I I04 NOTES TO CHAPTER 12an expression of political or personal bias. Nevertheless, the compilation of the SlIkchong
sillok was begun in 1720. right after the death of Sukchong, and completed in 1728. We
know that because of the problems of recording the history of factional disputes, the his-
torians were shifted several times. In the second year of the project, the radical Disciple
(Soron) leader, Kim I1gyong. impeached the head of the Sillok project, Kim Ch'angjip,
and three others of the top Patriarch (Noron) leaders, and after the execution of the four,
a Disciple took over as director of the SlIkchonf? sillok compilation. He, too, was dis-
missed in 1723. Then in 1724, King Ky6ngjong died, and King Yongjo, supported by
the Patriarchs, came to the throne and purged some of the Disciples.
In 1725, the directorship of the Sillok project was shifted to the Patriarchs until its
completion in 1727, but in that year, too, there was a purge of over roo Patriarchs, and
a return of some Disciples to the government. These Disciples then demanded revision
of some portions of the SlIkchOllf? sil/ok, which was done by adding corrigenda to the
end of each kwiin. Since the historian's remarks cited above were included in one of
these corrigenda. we might assume that he was affiliated with the Disciples and prob-
ably biased against Kim S6kehu, even though Kim was not on good terms with Song
Siyol, the patron saint of the Patriarch's faction, and, by extension, Yi Samyong. The
tenor of his criticism makes it appear that he was using an ad hominem argument to
discredit the household cloth proposal. For the history of the compilation, sec Choson
lVUl1gjO sillok 38: 1 -3.
- SlIkchong sillok I2:61a.
- Ibid. I2:6Ib, same date; I2:63b-64a.
- Ibid. 13 sang: I a.
- Ibid. 13 sang:Ib.
- Ibid. 13 sang:Ib-2a.
- Ibid. 13. sang:2a. 6a, 6h-7a. For the above discussion, see Sukehong 8.I.kyong'0.
- Ibid. 13. sang:7a-8a.
- Ibid. 13, sang:8b. Further requests for rescission of orders to transfer the members
of the censorate who criticized the governor and provincial military commander of
P'yong'an were made. Ibid. 13. sang:9b. - Ch6ng Manjo says that the great majority opposed the plan because of famine con-
ditions. Since some of those people also suggested adopting it when crop conditions
improved, it would not be correct to say that the vast majority opposed the plan, at least
in principle. I do not believe that the position that implementation had to be delayed until
improvement in harvests meant outright opposition. Ch6ng Manjo, "Yangyok pyont'ong
non'ui," p. 16. - SlIkchong sillok 13, sang: lOb, II b-I 3a, Sukchong 8. I.pyongja, 8.2.kyongjin,
8.2.kapsin (r682). One other attempt to solve the shortage of commoners for military
service ought to be mentioned here as well. An elderly sinecure. Yi Kyongyo, in 1653,
pointed out that so many commoner peasants were escaping state control by commend-
ing their lands to powcrfullandlords and becoming slaves that, "it won't be long before
there are no yunglllin left in the country at all." His solution was one that Yu Hyongwon
had also advocated: use of the matrilineal succession rule in mixed commoner/slave mar-
riages, which Yi argued would guarantee a multiplication of the yangmin popUlation within