Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions. Yu Hyongwon and the Late Choson Dynasty - James B. Palais
NOTES TO CHAPTER 12 1103
- James Legge, The Chinese Classics, vol. 2, The Works of Mencius, bk. 6, pt. l,
chap. 7 (Shanghai, r935) pp. 405-6.
- Sukchong sillok r I:3rb-32b (r681).
- The reason why the figures do not add up is because of the nature of the classical
Chinese language used. Yi Samy6ng said there were "something over" one million house-
holds, "something over" 400,000 and 700,000. As a general rule, I add a factor of two
out of the next ten.
- Sukchong sillok I2:60a-61 b (r 68 1); Ch6ng Manjo, "Yangy6k py6nt'ong non'iii,"
pp. r5-r6.
- Yi Samy6ng's statistics are interesting but not entirely clear. It is not certain that
the 800,000 combined total of soldiers and support taxpayers he mentioned also included
the 200,000 sog'o soldiers. If not, then the total number of men supposedly involved in
the entire military service system came to one million, about the same as the figure dis-
covered by An Ch6ngbok in the middle of the eighteenth century. Since this is contrary
to most other opinions, either his 800,000 was inclusive of the 200,000 sog'o soldiers,
or his overall estimates are significantly exaggerated. See An Ch6ngbok, Chaptong san 'i,
Han'gukhak munh6n y6n'guso ed. (Seoul: Asea munhwasa, I98I), pp. 446-47.
- Sukchong sillok I2:60a-6rb (r68 1); Ch6ng Manjo, "Yangy6k py6nt'ong non'iii,"
pp. I 5-I 6. The corrigenda to kwon r 2 of the Sukchong sillok r 2 ha:2a-b, contains a para-
graph by the historian who claimed, in what appears a bit of character assassination,
that Yi Samy6ng was a skillful advocate who masked his perverse ideas behind purple
prose. Because his mother was the sister of Kim S6kchu, he participated in the secret
conspiracy of Kim S6kchu in 1679-80 to obtain the execution of H6 Ch6k and other
Southerners. He also used his contact with a eunuch, Kim Hy6n, to gain admittance to
the final examinations without taking the preliminary chi5nsi examination, and he found
out from Kim S6kchu, who was in charge of the test, what the examination question
was to be. He also was registered as a mcrit subject for his work in the execution of H6
Kyun, H6 Ch6k's son. It appears his merit status may have been revoked because he
skipped a stage in the examinations and was promoted out of turn, but when Sukchong
later held a special examination (chi5ngsi), he passed in first place. He used his appoint-
ment to the Office of Special Counselors (Hongmun 'gwan) to get his name put back on
the merit subject rolls, and when others opposed it, the king granted him a special pro-
motion and enrollment as a second-grade merit subject. He had now advanced to the
highest ministerial ranks.
The historian explained that he proposed the household cloth tax to gain Sukchong's
favor. It was not that the purpose of the household cloth tax to eliminate existing evils
in military support taxes was a bad idea -it had even been proposed before by many
people; his motives were suspect because putting forward a dangerous plan at a time
when the common people were suffering from famine and their trust in their ruler's benev-
olence was shaken could only have been undertaken for the purpose of winning power
and influence at court.
Without a more thorough study ofthe conspiratorial politics of the period and an attempt
at verifying the charges, one cannot be completely sure that the historian's remarks were
