he could not hide the fact that he had killed Yang. Yet, as the investigators noted, there were no eyewitnesses to the incident—either the murder or the arson—so Hong could have denied any involvement. One of the investigative tactics that Korean courts adopted, in emulation of Chinese practices, was to conduct the inquest hearing by gathering every relevant person in the case, including the defendant, the accuser, witnesses, neighbors, administrators, and officers from the county office. As Brian E. McKnight has argued, such a setting may well have put tremendous psychological pressure on the defendant, which may in turn have moved the defendant as well as all participants “to acts and statements which under normal circumstances they would have avoided,” including, in this case, Hong's confession of his crime.⁹

This inquest report concerning the death of Yang is one of seven reports in the Inquest Records of Chunghwa County (Chunghwa-bu ogan). All seven death incidents took place between 1866 and 1867, with the magistrate of Chunghwa County (Chunghwa Tohobu) acting as either the first or second inquest official.¹⁰ This case is one of two from this particular collection selected and translated for this book, the other being case 5. Yang's death took place in P'yŏngyang Special City (P'yŏngyang-bu), which was also the provincial governor's administrative seat during the Chosŏn dynasty. Administratively, the provincial governor of P'yŏngan Province held the concurrent post of magistrate of P'yŏngyang Special City. Because the provincial governor himself could not be the first inquest official for a death case that took place in P'yŏngyang, the magistrate of Chunghwa, a county south of P'yŏngyang, took the job. According to the Records of the Royal Secretariat (Sŭngjŏngwŏn ilgi), the magistrate of Chunghwa at the time was Han Yong-sŏn and the provincial governor was Pak Kyu-su (1807–76). Apparently, Han was a model magistrate and received an upgrade of his rank on 1865.11.28 (1/14/1866). He served a second term as the Chunghwa magistrate because of his good service to the people and subsequent recommendation by Provincial Governor Pak.¹¹ From these facts, it is very likely that this particular collection of inquest records was compiled in order to commemorate Han's years as the Chunghwa magistrate. Pak Kyu-su, provincial governor at the time, is well known in Korean history as the person at the center of the burning of the American merchant ship General Sherman, which sailed up the Taedong River to P'yŏngyang, demanding open trade without respecting Chosŏn's adamant policy against such trade with Westerners. This particular incident took place in August 1866, only a few months before the present case.

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INQUEST REPORT (MUNAN) OF THE FIRST INQUEST INVESTIGATION (CH'OGŎM) INTO THE CASE OF THE DECEASED, YANG HANG-NYŎN [HAK-RYŎN], FROM YI SUBDISTRICT, NAECH'ŎN DISTRICT, IN P'YŎNGYANG SPECIAL CITY

Root cause (kŭnyu) of death: Adultery (kanŭm)
True cause of death (sirin): Stabbed to death (p'ija)

The brevetted magistrate of Chunghwa County conducted the investigation of the body as the first inquest official.¹²

In the DIRECTIVE¹³ (kamgyŏl) issued by the provincial governor that arrived around six in the evening (yu-si) on the sixth day of the month, it is written: “I appointed the deputy commander (chunggun) [of the P'yŏngyang Military Commander's Office]—a concurrently held post—as the first inquest official for the case of the deceased, Yang Hang-nyŏn of Yi Subdistrict, Naech'ŏn District, in P'yŏngyang Special City, and ordered him carry out the investigation right away. However, he immediately replied that he could not conduct the investigation because the ROYAL ORDER prohibited military commanders from serving as such. For this reason I appoint the magistrate [of Chunghwa] as the first inquest official (ch'ogŏmgwan). [I order you] to go to P'yŏngyang as soon as you receive this directive and conduct the investigation in accordance with proper procedures.”

I, the Chunghwa magistrate, accordingly rushed to depart in the company of appropriate assistants. After traveling north for about 25 li from the Chunghwa county office to the Taejŏng Post Station in P'yŏngyang, the day had already grown dark. Thus, we spent the night there. We took to the road again at the break of dawn the next day, the seventh. After traveling north for about 26 li, we arrived in Yi Subdistrict, Naech'ŏn District, where the corpse of the deceased Yang Hang-nyŏn lay. The inquest investigation with [relevant] people in attendance was then carried out.

On 1866.12.7 (1/12/1867), Yang Hak-pŏm, the close relative of the deceased (sich'in), no military obligation (muyŏk), fifty-four years in age, and registered in the household register.

[Magistrate:] “I, by the DIRECTIVE of the provincial governor, am about to open an investigation into the death of Yang Hang-nyŏn. How are you related to the deceased? When, where, under what circumstances, and with whom did he fight? Which part of [Yang Hang-nyŏn's] body was injured? When did he die? How old was the deceased? Did he have any military duties? Describe the clothes worn by the deceased and whether he had any notable scars on his body when he was alive. Also, who were the eyewitnesses (kanjŭng) when the fighting began? Was the weapon used in the criminal acts set aside? All must be told truthfully without fail.” In such a way, I interrogated Yang Hak-pŏm.

[Yang Hak-pŏm:] “The dead Yang Hang-nyŏn is my younger brother. He was an old widower who made a living by making and selling reed floormats. He lived in Yi Subdistrict. I also make reed floormats and live in Sam Subdistrict, which is a bit away [from the Yi Subdistrict].¹⁴ Because I have been busy making ends meet, we did not see each other often. On the morning of the sixth of this month, Hong Chin-o, who was a close neighbor of my brother's, came to me and said, “Your brother's house burned down in a fire last night and your brother burned to death.” I could not suppress my surprise and rushed to my brother's house. Indeed, the house was already burned and destroyed. When I entered and looked at the room, my brother was lying there. But his face had open wounds with blood all over the place, and it was apparent that he had not died from the fire but had been murdered by someone. And that is why I reported it to the authorities. My brother was fifty-one years old and did not hold any military obligations. While alive he did not have any marks on his body. [At the time of death] he wore a cotton jacket and a pair of cotton pants. Since I did not see the fight, I do not know who the witnesses were, nor was I able to collect the murder weapon. My brother, who was healthy, was seriously injured and suddenly died overnight. Please, I beg for requital for a life (sangmyŏng) by bringing the murderer to swift justice.”

On the same day, the slave coroner's assistant (ojak no) Yun-sam, thirty-six years in age and registered in the household register. [He took an oath saying:] “Now, upon the examination of the body of Yang Hang-nyŏn, if I do not record the correct measurements and subsequently such a wrongful deed is disclosed, I shall submit myself for punishment.”

On the same day, I examined the body of Yang Hang-nyŏn, which lay in a thatched-roof house facing west, which was 2 kan in size with a kitchen 1 kan in size. Because of the fire, the house was severely damaged. One room with a thatched [roof] was also damaged. The lower front part [of the room] was covered by a reed screen. After removing the screen, there was a door to the room and two narrow windows. The door was completely destroyed. The measurements of the four corners of the room were: 2 ch'ŏk to the eastern wall, 6 ch'ok to the southern wall, 2 ch'ŏk 4 ch'on to the western wall, and 2 ch'on to the northern wall. The body was first covered with a mat, under that was a purple-blue cotton coat, then [under that] was a 5 p'ok wide cotton bedspread. When [all] were removed, a blue wooden pillow was supporting the head, and it was covered with bloodstains. It was a male body. The age seemed to be fifty-one or fifty-two. The head was to the west; the feet were to the east. The body lay facing the ceiling on a reed mat. The dress was like this: one torn cotton jacket and one torn cotton trouser. All were taken off and placed next to the body. He was wearing one sock. I could not conduct the examination [of the body] because the room was too small. Thus the body was moved outside to a windless area and put on a wooden board. I had the slave coroner's assistant turn the body to wash it and also measure the body, which was 5 ch'ŏk tall. The tied hair was loosened and measured to be 1 ch'ŏk 2 ch'on in length.

The ventral side of the body [was as follows]: The face color was red and white. Both the mouth and the eyes were open. Both hands were clenched softly in fists. Both legs were straight. The crown of the head, fontanel, left and right head, cranium, and the left forehead all looked normal. The right forehead had a knife wound that measured 5 p'un in length and 1 p'un in depth. Both temples and the right eyebrow looked normal. On the corner of the right eyebrow there was a spot where the skin was broken and exposed. When measured, the circumference was 2 ch'on 2 p'un and the depth was 2 p'un. Right in between the two eyebrows there was also a knife slash, which was 1 ch'on 8 p'un in length. The width of the slash was 1 p'un on the upper part, 4 p'un on the middle part, and 1 p'un on the lower part. The depth was 2 p'un. The two eyes were closed and looked normal. When the eyelids were opened, the pupils looked normal. Right below the right eye was a knife slash that was 9 p'un long, 1 p'un wide, and 6 p'un deep. The cheeks, both ears, ear flaps, ear lobes, ear holes, the bridge and tip of the nose, nostrils, and philtrum all looked normal. The inside of the upper lip was torn, and the inside of the lower lip had traces of biting. One upper front tooth was broken, but [the root] was still there. All bottom teeth looked normal. The tongue did not protrude from the mouth. There was a scar on the left side of the jaw, which looked like a piece of red bean. The throat, esophagus, depressed area above the shoulder blades, shoulder blades, armpits, upper arms, inside of the elbows, wrists, palms, fingers, fingertips, underneath the fingernails, chest, both breasts, between the chest and belly, upper belly, ribs, sides under arms, lower belly, groin, penis and scrotum, thighs, and right knee all looked normal. The left edge of the left knee had an old moxibustion scar, which was shaped like an acorn. Both shins, ankles, tops of the feet, toes, and toenails were all normal.

The dorsal side of the body [was as follows]: The occipital, neck hairline, roots of the ears, backs of the neck and shoulders, elbows, palms, backs of the hands, fingers, fingernails, spine and area along the spine, back ribs and back sides under the arms, waist, buttocks, anus, thighs, crooks of the knees, calves, ankle bones, heels, soles, toes, toe tips, and underneath the toenails all looked normal.

The silver hairpin inserted inside the mouth and anus did not change color.¹⁵ At the same time, when examining the head of the body, the mouth and eyes were open, while both hands were in loose fists, etc. All these conditions fit into the article of “murder” (p'iin salsa) in the Coroner's Guide for the Elimination of Grievances. Therefore, I record the true cause of death as “stabbed to death.”

On the same day, Hong Chin-o, the principal offender (chŏngbŏm), a scout soldier (tangbogun), forty-three years in age, and registered.

[Magistrate:] “According to the testimony from the close relative of the deceased Yang Hak-pŏm, during the inquiry into the criminal case concerning the deceased Yang Hang-nyŏn, you came to tell Yang Hak-pŏm in the early morning of the sixth day of this month that his brother's house had burned down the previous night and his brother had died in the fire. When Yang went to his brot...