Tradition as Strategy: An Analytic Narrative of Hahoe Village's Transition to Modernity

Hahoe Village's ability to preserve its traditions during modernization is attributed to a unique institutional framework that balances traditional, semi-traditional, and modern systems. This study reveals that the village's sustainability shifted from 'embedded' to 'institutional,' driven by repeated interactions between tradition-oriented and market-oriented agents. Using an analytic narrative method combining historical narratives, ethnography, and game theory, researchers modeled Hahoe Village's resource management as a 'tradition game,' demonstrating how shared mental models and affordability hypotheses sustained its cultural and natural heritage despite modernization pressures.

Kim, C. M., Park, T. G., & Yim, J. (2022). Tradition as Strategy: An Analytic Narrative of Hahoe Village’s Transition to Modernity. Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 35(1), 163–186. https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2022.0008