Popular violence in a Confucian world: A short history of stone fighting and its meaning

Abstract

Research literature has explained stone fighting (sŏkchŏn) in different ways: As a ritual, a form of military training, a sport, and a popular past-time. Sŏkchŏn shares key characteristics with other violent past-times of the pre-modern era, but whether it should be classified as a sport seems doubtful. The function of stone fighting as a ritual had become obscure by the Chosŏn dynasty. This article gives an overview on the history of stone fighting by reviewing the sources and by examining existing interpretations in scholarly literature. It adds two new perspectives: Stone fighting subverts the image of a Confucian society in Chosŏn and could be understood as part of a counter culture. It could also be understood as “carnival” in the Bakhtinian sense. Stone fighting was criticized by Confucian literati and was outlawed on multiple occasions. At the same time, it also received royal patronage and was effectively allowed to continue. Stone fighting is a contradictory phenomenon that should be explained as a symptom of the inherent contradictions of Chosŏn society.