Sangmin

The sangmin were the common people of Joseon Korea. About 75% of all Koreans at that time were sangmin. The sangmin consisted of peasants, laborers, fishermen, some craftsmen and merchants. The sangmin were considered "clean workers" but had little social status. Generally they were poor. They paid most of Korea's taxes and were subject to the military draft. Their lives were hard, but they were the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty, just like the chungin were the backbone of the government. Some of the sangmin owned land which they farmed. Others rented land from the yangban as tenant farmers. Those that did not farm had the lowest status. In everyday life, the sangmin were the the working people who struggled to survive. The yangban and chungin controlled and ruled over them. The sangmin did the heavy work. They were basically the low-class citizens. Throughout the dynasty, the sangmin rebelled many times because of the yangbans' oppression and corruption.

A more polite but less accurate name for the sangmin is yangmin. A Korean sangmin is the equivalent of a working class or working poor American.

See also

*Joseon Korea

External links

* [http://myhome.shinbiro.com/~mss1/commoners.html "info Korea"]