Gim Man-deok

Gim Man-deok
Hangul	김만덕
Hanja	金萬德

Kim Man-deok (1739 – 1812), also known as mandeok halmang, was a Korean merchant and businesswoman of Joseon. When a major famine hit Jeju Island, all of the rice she had bought on land was freed and donated to save the starving people of Jeju Island. After her death, many people wrote a literary work about her.

The historical background

A lot of social discrimination existed in 1739, during King YeongJo’s reign of Joseon, when Kim Man-deok was born. Women couldn’t achieve high social status and also were limited in education. They were also restricted from going outside their homes, so women in Joseon could only devote to domestic work. Also, the people lived on the frontier were treated unfairly about taxation, especially Jeju Island residents were forbidden to move outside the Jeju Island. Meanwhile, in 18th century Joseon the farming techniques improved as the rice planting appeared, the commerce improved together, it affected positively after this to Kim Man-deok grew commercially.

Life

Kim Man-deok was born in a poor household. Her father, Kim Eung Yeol(金應悅,김응열), was a merchant, and her mother was miss Ko. When she was 12 years old, both her parents died, leading to her becoming a slave of a gisaeng Wol Jung-Seon(月中仙,월중선),and Wol made kim her stepdaughter. She learned how to sing and dance at Jeju island and once lived as the most famous gisaeng in Jeju island and lived like that for a while. At age 20, she appealed to the Jeju minister Shin Kwang Yik(新光翼) and Judge Han yoo choo(韓有樞) to let her recover her status as a commoner from a kisaeng, which was part of Cheonmin,the lowest in the Joseon caste system, saying that she became one because of her economic status.

After she restored his commoner status, she decided to become a merchant and started a business of distribution industry. She did intermediate trading between merchants from the mainand and merchant from Jeju. She was good at managing property so she established a commission agency and sold local specialties such as horsehair, seaweed, ear shell, ox bezoar, pearl to land and also sold cloth, accessory, cosmetic for aristocrats. Also, she bought grain from land and sold them to Jeju people. She made a lot of money from these commercial activities.

A severe famine in Jeju Island in the early 1790s caused by bad harvests and typhoons killed a third of Jeju's residents.Kim donated all her possesions to help buy the rice the people needed.

After the donation

Word of Man-deok's donation soon spread, resulting in King Jeong Jo complimenting Man-deok and stating that he will accomplish a wish that Man-deok desires. Man-deok’s wish was to see both the palace in the capital city of Hanyang (now called Seoul) and Mt. Geumgang. During that time there was a law that people from Jeju island could not leave the island, but Jeong Jo broke the law and let her out the island. He also gave Man-deok a high government position as a nurse.

Business strategy

Kim Man-deok's Business Principles are described as follows:

• Cheap, but sell a lot.
• Buy and sell at a reasonable price.
• Sell honest faith. (noblesse oblige )

Death and legacy

In 1812, at the age of 73, Kim Man-deok died. After her death, many people had adapted her story in many literary works, for example, Chae Je-gong, a politician, wrote a biography of her called Man-deok Jun which praises her virtue and her charitable work. Also, Jeong Yak-Yong, Kim Jeong-Hee wrote poems and other work that admired her benevolence. Today, Jeju Island also honors Kim Man-deok and commemorates her deed by building a museum and carrying out the annual Man-deok Festival. There are also many show documentaries and television series of her aired in many TV networks.

Mandeok Museum

Mandeok Museum is a place to extol, pay tribute to Kim Man Deok's life and to actively learn the importance of sharing and giving, as well as to spread a spirit that has become the symbolic mentality of righteous people in Korea. The entry fee is for free, however, it is needed to be paid if the place is going to be used for other purposes.

The hall is divided into several places. Permanent exhibition hall, Sharing meditation center, Sharing practice center, and Sharing culture center are those. The permanent exhibition hall is in the thematic of Kim man deok's virtuous spirit, showing her life and her benevolent actions. The meditation center is a space where people can think and reflect and meditate based on the things that they have seen and experienced previously in the hall. Sharing practice center is the center where people can understand the importance of sharing, being virtuous to one another and to understand Kim Man Deok's spirit in more depth by learning different ways people can contribute easily in their everyday life. Sharing culture center is an open space of sharing where people can relax. There is a hall where Kim Man Deok's statue is placed, as well as other facilities such as cafes, open rooms for different associations, etc.

In popular culture

Man-deok is a musical first performed in Jeju Art Center from January 26th to January 28th, 2018. The musical was prepared by Jeju City, which had wanted to build up a representative culture brand. This musical depicts Kim Man-deok’s life and her work achieved throughout her life.

The Great Merchant is a 2010 South Korean historical drama that follows the life of Gim Man-deok. Starring Lee Mi-yeon, Han Jae-suk, Park Sol-mi, Ha Seok-jin, and Go Doo-shim, the series aired on KBS1 from March 6 to June 13, 2010, on Saturdays and Sundays at 20:40 for 30 episodes. The drama features Kim's life and achievements, along with her ongoing rivalry with fellow merchants during the Joseon Dynasty.