Marrying your brother-in-law
Feb. 18th, 2014 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ljwritesIt seems that I am not the only one (Korean link) to surmise that my heroine Soseono's marriage to her second husband was a form of Levirate marriage where a man married his late brother's widow. The thing is, the relation between No. 1 and No. 2 stretched the definition of "family," to say nothing of "brothers."
To wit: Her first husband, the Utae,* was an illegitimate grandson of Hae Buru, the king of Buyeo. Buru's legitimate son, Geumwa the Golden Frog, had seven sons and a foster son, Chumo. Chumo later fled Buyeo and met Soseono, by then Utae's widow, and wedding bells ensued. (Or whatever the Yemaek did for weddings. Sacrificed a white horse? Much as I like the image of bride and groom drinking horse blood, there's no evidence that this took place outside of pre-battle sacrifice and sealing peace treaties.)
So technically No. 2 (Chumo) was No. 1 (Utae)'s stepcousin, foster cousin, whatever, but quite aside from the lack of blood relationship--though blood was a BIG DEAL in this region and time period--one major rationales for Levirate marriage just doesn't seem to exist: the preservation of marriage tie between two clans. You've got the technicality of the two men sorta kinda being related, but Chumo was an outsider who probably had little to nothing to do with Utae's clan.
Even assuming Utae had no brothers, wouldn't another member of his clan, such as a cousin or uncle, have wanted to marry his widow? By all accounts Soseono's father Yeontabal was a rich and powerful man, some say a king and others simply say a rich man. That's not the kind of connection you want to let go of just because her husband happened to die.
I'll disregard two other major reasons for Levirate marriage: Support for the widow's livelihood and continuation of the male line. I'm fairly certain Soseono's survival was not a concern, not only because of her father's wealth but because she is recorded to be the one who financed Chumo's consolidation of power in the Jolbon Buyeo (my name being Soenan Buri) region into what would become Goryeo (Gauri). This meant some pretty hefty expenses including military expenditure, defense fortifications, and various gifts and bribes. Even if later gains in territory, trade routes and alliances paid for the venture, from the way her sons discussed her role it's pretty clear she provided the seed money.
Speaking of sons, depending on the source you want to believe continuation of the line was not an issue either. Soseono had either zero, one, or two sons by her first husband before he died. One source says both her sons Biryu and Onjo were Chumo's biological children, modern interpretations tend to say Biryu was Utae's and Onjo Chumo's, while another historical source says both were Utae's biological sons. Under the second or third theory, continuing the line wasn't a big issue--though it could also be argued two wasn't enough, given high mortality rates in the ancient world.
So continuation of the marriage alliance is the main remaining concern, and this is why the ancient romance of Soseono and Chumo has more than a whiff of political maneuvering to me. My hypothesis is that Soseono and/or her clan had an interest in not renewing vows, as it were, with her late husband's house, and the exile Chumo was an escape hatch. Oh lookie! Here's this, um, guy you've never heard of who is nevertheless totally related to the late and sorely missed Utae, so he can totally take over as his widow's husband! We're sure the Utae would be thrilled to know his half-foster-stepcousin is on top of his wife! Er, on top of things. Many things.
Not that I'd preclude a love story between Soseono and Chumo. The romantic comedy writes itself: The wandering prince somewhere in his late teens, the rich and powerful widow in her late twenties. Her little Biryu loves this fun guy who's so good with a bow. He wishes Chumo could be his daddy and Soseono shushes him, blushing. They go out riding and shooting together. Their hands brush as they both reach for the arrow sticking out of the felled pheasant (not to be confused with peasant--it's not quite that dark a story) each insists is their kill. Their eyes meet...
While the romance angle is cute and all, it wasn't the only consideration for marriage in the ancient world or at almost any time in Northeast Asia before the late twentieth century. You might take lovers and mistresses for love or lust, but not your husband or wife, which of course doesn't preclude falling in love with your spouse if you're lucky. For these power players I have no doubt that navigating the political, military, and economic complexities of their day was probably the overriding concern. In fact I like to think of their love as a result, not the cause, of their political partnership.
* "Utae" is usually used as his given name, but I'm inclined to think it was his title given that the exact same word was used to mean a senior chiefain. Reading it as his title gives me the additional benefit of naming him myself.
To wit: Her first husband, the Utae,* was an illegitimate grandson of Hae Buru, the king of Buyeo. Buru's legitimate son, Geumwa the Golden Frog, had seven sons and a foster son, Chumo. Chumo later fled Buyeo and met Soseono, by then Utae's widow, and wedding bells ensued. (Or whatever the Yemaek did for weddings. Sacrificed a white horse? Much as I like the image of bride and groom drinking horse blood, there's no evidence that this took place outside of pre-battle sacrifice and sealing peace treaties.)
So technically No. 2 (Chumo) was No. 1 (Utae)'s stepcousin, foster cousin, whatever, but quite aside from the lack of blood relationship--though blood was a BIG DEAL in this region and time period--one major rationales for Levirate marriage just doesn't seem to exist: the preservation of marriage tie between two clans. You've got the technicality of the two men sorta kinda being related, but Chumo was an outsider who probably had little to nothing to do with Utae's clan.
Even assuming Utae had no brothers, wouldn't another member of his clan, such as a cousin or uncle, have wanted to marry his widow? By all accounts Soseono's father Yeontabal was a rich and powerful man, some say a king and others simply say a rich man. That's not the kind of connection you want to let go of just because her husband happened to die.
I'll disregard two other major reasons for Levirate marriage: Support for the widow's livelihood and continuation of the male line. I'm fairly certain Soseono's survival was not a concern, not only because of her father's wealth but because she is recorded to be the one who financed Chumo's consolidation of power in the Jolbon Buyeo (my name being Soenan Buri) region into what would become Goryeo (Gauri). This meant some pretty hefty expenses including military expenditure, defense fortifications, and various gifts and bribes. Even if later gains in territory, trade routes and alliances paid for the venture, from the way her sons discussed her role it's pretty clear she provided the seed money.
Speaking of sons, depending on the source you want to believe continuation of the line was not an issue either. Soseono had either zero, one, or two sons by her first husband before he died. One source says both her sons Biryu and Onjo were Chumo's biological children, modern interpretations tend to say Biryu was Utae's and Onjo Chumo's, while another historical source says both were Utae's biological sons. Under the second or third theory, continuing the line wasn't a big issue--though it could also be argued two wasn't enough, given high mortality rates in the ancient world.
So continuation of the marriage alliance is the main remaining concern, and this is why the ancient romance of Soseono and Chumo has more than a whiff of political maneuvering to me. My hypothesis is that Soseono and/or her clan had an interest in not renewing vows, as it were, with her late husband's house, and the exile Chumo was an escape hatch. Oh lookie! Here's this, um, guy you've never heard of who is nevertheless totally related to the late and sorely missed Utae, so he can totally take over as his widow's husband! We're sure the Utae would be thrilled to know his half-foster-stepcousin is on top of his wife! Er, on top of things. Many things.
Not that I'd preclude a love story between Soseono and Chumo. The romantic comedy writes itself: The wandering prince somewhere in his late teens, the rich and powerful widow in her late twenties. Her little Biryu loves this fun guy who's so good with a bow. He wishes Chumo could be his daddy and Soseono shushes him, blushing. They go out riding and shooting together. Their hands brush as they both reach for the arrow sticking out of the felled pheasant (not to be confused with peasant--it's not quite that dark a story) each insists is their kill. Their eyes meet...
While the romance angle is cute and all, it wasn't the only consideration for marriage in the ancient world or at almost any time in Northeast Asia before the late twentieth century. You might take lovers and mistresses for love or lust, but not your husband or wife, which of course doesn't preclude falling in love with your spouse if you're lucky. For these power players I have no doubt that navigating the political, military, and economic complexities of their day was probably the overriding concern. In fact I like to think of their love as a result, not the cause, of their political partnership.
* "Utae" is usually used as his given name, but I'm inclined to think it was his title given that the exact same word was used to mean a senior chiefain. Reading it as his title gives me the additional benefit of naming him myself.
