A Study on the Pattern of Existence of the Textile Industry in Yugu District in the 1950s Based on Oral Materials
This study examined the way the textile industry first developed in Yugu, Gongju City in the 1950s and the features of the industry usin...
A Study on the Pattern of Existence of the Textile Industry in Yugu District in the 1950s Based on Oral Materials
This study examined the way the textile industry first developed in Yugu, Gongju City in the 1950s and the features of the industry using an oral history research method. Unlike studies based on literature that used conventional statistical materials, this study tried to restructure the regional history of Yugu by presenting specific and vivid oral materials gained from interviews with six people who had been involved in the textile industry until recently from the 1950s.
The content of this study was summarized as follows.
With regard to the inflow of refugees who played a crucial role in introducing the textile industry in Yugu district, many of the refugees who entered Yugu district after Korea's independence from Japan came to the place in search of "Sipseungji" mentioned in 『Jeonggamrok』, and not a few of the refugees who defected to South Korea during the Korean War flowed into Yugu district following their relatives who sought refuge in Yugu earlier. A high proportion of refugees who flowed into Yugu came from Hwanghae Province, and many of them who were engaged in the early textile industry in Yugu, in contrast to the outcomes of previous studies, turned out to have learned textile skills not in north but in south after their defection to South Korea.
The nationwide artificial silk production boom in the early 1950s, coupled with the inflow of refugees, transformed Yugu district into an industrial district. In the early 1950s, a cottage industry thrived with a sharp rise in factories using hand looms. In the mid to late 1950s, as the hand looms were replaced by power looms, the cottage industry evolved into a machinery industry. At the time, most of the works in factories were done with hands. Men largely did preparation jobs which required painstaking labor and women did weaving.
Those who moved into a strange place and then successfully transformed their small factories into large-scale textile factories had the following features in common. First, they showed entrepreneurship emphasizing quality improvement and technology development. Second, they paid special attention to employing highly skilled workers because most of the works at textile factories at the time were down with hands. Third, social networks established through marriage and relationships with people with the same hometown helped a lot their businesses.
In conclusion, unlike previous studies, this study explained concretely and vividly the regional history of Yugu through oral materials concerning the way the textile industry initiated in Yugu district and the features of the industry. At the same time, it showed the living and cultural aspects of the industry which were hardly grasped through statistical figures.