War and Care : Daily Life and Gender of Families of the Korean Provisional Government During the Sino-Japanese War as Seen Through Jessie’s Diary

This study analyzes the original manuscript of Jessie’s Diary, made public in 2024, to examine the daily life, childcare practices, and gender relations of an activist couple within the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea during the Sino-Japanese War. Prior to the main analysis, this study attemps a historiographical critique of the previously published editions (1999, 2019). The findings reveal that these edited versions possess the character memoirs, embelished with subsequent reflections and interpretations, and structured around macro-historical events such as the Provisional Government’s migration and national liberation. Therefore, future research utilizing Jessie’s Diary must be mindful of this critique and distinguish between the original manuscript and the edited versions. An analysis of the original manuscript reveals that the records are concentrated on daily life and childcare, covering weather, the child’s growth and health, leisure, and public and family anniversaries, as well as evacuation. Yang Woo-jo (the husband) spent significant time with his children, engaging in active emotional communion and striving to create a “sweet home." Notably, he took on the role of primary caregiver when Choi Sun-hwa (the wife) was active in political organizations, such as the Korean Patriotic Women’s Association, or when she was ill. This level of paternal care was a rare sight in that era. Concurrently, Choi Sun-hwa undertook physical and material caregiving, including domestic labor, while simultaneously being active in the Provisional Government’s women’s organizations. This demonstrates the formation of flexible gender relations resulting from the mutual cooperation of a couple sharing the common goal of independence, particularly within the specific context of exile and war. Furthermore, the study confirms that the couple’s life during the war was grounded in a solid daily routine centered on childcare. Amidst routine air raids, evacuations, and economic hardship caused by inflation, the family adapted to the war by budgeting for the child’s snacks for air-raid shelters and maintaining leisure activities such as celebrating anniversaries, taking walks, and shopping. Consequently, Jessie’s Diary is not merely a memoir but a crucial primary source that vividly reveals the individual daily practices and gender relations of an independence activist couple under the specific circumstances of war. This study contributes to enabling richer and deeper discussions in the future study of modern Korean history, gender history, and family history.