haenyeo

Traditionally, girls started training as {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} when they were 11 years old. Beginning in shallow water, trainees worked their way up to more challenging depths. After about seven years of training, a girl was considered a "full-fledged" {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}. Today, the oldest {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} are over 80 years old, and have been diving for more than 66 years.{{Cite web |last=Hutchens |first=Jeff |date=March 25, 2013 |title=The Diving Women of Jeju (Part 1) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Kn4nYdZbQ |website=YouTube |publisher=Imagine Your Korea |format=Video}}{{Primary source inline|date=December 2023}}

Image:Korea-Jeju-Haenyeo-06.jpg

All together, the tools of a {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} consist of a wetsuit, diving mask, fins,{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opRhZPk6ZoE |title=Haenyeo, Sea Women of Korea's Jeju Island Part I |website=YouTube |access-date=2024-03-04 |archive-date=2023-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726195412/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opRhZPk6ZoE |url-status=live }}{{Primary source inline|date=December 2023}} gloves, chest weights (or freediving weight belts, to assist diving), an L-shaped weeding hoe, and a net attached to a flotation device. The {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} stash their catch in these nets until they are done for the day.

How long the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} spend in the water depends on the season. Before wetsuits were available and all they wore were cotton swimsuits, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} could stay in the water for only up to an hour at a time during the winter months. After an hour, they got out of the water and sat by the fire for 3–4 hours to dry off. After this break, they would jump back into the water for another hour. During the summer months, however, they stayed in the water for up to 3 hours at a time before a break. With the introduction of wetsuits, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} found they could stay in the water for five to six hours at a time, even during the winter.{{Primary source inline|date=December 2023}}

With each dive, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} plunge up to {{convert|20|m}} deep and can hold their breath for over three minutes.{{Primary source inline|date=December 2023}} Their harvests consist of abalone, conch, octopus, sea urchins, sea squirt, brown alga, top shell, a variety of sargassum, oysters and sea slugs, etc.{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Joung-Hun |last2=Iwasa |first2=Yoh |date=July 9, 2011 |title=Tourists and traditional divers in a common fishing ground |journal=Ecological Economics |volume=70 |issue=12 |pages=2350–2360 |doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.07.013|bibcode=2011EcoEc..70.2350L }} The divers must contend with dangers such as jellyfish, poor weather and sharks.{{cite web |year=1997 |title=Haenyeo, Female Divers |url=http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3234/haenyo.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021015506/http://geocities.com/TheTropics/3234/haenyo.html |archive-date=October 21, 2009 |access-date=October 6, 2013 |publisher=Chejudo Tourist Association}}

Jeju's diving tradition dates back to 434 AD.{{rp|100}} Originally, diving was an exclusively male profession, with the exception of women who worked alongside their husbands.{{rp|101}} The first mention of female divers in literature does not come until the 17th century, when a monograph of Jeju geography describes them as {{transliteration|ko|jamnyeo}} (literally "diving women").{{rp|101}}

Image:Korea-Jeju-Haenyeo-05.jpg

By the 18th century, female divers, at this point commonly referred to as {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}, outnumbered male divers.{{Cite journal |title=Korean Women Divers 'Haenyeo': Bathing Suits and Acclimatization to Cold |last1=Lee |first1=Joo-Young |date=August 13, 2014 |journal=Journal of the Human-Environment System |last2=Lee |first2=Hyo Hyun |volume=17 |pages=001–011 |doi=10.1618/jhes.17.001 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jhes/17/1/17_001/_pdf |doi-access=free |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024143358/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jhes/17/1/17_001/_pdf |url-status=live }}{{rp|1}} 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.{{rp|1}}{{Cite news |title=Hardy Divers in Korea Strait, 'Sea Women' Are Dwindling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/world/asia/hardy-divers-in-korea-strait-sea-women-are-dwindling.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 29, 2014 |access-date=November 8, 2015 |issn=0362-4331 |first=Choe |last=Sang-hun |archive-date=March 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330045524/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/world/asia/hardy-divers-in-korea-strait-sea-women-are-dwindling.html |url-status=live }} Another explanation is that women tend to have more subcutaneous fat and a higher shivering threshold than men, making them better suited to work in cold waters.{{cite book |last=Hong |first=S.K. |chapter=Hae-nyo, the diving women of Korea |editor1-last=Rahn |editor1-first=H. |editor2-last=Yokoyama |editor2-first=T. |title=Physiology of Breath-Hold Diving and the Ama of Japan. |year=1965 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council |location=United States |isbn=0-309-01341-0 |pages=99–112 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3279 |access-date=October 6, 2013 |archive-date=December 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229101727/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3279 |url-status=usurped}}{{rp|101}} 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.

Image:Statue of Haenyeo.jpg]]

As sea diving became a female-dominated industry, many of the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} subsequently replaced their husbands as the primary laborer.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/world/asia/hardy-divers-in-korea-strait-sea-women-are-dwindling.html |title=Hardy Divers in Korea Strait, 'Sea Women' Are Dwindling |date=March 29, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |last=Choe |first=Sang-Hun |access-date=31 March 2014 |archive-date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330045524/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/world/asia/hardy-divers-in-korea-strait-sea-women-are-dwindling.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |title=Spatial Transformation and Functions of Bulteok as Space for Haenyeo on Jeju Island, Korea |last1=Byun |first1=Kyeonghwa |date=September 2015 |journal=Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering |last2=Kang |first2=Eun-Jung |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=533–540 |doi=10.3130/jaabe.14.533 |s2cid=110182301 |doi-access=free}} This trend was especially prominent after the Japanese colonized Korea in 1910 and diving became much more lucrative.{{Cite journal |title=Changing labor processes of women's work: the haenyo of Jeju Island |last=Gwon |first=Gwi-Sook |date=2015 |journal=Korean Studies |volume=29 |pages=114–136 |doi=10.1353/ks.2006.0006 |doi-access=}} Up until this point, much of what the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} harvested was given to the Joseon government as tribute. When the Japanese took over, however, they abolished this tradition, allowing {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} to sell their catch at market and make a profit. Additionally, Japanese and Korean merchants hired {{transliteration|ko|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 {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} worked, their wages, on average, constituted 40 to 48 percent of a typical family's total income. The prominent place of {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} in Jeju's economy and in their individual family units continued long after Japanese colonization. In the early 1960s, for example, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} harvests accounted for 60% of Jeju's fisheries revenue, and 40% of {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} husbands remained unemployed.

Like many other historical cultural practices, the sea-diving industry has fallen victim to industrialisation. Beginning in the 1960s, the Korean government sought ways to jumpstart the country's economy in every province. Because Jeju was not a practical place to build factories, the Korean government decided to turn it into an exporter of mandarin oranges. By 1969, a majority of rural workers had joined this new industry. Additionally, about 2% of all land in Jeju was dedicated to farming mandarin oranges. In the 1970s, the government launched another program to bolster Jeju's tourism industry. By 1978, tourism had surpassed agriculture as the island's largest industry.

All of this change had a significant impact on {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} numbers. Given less-strenuous alternatives, many women abandoned the sea-diving industry. In the five years between 1965 and 1970, numbers dropped from 23,081 to 14,143. In addition, education opportunities and attractive positions in emerging industries are considered to have deterred younger girls from becoming {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}.{{rp|2350}} In 1970, 31% of {{transliteration|ko|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 {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} were over the age of 50.{{rp|2}}

Because so many families relied on the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} for the majority of their income, a semi-matriarchal society developed on Jeju with the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} at the head of the household.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cElFBvPqwjc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/cElFBvPqwjc |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live |title=Episode 5: Haenyeo Female Divers |website=YouTube |publisher=Travel Tours Korea LA18 |format=Video |access-date=November 8, 2015}}{{cbignore}} On the tiny islets off the coast of Jeju, such as Mara Island, where sea-diving was the sole source of income, this reversal of traditional gender roles was fully realized; men would look after the children and go shopping while the women would bring in money for the family. Other manifestations of Jeju's unique society include men paying a dowry to the family of the bride (a reversal of the custom on the Korean mainland) and families celebrating the birth of girls over the birth of boys.{{Cite web |title=The Mermaids of Jeju – Korean Female Divers Haenyeo |url=http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=260918 |website=VisitKorea.or.kr |access-date=November 8, 2015 |archive-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814180843/http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=260918 |url-status=dead}}

While certain elements of a matriarchal society surfaced in Jeju, they were not enough to completely overcome the predominance of Confucianism. As a result, beyond the domestic sphere, little else about Jeju society was different from what existed on the Korean mainland. For example, men filled all political leadership roles and were the only ones who could perform ancestor-worship ceremonies and inherit property and the familial line. Furthermore, during the era of colonial rule, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} remained peasants, never moving up the chain to become small-business owners or managers of seafood manufacturing plants. Even in the home, most {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} remained the primary caregiver and handled at least half of the domestic chores.{{rp|107}}

Today, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} are celebrated as one of Jeju's most-valued treasures. The Korean government shows its appreciation for the unique contributions of the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} to Jeju's culture by subsidizing their gear and granting them exclusive rights to sell fresh seafood. Furthermore, in March 2014, the government requested the UNESCO to add {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. {{transliteration|ko|Haenyeo}} were inscribed in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List from 2016 and enlisted as South Korean Intangible Cultural Property from 2017.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Directed by Koh Heeyoung Breathing Underwater was a documentary that was produced as part of wider efforts to raise awareness of, and UNESCO listing for the culture of haenyo.{{Cite book |last=Service |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TTs8DwAAQBAJ&dq=heeyoung+koh&pg=PT19 |title=KOREA Magazine November 2017 |publisher=Korean Culture and Information Service |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Selection |first=Seoul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36UqDwAAQBAJ&dq=heeyoung+koh&pg=PA45 |title=SEOUL Magazine July 2017 |date=2017-07-01 |publisher=Seoul Selection |language=en |access-date=2024-08-27 |archive-date=2024-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905095153/https://books.google.com/books?id=36UqDwAAQBAJ&dq=heeyoung+koh&pg=PA45#v=onepage&q=heeyoung%20koh&f=false |url-status=live }}

Image:Korea-Ulsan-Haenyeo-01.jpg|{{transliteration|ko|Haenyeo}} carrying baskets toward the sea in Ulsan

Image:Korea-Jeju-Haenyeo-02.jpg|After emerging from the sea, {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} selling her gathered seafood to people on the coast of Jeju.

Image:Korea-Jeju-Haenyeo-04.jpg|The display shows {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} in the past at a museum in Jeju

• Families of the World: Korea - 1974 CBC film about a 12 year old girl training to be a Haenyeo.{{cite web |title=Documentary on 12 Year Old Korean Haenyeo Diver 1975 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6XDN_VA-m0 |website=vintage clips |publisher=Journal Films |access-date=8 October 2024}}
• My Mother, the Mermaid – 2004 film about a mother (who used to be a {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}) and her daughter.
• Tamra, the Island – 2009 television series set in the 17th century, in which the heroine is a {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}.
• Swallow the Sun – 2009 television series in which the protagonist's mother is a {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}.
• Haenyeo: Women of the Sea – 2013 short film about Chewar Park, a still active 82-year-old {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} diver. Examining her daily routine as well as her past, Park sheds light on this unique matriarchal culture that has changed little since the 19th century.[http://www.HaenyeoFilm.com HaenyeoFilm.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203144859/http://haenyeofilm.com/ |date=2013-12-03 }}[http://www.HaenyeoDocumentary.com HaenyeoDocumentary.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223022/http://www.haenyeodocumentary.com/ |date=2013-12-02 }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3103440/ |title=IMDb Page |access-date=2018-06-30 |archive-date=2017-02-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212050618/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3103440/ |url-status=live }}
• My Neighbor, Charles – 2015, episodes 24, 25, and 26 (documentary TV series); a Japanese immigrant trains to become a {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}}
• Canola – 2016 film starring Youn Yuh-jung as an elderly {{transliteration|ko|sanggun haenyo}} (captain of the seawomen).{{Cite web |url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/04/19/0200000000AEN20160419011700315.html |title=Family film ready to pull at heartstrings of Korea, China |last=Chung |first=Joo-won |date=April 19, 2016 |website=Yonhap News Agency |language=en |access-date=July 25, 2016 |archive-date=September 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923134423/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/04/19/0200000000AEN20160419011700315.html |url-status=live }}
• Soft Sounds from Another Planet – 2017 album by Japanese Breakfast which references Jeju-do and uses {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} as a metaphor, specifically the song "Diving Woman."{{Cite web |url=https://www.out.com/music/2017/5/22/diving-woman-conversation-japanese-breakfast |title=A Diving Woman: In Conversation with Japanese Breakfast |last=Siemsen |first=Thora |date=May 22, 2017 |website=Out Magazine |publisher=Pride Publishing, Inc. |language=en |access-date=August 1, 2019 |archive-date=September 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905095225/https://www.out.com/music/2017/5/22/diving-woman-conversation-japanese-breakfast |url-status=live }}
• Episode 1 of South Korea: Earth's Hidden Wilderness, BBC 2018, includes a feature on {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} free-diving for conches, and interviews one said to be aged 94.
• White Chrysanthemum – a 2018 novel by Korean-American author Mary Lynn Bracht featuring a {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} taken as a comfort woman by the Japanese military in World War II.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
• The Island of Sea Women – a 2019 novel by American author Lisa See, is about the friendship and lives of two {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} during the Japanese occupation of Korea.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
• Endlings - a 2018/2019 play by Celine Song, which portrays three elderly {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} and touches on themes of family, immigration, and theater. The play received its debut at Boston's American Repertory Theater in February 2019,{{Cite web |url=https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/endlings/ |title=Endlings at A.R.T. Starts February 26 |website=American repertory Theater |access-date=2024-03-04 |archive-date=2024-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905095124/https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/endlings/ |url-status=live }} with another production at the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop in February 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytw.org/show/endlings/ |title=NYTW / Endlings |website=www.nytw.org |access-date=2024-03-04 |archive-date=2024-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111205515/https://www.nytw.org/show/endlings/ |url-status=live }}
• Lessons from Jeju - a 2020 Patagonia Films documentary follows professional female freediver Kimi Werner as she seeks advice about motherhood from Haenyeo during her pregnancy.{{cite news |last1=Bailey |first1=Hannah |title=Learning the Lessons from Jeju |url=https://www.base-mag.com/learning-lessons-from-jeju-with-nicole-gormley/ |publisher=BASE Magazine |date=18 June 2020}}
• Three Moons of Biyangdo – a 2022 documentary about three sisters (Kyung-Mi, Geum-Mi, and Jeong-Mi), who live on Biyangdo island, off Jeju's island and have been freediving together as haenyeos for the past 25 years.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
• In the television adaptation of Pachinko, the lead character Kim Sunja works as a haenyeo as a young girl.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
• Our Blues – 2022 Korean drama series which portrays the work atmosphere between haenyeos of different ages.
• Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023 South Korean TV series) in which the main female protagonist's mother is a "haenyeo". The series includes a lot of history about the female divers in Jeju (Haenyeo) as well as the matriarchal structure it influenced in the daily lives of their families in Jeju.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
• The Last of the Sea Women, a documentary by Sue Kim about the haenyeo, premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the NETPAC Award.Steve Pond, [https://www.thewrap.com/the-life-of-chuck-wins-toronto-film-festivals-peoples-choice-award/ "‘The Life of Chuck’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award"]. TheWrap, 15 September 2024.
• When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025 South Korean TV series) in which the main female protagonist's mother is a "haenyeo" and the importance of haenyeo is an important element of the series. The series also includes the economical struggle of women in Jeju, in particular of haenyeo breadwinners in low-income families.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-05 |title='When Life Gives You Tangerines' is story of life, love, melted into 4 seasons of Jeju Island |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2025/03/398_393492.html |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=The Korea Times |language=en}}

• {{annotated link|Ama (diving)|Ama (diving)}}
• {{annotated link|Skandalopetra diving}}
• {{annotated link|Culture of Korea}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Haenyeo}}

• [http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/28043/lady-good-divers/ Culture+Travel magazine feature about the {{transliteration|ko|haenyeo}} of Jeju-do]
• [http://www.haenyeo.co.kr/ ''Dive into Jeju’s living heritage culture, Haenyeo (Sea Women), at Myeongrang Haenyeo Homestay]

{{UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity/APA}}

{{Jeju}}

{{Underwater diving|frediv}}

Category:Fishing in Korea

Category:Culture of Jeju Province

Category:South Korean underwater divers

Category:Gendered occupations

Category:Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Category:Korean traditions

Category:National Intangible Cultural Heritage of South Korea

Category:Underwater occupations