Kim Man-deok

Kim ManDeok (金萬德, 1739 – 1812) is a female merchant 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.

A lot of social discrimination existed in 1739, during King YeongJo’s reign of Joseon, when Kim ManDeok 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 treated unfairly about taxation, especially Jeju Island residents were forbidden to move outside the Jeju Island. Meanwhile, in 18 century Joseon the farming techniques improved as the rice planting appeared, the commerce improved together, it affected positively after this to Kim ManDeok grew commercially.

Kim ManDeok was born in a poor household. Her father was Kim Eung Yeol who was a merchant. When she was 12 years old her parents all died so she became a slave of a gisaeng then the gisaeng made her a daughter. She learned Gamu atJeju island and once lived as most famous gisaeng at Jeju island and lived like that for a while. After a few year she gets to know that gisaengis a job that gets looked down so she appealed to Jeju minister that she was not originally the lowest class of people, and became a commoner.

After she became a commoner she decided to become a merchant and started a business of distribution industry. She did intermediate trading between merchants from land and merchant from Jeju. She was good at management of property so she established a commission agency and sold 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.

At that time, Kim ManDeok's worth was about 70 billion won, or $ 60 million dollars

Kim ManDeok's Business Principles: Cheap, but sells a lot. Buy and sell at a reasonable price. Sell honest faith.( noblesse oblige )

A severe famine in Jeju Island in the early 1790s caused by bad harvests and typhoons killed a third of Jeju's residents. Kim ManDeok donated 90 % of her assets to relief activities, such as the relief aid program.

After the donation

The word that ManDeok donated a huge amount of money spread and the king(Jeong Jo) complimented ManDeok and said that he will accomplish the wish that ManDeok wants. ManDeok’s wish was to see the palace at Hanyang and wanted to see 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 ManDeok a high government position

In 1812, at the age of 73,Kim ManDeok died. After her death, many people had adapted her story in many literary works, for example, Chae Je-gong, a minister, wrote ManDeok 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 ManDeok and commemorates her deed by building a memorial hall and carrying out the annual ManDeok Festival. There are also many show documentaries and television series of her aired in many TV networks.

Musical ‘ManDeok’

Musical ‘ManDeok’ is a musical which was first performed in Jeju Art Center from January 26th to January 28th, 2018 (product Kim DeokNam scriptwriter Han Areum composition Jang SoYeong). This musical was ambitiously prepared by Jeju City, which wants to build up a representative culture brand. This musical also depicts Kim ManDeok’s life and her work achieved throughout her life.

Drama ‘The Great Merchant’

Drama, ‘the great merchant’ is a 2010 South Korean historical drama starring Lee Mi-yeon, Han Jae-suk, Park Sol-mi, Ha Seok-jin, and Go Doo-shim. It 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.

The Kim ManDeok Memorial Hall 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.