A History of Korea (51 page)

In the early period the state had a monopoly on mining rights and banned the private development of mines. Beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, however, the government permitted private mining operations, and with the growing demand for silver in the trade with Qing China, the number of silver mines sharply increased. Indeed, by the end of the century, as many as 70 silver mines were operating, particularly at Tanch’
ŏ
n, Hamgy
ŏ
ng province, and P’aju and Kyoha just north of Seoul.

The majority of these and other mines, however, were operated without the government’s knowledge or approval in order to avoid paying the generally excessive mining taxes; such operations were known as
chamch’ae
, or covert diggings, and many of them employed a labor force. The undue tax burden on miners greatly reduced the number of officially sanctioned silver mines, and thus gold mining, conducted at Chasan and S
ŏ
ngch’
ŏ
n, P’y
ŏ
ngan province, and at Suan, Hwanghae province, surpassed silver mining in importance. The government also authorized copper and iron mining to supply the need for coins, brassware, and weapons.
¹
But, like the other mining operations, these were also covert diggings.

This period saw the proliferation of monopolistic wholesale commerce, called
togo,
in which government-licensed merchants operated through the yuk
ŭ
ij
ŏ
n, or private merchants in Seoul, and the tribute men carried on wholesale commerce, specifically as purchasing agents who supplied government-required goods. These wholesale merchants accumulated vast amounts of capital and in time grew into a specialized class of wealthy merchants, each handling large quantities of one particular type of good and paying a tax for their monopolistic privilege.

Numerous private merchants also engaged in commerce in Seoul as well as throughout the country. Their activity extended along the major transportation routes to markets everywhere. The “river merchants” of Seoul marketed, quite profitably, grain, salt, and fish along the reaches of the Han River in Ky
ŏ
nggi and Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng provinces, and their activities resulted in many ferry crossings along the river. This brought many local people into Seoul, who built a number of new villages outside the capital. Merchants of Kaes
ŏ
ng, Ky
ŏ
nggi province, extended their activities over land routes to Hwanghae and P’y
ŏ
ngan provinces to the north and Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng and Ky
ŏ
ngsang provinces to the south. They even accompanied official envoys to China in their quest for profits. The Kaes
ŏ
ng merchants themselves managed the cultivation and sale of ginseng, a major item in their trade.

The escalating activity of private merchants greatly changed the appearance of Seoul’s commercial streets. The
Sinhae t’onggong,
or Commercial Equalization of 1791, abolished special privileges granted to licensed merchants, except for the original yuk
ŭ
ij
ŏ
n. Three great markets operated by private merchants flourished in Seoul: at Ihy
ŏ
n inside East Gate, at Ch’ilp’ae outside South Gate,
and at Chongnu in the present-day Chongno area. These three markets dealt not only with local products from the country’s eight provinces but also with goods imported from China and Japan. The well-known song “Hanyangga,” or “Song of Seoul,” much in vogue in the early nineteenth century, expressed the appearance of the capital as a prosperous commercial city.

Markets in the countryside, called
changsi,
first emerged in Ch
ŏ
lla province in the fifteenth century and, by the eighteenth century, numbered more than 1,000 throughout the country. These markets were generally open every five days, but the larger ones were established on a permanent basis. In the markets
kaekchu,
or inland market brokers, and
y
ŏ
gak,
or coastal trade brokers, provided various services to the itinerant pack and back peddlers. These not only carried on a wholesale trade but engaged in commission sales, warehousing, transportation, inn-keeping, and banking activities.

As markets developed in the countryside, new roads were constructed and new sea routes were opened. Also, active water transportation led to the development of a boat-building industry. Well-known markets at the time were located in Kanggy
ŏ
ng, Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province; Taegu, Masan, and Andong, Ky
ŏ
ng-sang province;
Ŭ
np’a, Hwanghae province; W
ŏ
nsan, Hamgy
ŏ
ng province; and P’y
ŏ
ngch’ang, Kangw
ŏ
n province. Some towns grew into commercial cities.

Alongside the development of internal commerce, foreign trade also grew considerably. The merchants of
Ŭ
iju near the estuary of the Yalu River traded privately with the Chinese, importing silks, hats, medicines, horses, and stationery from Qing China, and exporting silver, furs, paper, and cotton cloth. Since the nineteenth century the chief article for export to China was Kaes
ŏ
ng ginseng. Merchants of Tongnae, near Pusan, engaged in trade with the Japanese, exporting ginseng, rice, and cotton cloth, and importing copper, sulfur, and pepper. Later, Chos
ŏ
n merchants of Kaes
ŏ
ng,
Ŭ
iju, and Tongnae acted as intermediaries in commissioning trade with China and Japan.

Expanding commercial activity spurred the use and circulation of coin currency, which acted as a bridge linking rural life to the urban economy. After copper coins known as
Sangp’y
ŏ
ng t’ongbo,
or Ever Constant Circulating Treasure, were minted in 1678, large quantities of coins were continuously issued. By the end of the seventeenth century, coins were in wide circulation throughout the country. Among the general populace, however, coins were an auxiliary currency, trailing behind their extensive use of rice and cotton as money. But as the government increasingly collected tax payments in cash beginning in the late eighteenth century, coins began to serve as the main medium of exchange. This
extensive use of coins as currency accelerated the commercialization of production. Marketing transactions and payments of wages and taxes in cash also greatly increased.

Coins were often hoarded for their intrinsic value by many yangban, rich merchants, and landowners, who consequently amassed great wealth and became usurers. Despite the mass mintage of coins, the increase in hoarding led to coin shortages known as
ch
ŏ
nhwang,
or coin famines. As internal commerce and international trade flourished, commercial capital began to accumulate, along with increasing mercantile wealth, comprised not of land and slaves but of commodities for trade.

Economic growth inevitably led to profound changes in the existing class structure. Although the traditional yangban-centered status system essentially remained in place, the status of many yangban had greatly eroded mainly because of their declining fortunes. Having become increasingly impoverished, the yangban could no longer maintain their dignity and authority, and some actually fell to the level of commoners. The yangban population had steadily grown as well, further marring their prestige and influence. Between the 1690s and 1850s, for example, the number of yangban in Taegu increased from 9.2 percent to 70.2 percent of the total population. Whereas the profound economic changes drove the peasantry further into poverty, rich farmers of commoner background purchased yangban titles at set prices. In fact, throughout the eighteenth century, the purchase and forgery of genealogical tables of yangban families were prevalent.

Another major class shift occurred among former slaves. Many slaves had escaped in the confusion brought on by the wars with the Japanese and the Manchus. Moreover, the government, beset by a shortage of military conscripts and chronic financial difficulties, viewed emancipation of the slaves as advantageous to the state. Therefore slaves who distinguished themselves on the battlefield or donated food grains under the “napsok” system were set free, and gradually the entire slavery system collapsed.

Under these circumstances, in 1801, all the rosters of government slaves were destroyed in an effort to set them free. Almost all slaves in the central government offices were emancipated, but slaves belonging to local government offices remained in bondage, and the system of private slavery was not abolished until the
Kabo ky
ŏ
ngjang,
or Reform of 1894.

Beginning in the early seventeenth century Neo-Confucianism strayed from its original intent and degenerated into a mere instrument for the civil service examination. In its place, a new philosophical movement termed
Sirhak,
or Practical Learning, was initiated by scholars in Seoul and became popular among members of the literati, particularly those out of power. This new intellectual movement, which advocated putting human knowledge to practical use, was inspired partly by Chos
ŏ
n’s deteriorating social conditions and partly by new currents of thought in China, introduced by young members returning from official missions in China. In fact, it was stimulated primarily by the recognition that Chos
ŏ
n’s well-being as a nation was in need of dramatic improvement.

At the time when the Northerners seized political power in the reign of Kwanghaegun, scholars and literati of the Westerners in Seoul were pursuing a new scholarly approach to literature and the Chinese classics and, in so doing, proposed various social reform programs. Yi Su-gwang (Chibong) is remembered as the first Sirhak scholar, whose fundamental work,
Chibong yus
ŏ
l,
or Topical Discourses of Chibong, appeared in 1614. In this 20-volume encyclopedic work, which included 3,435 entries, Yi discussed, among other subjects, astronomy, geography, the kingly virtues, military administration, Chinese classics, botany, animals, and insects, and offered his own views of the society and government of earlier Korean dynasties.
Chibong yus
ŏ
l
greatly expanded the available knowledge in Korea about Europe and Southeast Asia, and for the first time explained the nature of Catholicism in Korean history. In his prolific work, Yi stressed the idea that pure knowledge without action had no value. In the early period of King Injo, Yi presented the king with a 12-article memorial containing proposals for government and social reform.

After the Westerners came into power with Injo’s accession to the throne in 1623, Neo-Confucianism regained its strength as the main current in scholarship. From the late seventeenth through the early eighteenth century, when the Westerners, particularly the Old Doctrine faction, held the reins of government, Chos
ŏ
n scholarship was overwhelmingly influenced by Neo-Confucianism again, and scholars who criticized Zhu Xi Confucianism were considered betrayers of Confucianism. During these times many Sirhak thinkers emerged from the Southerners, whose members had long been excluded from important government positions. These Sirhak scholars pondered the way to
achieve an ideal society in their country. Although they were all essentially Neo-Confucians, their inquiry emphasized not the primacy of i or ki but actual worldly manifestations. Their scholarship thus embraced many disciplines, including politics, economics, geography, astronomy, agriculture, natural science, Catholicism, and Confucianism. Seeking to find solutions to the difficult problems facing their country, Sirhak scholars devoted themselves to the study of Korea.

Starting in the late seventeenth century, famed Sirhak scholars including Yu Hy
ŏ
ng-w
ŏ
n (Pan’gye), Yi Ik (S
ŏ
ngho), and Ch
ŏ
ng Yak-yong (Tasan) stressed the need for reform of the land system, personnel administration, and military organization. They were particularly concerned about agricultural reform and sought to achieve a sound agricultural economy based on independent, self-supporting farmers.

Yu Hy
ŏ
ng-w
ŏ
n spent his life in self-imposed exile in the isolated farming village of Puan, Ch
ŏ
lla province, where he devoted himself to studying the local society, based on his personal experience. In his work,
Pan’gye surok,
or Treatises of Pan’gye, compiled in 1670, he criticized the existing land system, education, official appointments, government structure, and the system of military service. He urged the redistribution of farmlands to the people, including the yangban literati, so they could become self-supporting farmers. He also suggested that soldiers in the armed forces be allocated land by the state and that the kwag
ŏ
institution be replaced by a system of recommendations.Although his proposals found no official acceptance, his reformist school of thought became the mainstream philosophy of Sirhak.

One of Yu Hy
ŏ
ng-w
ŏ
n’s relatives, Yi Ik, another scholar of established repute, founded the “S
ŏ
ngho school.” In his basic work,
S
ŏ
ngho sas
ŏ
l,
or Encyclopedia of S
ŏ
ngho, Yi Ik criticized the institutions and culture of both Chos
ŏ
n and China. The subject matter covered in the book was arranged under five broad headings: the world, all of creation, human affairs, Chinese classical scholarship, and belles-lettres. The section on human affairs specifically treated such important subjects as politics and administration, economics, and the family. Another book,
Kwaku rok,
or Record of Concern for the Underprivileged, set forth Yi Ik’s ideas for reform. He believed that knowledge should not be acquired unless it benefited the daily lives of the general populace. His sharp analysis of the causes of factionalism stemmed from a deep-seated concern for people’s welfare. Yi Ik’s chief concern was the need to reconstruct impoverished farming communities, and he proposed that each peasant be allotted land to
be held in perpetuity. Because factionalism mainly resulted from competition for government office and securing a livelihood, he maintained that those who had chosen to remain out of office should be afforded the opportunity to enter government service upon recommendation, and that the literati should also engage in farming. He wanted to abolish all class distinctions and emancipate the slaves. His ideas for reform greatly influenced Ch
ŏ
ng Yak-yong, one of the most eminent Sirhak scholars, although Ch
ŏ
ng was also influenced by the Pukhak, or Northern Learning, movement.