The Jeju people or Jejuans (제주사름; 濟州人; Jeju-sareum), also known as Cheju people or Chejuan, are an ethnic group native to Jeju Island, which is geographically located in the East China Sea. Administratively, they live in Jeju Province, an autonomous self-governing province of South Korea.[1]
Jejuans speak the Jeju language, which is considered to be one of the two branches of the Koreanic language family, as it has no mutual intelligibility with Standard Korean or any other Korean dialects in the Korean Peninsula. Jejuans also have unique cultural traditions that are distinct from mainland Koreans.[2][3]
Modern humans have lived on Jeju Island since the early Neolithic period (about 10,000 to 8,000 years ago). According to legend, three demi-gods emerged from Samseong,[4] which is said to have been on the northern slopes of Hallasan and became the progenitors of the Jeju people, who founded the Kingdom of Tamna.[5]
There is no historical record of the founding or early history of Tamna.
After the establishment of Tamna, in the first century AD, Tamna people started active trade with Baekje and Silla on mainland Korea, Han China and Yayoi period Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Chola dynasty of South India. Later, Tamna became a tributary state of Baekje and Silla, and was subsequently annexed by Joseon.[6][7]
Goryeo's Invasion
Tamna briefly reclaimed its independence after the fall of Silla in 935. However, it was subjugated by Goryeo in 938 and officially annexed in 1105. However, the kingdom maintained local autonomy until 1404, when Taejong of Joseon placed it under firm central control and brought the Tamna kingdom to an end. One interesting event that took place during these later years of Tamna was the Sambyeolcho Rebellion,[8] which came to a bloody end on Jeju Island in 1274.
Japanese occupation
In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, including Jeju, inaugurating a period of hardship and deprivation for the islanders, many of whom were compelled to travel to the mainland or Japan for work. Residents of Jeju were active in the Korean independence movement during the period of Japanese rule.[9]
On April 3, 1948, against a background of an ongoing ideological struggle for control of Korea and a variety of grievances held by islanders against the local authorities, the many communist sympathizers on the island attacked police stations and government offices. The brutal and often indiscriminate suppression of the leftist rebellion resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of both villagers and communists, and the imprisonment of thousands more in internment camps.[10]
In 2006, almost 60 years after the Jeju Uprising, the government of South Korea apologized for its role in the killings and promised reparations.[11] In 2019, the South Korean police and defense ministry apologized for the first time over the massacres.[12]
Jejuans have a culture and language that are distinct from that of the Korean Peninsula. Jeju is also home to thousands of unique local legends. Perhaps the most distinct cultural artifact is the ubiquitousdol hareubang ("stone grandfather") carved from a block of basalt throughout the island.[13]
Language
Jeju is the indigenous language of the Jejuans. UNESCO lists it as "critically endangered",[14] with most of its speakers being elderly. The younger generation tends to speak Standard Korean due to the educational system enacted by the South Korean government, which does not allow Jejuan language schools, and has repressed its usage especially during the country's authoritarian era (e.g. under Syngman Rhee, Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan) up until the 1990s.[15]
The South Korean government, including the National Institute of Korean Language and the country's Ministry of Education, continues to label Jeju language as a Korean dialect, specifically an "unintelligible Korean dialect", although it has no mutual intelligibility with Standard Korean or any other Korean dialects for that matter on the Korean Peninsula.[16][17]
Ever since the 2000s, the majority of South Korean academic publications had switched to the term "Jeju language" rather than considering it as a dialect. The only English-language monograph on Jeju, published in 2019, consistently refers to it as a language as well. Among native speakers, the term Jeju-mal "Jeju speech" is most common.[17]
Religion
Shamanism is a native religion of Jeju Island, and its teachings are mixed with Confucianism and Buddhism. Jeju Island is also one of the areas in which shamanism is most intact.[18] Other religions practiced on Jeju Island include mainstream Buddhism and Christianity.
Joy (Real Name: Park Soo-young, Hangul: 박수영), singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, actress, model, MC and K-pop idol, member of K-pop girl group Red Velvet
^"Beyond tangerines and beaches: Jeju's unique culture". The Korea Herald. November 13, 2011. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022. Jeju Island, a volcanic tourist attraction off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, has developed its unique culture over thousands of years due to its people's relationship with nature and mythology.
^Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 191–192. ISBN0313316171.
^Lee, Peter H.; de Bary, William Theodore: Sources of Korean Tradition, Volume I: From Early Times Through the Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, (1997), ISBN978-0-231-10567-5.
^O, John Kie-Chiang (1999). "Korean Politics: The Quest for Democratization and Economic Development". Cornell University Press. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
.JPG)
Jeju Province