2 - The Mongols and the Rise of Soju in Koryŏ Korea

Summary

Chapter 2 examines the history of alcoholic drinks in Korea from ancient times, and explores Korean sources to ascertain how distilled liquors like soju and arak suddenly appeared when they did in the late Koryŏ period, in the fourteenth century. An overview of the standard literature on the history of soju in the Korean language points the way to solving the key question of soju’s origins in Korea, namely the rise of the Mongol Empire. Thus it becomes important to reconstruct the broader historical context of the Mongol period that facilitated the transfer and rapid rise of soju in Korea. This also opens the door to rich new evidence from recent pioneering efforts in historical, archeological, and anthropological studies that have shed considerable light on discussions of Eurasian distillation transfers generally. Such material not only helps us connect soju’s development to events all over the continent, but also establishes a useful context for comparative analysis. Thanks to these new sources, we are able to revise the standard approaches to the history of distillation technology in Korea in cross-disciplinary ways.