Koryŏ (918–1392) encountered the Mongols in the early thirteenth century. A horrific war, political intervention, and relentless pillaging traumatized Koryŏ immensely. However, in the latter half of that century, diplomatic protocols and a marital relationship between Koryŏ and Yuan were established. Later on, Koryŏ people met new individuals and cultures, took advantage of certain political opportunities generated by the empire, and enlarged their range of trade operations through the Mongol-induced global network. Their view of the outside grew more and more open, while they gained a new appreciation of their traditional way of life. Overall, the Koryŏ case shows us how Mongol imperial policies were implemented in initially conquered regions, how the people there coped with such experiences, what kind of Yuan legacy was reflected in their society, and what kind of merging between cultures occurred.

The period Korea experienced medieval times in terms of slavery differs from that of Western Europe. From a diachronic view of the development of Korean civilization, the period of medieval Europe corresponds to a time in Korea when slavery was not yet fully developed. With emphasis on the distinctive features of slavery in traditional Korea, this chapter sums up its long-term evolution to provide a panorama of Korean slavery, including its early stage to 1100s, proliferation in the 1200s-1400s, zenith in the 1500s-1700s, and slow decline in the 1700s-1800s, among others. Many a Korean slave can be characterized as bond-tenants, bond-debtors, and land/slave owners. As long as the payment was made in the form of either rent or ransom, the owner did not interfere in the slaves’ lives. For this reason, some slaves emerged from poverty and could even accumulate wealth enough to purchase land and slaves, while the great majority still lived in poverty. Slavery in steady decline in the 1700s was the product of the socioeconomic situation in which slaves began to fall in price because of a shortage of land relative to the population.

Chapter 3 examines cross-cultural contacts between the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392) in Korea and the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) in China and Mongolia (and the broader Mongol Empire), in order to refine our historical context to make clear the kind of Sino-Korean interactions that made the transfer of distilled liquors to Korea possible. As its suzerain state on Koryŏ’s border for nearly 150 years, the Mongols were able to exert considerable influence on Korea. This opened the way to a wide range of cross-cultural interactions, from the stationing of Mongol soldiers on Cheju Island to trade to court relations and intermarriage, situations that created opportunities for the exchange of such things as liquors, concepts of drinking culture, and still technologies, laying the foundations for soju’s development. Such a process is not excusive to alcohol; we see similar patterns in a variety of cultural artifacts (even Korean foods and national dress). Cross-cultural interactions between the Yuan and Koryŏ realms provided Koreans with access to genuinely cosmopolitan societies in Eurasia, so the range of influences went well beyond China or the Mongols. In this way, soju provides an excellent vehicle for understanding both the extent of Eurasian influence on Korea and also Korea’s place in Eurasia under the Pax Mongolica.

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.

Chapter 3, “Changing Fortunes,” explores the Yuan court's effort to regain ascendance in eastern Eurasia through military campaigns and diplomatic initiatives. Drawing upon spiritual, military, and political resources, the Great Yuan court pursued its claims to legitimacy and power in Eurasia, fielding powerful armies that clashed with the forces of the newly ascendant Ming court. If the Yuan court suffered defeats, until the late 1380s, it could also claim major triumphs. After the assassination of the Yuan's Great Khan in 1388, however, more Mongol commanders confronted the choice of remaining loyal to the Chinggisids or offering their allegiance to the Ming throne.