800 FINANCIAL REFORM AND THE ECONOMY
The taedong System in Ch 'ungeh 'ong and ChOllaThe taedonf? surtax was levied in rice or grain in coastal districts, and in cloth
in upland districts except that grain payments at the commutation rate fixed by
the government was also allowed. All land was subject to the tax except for spe-
cial tax-exempt land (kuppokehon) set aside for expenses for the king. exem-
plary filial sons, and other recipients of state honors. Otherwise, the commutation
rates and the grain tax rates differed by province, from sixteen mal/kyol set for
Kyonggi Province in 1608, to ten mal/kyol for Ch'ungch'ong in 165 I, to thirteen
mallkyiil for coastal Cholla in 1658 and upland Ch6lla in 1662. Since the rates
varied by province, the system lacked uniformity and fairness as well. since the
fixed commutation rate may not have reflected market prices.
The taedollg surtax was to be paid twice a year in spring and fall, and the gov-
ernment defined the dimensions of the p' il of cloth for tax payment in the upland
region as thirty-five "feet" long by seven "inches" wide in Korean measure, with
a thread count of five sung. Since the quality of the cloth was only one-fourth
the value of the superior cloth (sanWl1ok) used as a standard by the Ministry of
Taxation, the purpose was obviously designed to lower the tax burden on the
upland peasantsY
Taedong tax revenues not only paid for the purchase of goods previously paid
in kind as tribute, but also for expenses for rites, paper, textiles, wages for hir-
ing labor previously performed as corvee labor service, the cost of ocean and
land transport of rice and cloth taxes to the capital, and expenses for provincial
gubernatorial offices and magisterial districts. These expenses included tax
income collected directly by magistrates from land previously set aside for pro-
vision of district salaries (arokchiin) and official expenses (kongsl~ji51l) and
exempted from tax collection by the central government (kakcha susejiin).
That portion of the taedong taxes remitted to the capital was used to pay for
what was previously required as tribute, and it was divided into three types: trib-
ute payments to the Ch'ing court (chinhOn), also called annual tribute (sep 'ye);
royal tribute for the Korean king. estates of royal relatives, and celebration of
three national holidays (chinsang); and general tribute (won 'gong or kongmul)
to bureaucratic agencies. Taedong funds for the purchase of items for govern-
ment bureaus, however, increased over time. For example, one district paid for
sixty items of fonner tribute paid to sixteen bureaucratic agencies in the capi-
tal in the 1660s, but by 175 I, it was paying for the purchase of two hundred
items for twenty-three government bureaus.^58
The provincial Taedong Agencies (Taedongch'6ng) for Ky6nggi, Kangw6n,
Ch'ungch'ong, and Ch61la were placed under a single Office for Dispensing
Benevolence (Sonhyech'6ng) governed by a system of commissioners. The three
supreme commissioners (Tojejo) were the top three state councilors (of which
Kim Yuk was chief state councilor in 1651). One of the commissioners (Chejo)
was the minister of taxation, and two others took responsibility for the provin-