CONFUCIAN STATECRAFT 43
ans during the Koryo-Choson transition period spoke of their refonned land sys-
tem as if it were equivalent to the "equal field" system based on state owner-
ship of landY What they meant, however, was that the state would provide
prebendal support to the class of officials (sadaebu) and their families and relieve
the cultivators of land assigned as prebends from excessive demands by unau-
thorized prebendal tax collectors beyond legally authorized persons and fixed
rates.
Cho Chun definitely thought of the land reform in this fashion, but he pointed
out at the end of 1389 that the precedent for the kwajon system contemplated
by King Kongyang was not the T'ang equal-field system, but the land reform of
King Wen of Chou at the end of the second millennium B.C., specifically King
Wen's expansion of the "capital province" (Kyonggi) for granting land or
prebends (kyujon and ch 'aeji) to his officials. King Kongyang (i.e., it was really
Yi Songgye, who was the man with the power behind the throne) "recently in
emulation of King Wen expanded the system [territory) of Kyonggi and granted
land to the residents and defenders of the capital to provide superior treatment
for the families of the officials [sajok), a beautiful idea that lrepresented) the
intent of King Wen to provide hereditary salaries for those [officials) who served
him [saja serok chi miui)."
Instead of the T'ang equal-field returnable land grants for the peasantry as a
whole, King Kongyang only made grants of "soldier land" (kunjon) to provide
for soldiers, "a good method that the founders of the [Koryo) dynasty used to
grant land to the selected soldiers [son 'gun)."5^2 In other words, the purpose behind
land refonn was to provide support for the perpetuation of a class of favored
individuals that would function as a ruling class, as well as support for men liable
for military service in the countryside.^53 In Cho's view, land refonn consisted
of this combination of prebendal grants for officials from K yonggi Province only
and soldiers in the countryside, not to all peasants in the country.54
In 1388 Cho worked out a crude system of distribution based on what he
thought was a total of 500,000 kyo! of arable land in the country at the time, a
figure somewhat less than other estimates established later. He suggested that
100,000 kyo! of land be assigned to the Right Granary and an additional 30,000
kyo! to the "Four Granaries" (sago) of the capital to pay for the expenses of the
royal house (kongsang), 100,000 kyol to the Left Granary to pay for the salaries
of officials, 100,000 kyo! from Kyonggi Province to provide prebends for the
"court officials" (chosa). This would leave only 170,000 kyo! ofland in the coun-
try for land grants for the support of soldiers, ferry stations, post-stations, shrines,
and Buddhist monasteries, not to mention the salaries of local petty officials,
envoys, and guests, and the costs of ordinary military expenses. This amount
was insufficient to meet those needs, let alone to provide any spacc for grant-
ing prebends to individuals outside of Kyonggi.55
Even though hcirs without rank were supposed to yield their inherited
prebends at majority, they did their best to retain them prior to the kwajon refonn.
To provide for their legitimate needs after their prebends had been taken away