A Study on Establishment Process and Approval Date of the First Association of Women Artists in Korea, Hanseong Gisaeng Association : Focusing on Korean Records (8 Kinds of [Modern Newspapers] Published During Korean Empire Period)

This study first examined the process of unrealized “Gisaeng Company” establishment plan, which had been initiated under the royal administrative reforms of November 1907. Then, this study investigated the establishment process and final approval date of the Hanseong Gisaeng Association in detail, focusing on the Korean records in 1908, including the [Modern Newspapers] published during the late Korean Empire. First, the plan to establish the “Gisaeng Company” under the reformation of the Imperial Household Department in November 1907 was not realized. A survey of the traditional Gisaeng system on the Korean Peninsula and a reinvestigation into the personal information of the courtesans and Gisaeng husbands led to the establishment of the Gisaeng Association system by the Residency-General of Japan in September 1908. Second, the “Hanseong Gisaeng Association” is Korea’s first association of Gisaeng and the origin of Gisaeng association. According to the article, [Approval of Petition for Gisaeng Association], dated December 23, 1908, of the [Korean Empire Newspapers], the petition to establish the Hanseong Gisaeng Association was approved on December 23, 1908, and it was officially licensed by the Police Department. Lastly, another “Gisaeng association” was established within a month after Korea’s liberation on August 15, 1945. The name of this Gisaeng association was “Hanseong Gisaeng Union.” Thus, the “Hanseong Gisaeng Association” licensed on December 23, 1908, during the late Korean Empire, was Korea’s first association of Gisaeng and the origin of Gisaeng association. Meanwhile, the “Hanseong Gisaeng Association” and “Hanseong Gisaeng Union” that are frequently found in the records from the Japanese colonial period refer to the “Hanseong Gisaeng Association” that existed from December 23, 1908, to February 20, 1945. The “Hanseong Gisaeng Union” that appeared after the liberation on August 15, 1945, means the new “Hanseong Gisaeng Union” established after September 1945. Since the term “Hanseong Gisaeng Union” has two meanings in Gisaeng history studies, it is necessary to clearly distinguish them when citing sources.