Description: Virtue That Matters is a groundbreaking exploration of chastity culture in Chosŏn Korea that illustrates the interplay between state-led indoctrination, socio-legal changes, and gender relations. Jungwon Kim includes women's own writings and argues that chastity culture was a product of Confucianization, social forces, and individual agency.
Brief description: Jungwon Kim is King Sejong Associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture at Columbia University.
Review Quotes: A long-awaited, masterful study of chastity culture in Chosŏn Korea...in this book, [Kim] significantly expands the scope of her scholarship to explore the broad historical, political, and discursive contexts that generated legal practices concerning female chastity in Chosŏn...a tour de force.--Hyun Suk Park "Journal of Asian Studies" (5/1/2026 12:00:00 AM)