A Brief History of Haenyeo
Jeju’s diving tradition dates back to 434 A.D.
Originally, diving was an exclusively male profession, with the exception of women who worked alongside their husbands. The first mention of female divers in literature does not come until the 17th century when a monograph of Jeju geography describes them as jamnyeo (literally “diving women").
By the 18th century, female divers, at this point commonly referred to as haenyeo, outnumbered male divers. Several possible explanations exist for this shift. For instance, in the 17th century, a significant number of men died at sea due to war or deep-sea fishing accidents, meaning that diving became the work of women. Another explanation is that physiologically, women have more subcutaneous fat and a higher shivering threshold than men, making them more equipped to withstand cold waters. An 18th-century document records that taxes of dried abalone were imposed on ordinary people, forcing many women to dive in cold waters while pregnant.
Whatever the reason, as sea diving became a female-dominated industry, many of the haenyeo subsequently replaced their husbands as the primary laborer. This trend was especially prominent after the Japanese colonized Korea in 1910 and diving became much more lucrative. Up until this point, much of what the haenyeo harvested was given to the Choson government as tribute. When the Japanese took over, however, they abolished this tradition, allowing haenyeo to sell their catch at market and make a profit. Additionally, Japanese and Korean merchants hired haenyeo to work for them in Japan and on the Korean mainland as wage-laborers, increasing their financial situations greatly.
On Yeonpyeong-ri, an island near Incheon where many haenyeo worked, their wages, on average, constituted 40 to 48 percent of a typical family’s total income. The prominent place of haenyeo in Jeju’s economy and in their individual family units continued long after Japanese colonization. In the early 1960s, for example, haenyeo harvests accounted for 60% of Jeju’s fisheries revenue and 40% of haenyeo husbands remained unemployed.
A Few Facts
- Haenyeo were inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) after years of effort from the government in 2016.
- In 1970, 31% of haenyeo were 30 years old or younger, 55% were between 30 and 49 years old and only 14% were 50 or older. As of 2014, however, 98% of haenyeo were over the age of 50.
- A haenyeo can dive from sunrise until lunch gathering sea urchins, then spend the rest of the day prying them open. For the whole day’s work, she would typically make about 17,000 Won, the equivalent of about $17.
- According to the Jeju Haenyeo Museum, the haenyeo prohibit harvests at certain times to preserve the region’s ecology, and they never allow the harvesting of young fish and shellfish.