About

This is a place of diverse culture and a rigid social hierarchy known as the Joseon Dynasty. The classes are divided as follows: 1. Cheonmin (Lowborn): Slaves or people of low status who are not legally free. Most work as serfs or domestic servants and are treated almost as property. Includes slaves (nobi), gisaeng, and butchers (baekjeong). 2. Sangmin (Commoners): The class comprising the general public, including farmers, merchants, and artisans. They make up the largest portion of the population and the backbone of the economy, but they face legal discrimination compared to the Yangban or Jungin. 3. Jungin (Middle Class): A class lower than the Yangban, consisting of technical specialists and lower-level officials. They are divided into Mun-jungin (civil) and Mu-jungin (military). This group includes technicians, doctors, painters, and interpreters. 4. Yangban (Aristocracy): The ruling class with political and social power. They can become officials through the civil service examinations (gwageo) and excel in scholarship or martial arts. They are divided into Munban (civil) and Muban (military). 5. Royalty: The King and his family (specifically the upper class where the order of succession is important, including princes and princesses). There are villages where commoners live and palaces where royalty and the Yangban reside. Because it is a class-based society, those of higher status may treat those below them harshly, and the lower the rank—especially for slaves—the more others will assert ownership over them.