Korean (Joseonjok)

族About this people

The Korean people of China — known in Korean as Joseonjok (Chosŏnjok) — are concentrated in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in southeastern Jilin province, adjacent to the North Korean and Russian borders. Their ancestors migrated from the Korean peninsula beginning in the 1860s, escaping famine and Japanese colonial pressures, and settled in the fertile valleys of the Tumen River basin where they introduced wet-rice cultivation to the previously dry-farming region.

The Korean language, a language isolate with no proven relatives (though sometimes grouped with Japonic in the Koreanic hypothesis), is used in Yanbian alongside Mandarin. The community maintains Korean-language schools, newspapers, universities, and television broadcasting. Korean literature in China — Joseonjok literature — has its own distinct tradition separate from North and South Korean literature.

Korean cuisine from the Yanbian tradition includes kimchi (fermented vegetable condiments in many varieties), bibimbap (rice with vegetables and meat), naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles), tteok (rice cakes), and dog meat dishes (gaegogi, still practised in some communities). Traditional arts include the changgo hourglass drum, gayageum zither, and the circular group dance (kanggangsullae). The agricultural heritage of wet-rice and tobacco farming is marked by communal labour traditions. The Spring Festival and Chuseok (mid-autumn harvest festival) are major community events.