740 REFORM OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONmoral standard for the community at large, and the members of the compact as
a whole had to keep free of any connections or influence lest they use them to
gain an advantage over their neighbors in business or any other activity. As Yul-
gok had proposed, the Subdistrict Compact Association would also be combined
with the village granary (sach 'ang) and run according to ancient precedents. On
the other hand. he did not agree with Yulgok that it was possible for the Yuhyangso
to be converted into an agency for moral enlightenment, possibly because it had
long since became an organization for the yangban alone rather than for the com-
munity as a whole. He would have left the Yuhyangso intact but put the head of
the community compact in charge of it.^7
His compact regulations contained the usual four subdivisions for mutual aid
and surveillance, and the usual methods of promoting moral perfection through
persuasion, education, and social pressure against recalcitrant individuals. Yu
commented that currently the Korean people were capable of showing the proper
respect to their parents, but they could not show respect for elders and had not
been trained how to bow and prostrate themselves. In addition to mutual encour-
agement of filial piety. respect, and aid to the distressed. each individual was to
encourage others to manage one's slaves (tongbok) wcll, stand in awe of the
laws, pay taxes on time. and assist the magistrate in carrying out his duties.
Despite Yu's frequent protestations against the evils of slavery, his community
compact was thus designed to promote peace in master/slave relations by moral
appeal and maintain the power and legitimacy of the central government in its
control of the countryside.^8
Mutual Aid
Members of the compact were obliged to provide mutual aid and commisera-
tion in time of disaster. including damage from flood or fire. robbery, sickness,
death, support of widows and orphans, damage from slander, and poverty. Yu
had nothing significant to add to similar clauses in earlier compacts, but he did
not stint in describing the types of catastrophe that requircd cooperative aid. As
in other compacts he enjoined all members to organize a team to collect wood
and other materials to help rebuild any house that had burned down, and sup-
ply food to the distressed family until it could recover. If a robbery occurred,
the members would have to attempt to capture the criminal, and provide com-
pensation and support to the victims if they were poor. If someone suffered a
serious illness, the neighbors were to find a doctor and help the family with
expenses. In case of death, the association members had to provide material goods
and loans to help the survivors. They had to set up trustees to take care of the
support of widows and orphans and help them manage thcir affairs. find a teacher
for the instruction of orphans or spouses for those of marriageable age, provide
a labor pool to assist in their income, defend them in court against unscrupu-
lous exploiters or take thcir side in disputes involving the magistrates. oversee