Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions. Yu Hyongwon and the Late Choson Dynasty - James B. Palais

(Darren Dugan) #1
I072 NOTES TO CHAPTER 7

[Lord Shang] opened up [i.e., destroyed] the ch'ien and ma and completely
eliminated all prohihitions and restrictions [on the use and ownership of land]
and allowed the people [private persons] to accumulate large holdings and huy
and ,ell [land] in order to fully utilize human labor and open up to cultivation
land that had heen abandoned. All land was treated as arable land and not an
inch's worth was left [uncultivated], so that there would he complete utilization
of the prolits li'om the land." Ibid. S:21b.

In any case, Chu Hsi's commentary clearly shows his preference for the Chou system
of boundaries and allotments and his distaste for unrestrained private ownership and eco-
nomic exploitation for profit.



  1. Ibid. S:21b-22a.

  2. Yu also noted that the opinion of Ch'iu Chiin of the Ming was similar to his own.
    Ibid. 5:23'1.

  3. Ibid. S:2:w-h. Yu also cited the Kung-yang commentary to the Sprinf? and Autumn
    Annals to the effect that too Iowa tax rate, Le., below the rate of one-tenth the crop, was
    not right either. Yu omitted Ho Hsiu's explanation, which was that the barbarians had a
    light tax heeause they did not need to provide funds for the conduct of rites, something
    any civilized state should be doing. See also Ch 'un-ch 'iu kunf?-yallf? chuall diu-shu I6:8a,
    Ssu-pu pei-yao ed. (Shanghai 1936'7), v. 157-62; PGSR S:18a.

  4. PGSR S:23b; Tung-tien, chilan I, shih-lnlO, 1, Kuo-hsiieh chi-pen tS'ung-shu ed.,
    p. I I.

  5. PGSR S:24a-b; Tung-tien, ch. I, shih-huo, I, Hsin-hsing shu-chii ed., p, 9b.

  6. PGSR S:36a.

  7. Ibid. 6: I4a-b.

  8. Ibid. I: I a-b.
    IS. Ibid. I: la.

  9. The discussion of the well-field system (ching-t'ien in Chinese, kyi5ngji5n in
    Korean) is most complex because of conflicting accounts in the source materials. Yu
    Hyongwon cited a host of classical sources and later commentaries on this prohlem. I
    have decided to use the model described in the Mencius, for which see Legge, The Chi-
    nese Classics, and PGSR 5: ISa, 16a-h. Yu's treatment of Mencius with several com-
    mentaries is quite extensive, covering pp. 100- 103 of the Kojon kanhaenghoe edition
    of the PGSR. Yu also described the Han-shih account hy Pan Ku, according to which
    8 farmers of farm families received 100 myo (mu in Chinese), plus IO myo each of kongji5n
    (kung-t'ien in Chinese), a total of 880 myo. An additional 20 myo was set aside for land
    for houses. PGSR S:7a.
    For a recent discussion of the well-field system, sec Crowell, "Government Land Poli-
    cies and Systems in Early Imperial China," pp. 42-61. For a valuable survey of the well-
    field system see Kata Shigeshi, Shina kodensei no kenkyn [A study of the ancient Jand
    system of China] (Kyoto: KyC)to hogakkai, 1916).
    All technical terms. whether in Chinese or Korean, will he rendered in Korean pro-
    nunciation unless otherwise indicated.

Free download pdf