TRIBUTE AND THE TAEDONG REFORM 813
were not the same and a uniform rate or system could not be devised for the
whole country primarily because taedong taxes had been adopted to replace trib-
ute quotas for each province that had never been assessed at a uniform rate. The
fairness of the taedong tax depended on the quality of cadastral surveys used
for the land tax, but these records were flawed by imperfect registration or cor-
rupt concealment or "hiding" of cultivated land - an astute observation of one
of the institutional flaws of the system. It was for this reason that the taedong
tax rate for Kyonggi had been set at a rate higher than other provinces.
Yu's account ofthe taedong reform came to an end in 1658 and did not include
the debate over its extension to upland Cholla in the I660s even though Yu had
moved to Puan in that province in 1653 and did not die until 1673. He also wrote
that the only material he had to work with at the time was just one volume of
the Taedong Regulations (Taedong chormok) devised by Kim Yuk for
Ch'ungch'ong Province.^84
Although Yu Hyongwon was not privy to the full debates over the taedong
system at court, and ended his account prior to the extension of the system or
some modification of it to upland Cholla, Hamgyong, and Kyongsang, there is
no question but that he was swept up in the strong tide of reform that had reached
its height in the 1660s. Certain key statesmen like Yulgok, Cho Hon, Yu
Songnyong, Han Paekkyom, Yi Won' ik, K won Pun, Kim Yuk, and Ho Chok played
crucial roles in this process, but in addition the Imjin Wars provided a major
catalyst. There was a solid core of reformers at court, and the disposition of kings
like Kwanghaegun and Injo as well as the more aggressive Hyojong and
Hyonjong illustrate that historical forces of long duration were the most impor-
tant spur to Yu's adoption of the taedong model for his own plan for rationaliz-
ing and reforming state finance.
The history of the adoption of the taedong system throughout Korea shows
that a reform effort directed at the alleviation of the arbitrary exactions of indi-
vidual officials and clerks had to be waged against the determined opposition
of conservative officials who sought to protect the source of their graft and land-
lords who rebelled against the idea of a surtax on their landed property. The tae-
dong reform reduced not only the cost of purchasing tribute items on the market
under the previous illegal tribute-contracting system, it eliminated a host of other
other costs for rituals, certain central and local government expenses, inciden-
tal expenditures, and the panoply of uncompensated labor service requirements
associated with the delivery of goods to the king and government offices. For
that reason the taedong system marked a rational advance over the unplanned,
arbitrary, and excessive exactions of the tribute system. It improved the distri-
bution of taxes by simplifying the multi fold and various types of tribute pay-
ments to cloth and rice taxes, prohibited all irregular levies beyond those
specified by law, reduced government costs by setting prices to be paid for the
purchase of tribute goods, divided provincial districts into four categories to deter-
mine the level of their tax expenditures, provided special measures for supple-
mentary funds if tax revenues fell short, and replaced compulsory labor service