오키나와 '문츄'(門中) 형성의 사회문화적 배경에 관한 시론 = A Study of Okinawan Kinship System

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study is an Inquiry into the development of Okinawan social organization, focusing on the kinship system, in order to interpret a peculiar feature of Okinawan kinship, that is, the coexistence of the patrilineal descent groups and bilateral kindred each of which dominates quite different realms of Okinawan culture.Our special attention was called to the search for the factors which have played important roles toward the formation of the munchu system, or patrilineal descent reckoning.In doing so, we had to see Okinawan kinship in relation to the development of socio-political system which seems to throw some light on the reason why the present form of kinship system has come into existence.
The data from which this study draws were limited to the published works done by the students of Okinawan culture, largely in Japanese and a few in English, since the present writer has no experience in Okinawa at all.However this acquaintance with Korean kinship system will hopefully throw some light on the understanding of the Okinawan kinship system.
Discussing the formation of the munchu system, we have attempted to cast it in the light of Okinawan culture history.Throughout this study there is the assumption that certain structural elements could be borrowed from other cultures in a long-enduring acculturation process, but a socio-cultural system as a whole, i.e., Okinawan munchu system, could never be transplanted from one culture to another unless there is a massive migration.
We may fully accept the notion that the Chinese cultural influences on Okinawa had been considerable, as the majority of the students of the Okinawan culture recognize.However, as far as the Okinawan munchu system is concerned, we wish to conclude that what the Okinawans had learned from China or Chinese culture was to a large extent Confucian traditions but not the system itself, The Okinawan munchu system could be considered a unique system with its own dynamics, being brought into existence along the lines of development of the socio-political system within the country during the old Ryukyu Kingdom.It should be noted that the Confucian-oriented ancestor worship provided a sort of basic framework for the development of the munchu system.Further we find that the alleged present form of the Okinawan munchu as ceremonial groups was not the original form: it had far more things to do with political, economic, and even judicial matters.
Speaking of the etymology of the term munchu, we suggest that it was a borrowed term from the Korean term munchung and used with a Japanese sound.Further comparative study of the patrilineal descent system in both countries would throw new light on the understanding of the Okinawan munchu System.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 서언
• 오키나와의 역사적 배경
• 친족 조직
• 1) 양변적 친척
• 2) 부계 출계집단
• 오키나와 '문츄' (門中)의 형성
• 맺는 말