The Imjin War (1592–1598), which was one of the largest scale wars in East Asia engaged in by all three major East Asian Countries (Korea, China, and Japan), plunged the Chosŏn dynasty into its worst crisis. Unlike China and Japan, which saw extremely radical changes such as dynastic transition and shifts in political power in the wake of the war, Chosŏn remained unscathed by the political turmoil. It is a historical irony that Chosŏn could remain free from the impact of the war, in spite of the fact that it sustained the heaviest damage from the war. To understand this irony, it is necessary to note that those in the royal court, the ruling class and King Sŏnjo sincerely repented of their pre-war misdeeds, demonstrated their strong will to reform the government and sustained reform measures for a sufficient length of time. The post-war restoration effort the dynasty carried out was the so-called Yŏmin hyusik (Rest with the people) policy and was modeled after the Yumin xiuxi 與民休息 policy that Emperors Wendi 文帝 and Jingdi 景帝 implemented in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty of China. As in the Chinese case, the Yŏmin hyusik policy increased agricultural productivity and the population as well as stabilizing Chosŏn society. Thanks to the reform measures, which were maintained for sixty years, the dynasty could recover without undergoing the political upheavals that took place in China and Japan. It was due to this politico-economic background that the dynasty could survive for 300 more years after the war.
목차
ABSTRACT I. INTRODUCTION II. THE OUTBREAK OF THE IMJIN WAR 1592 AND THE PEOPLE’S ANGER 1. Growing Discontent of the People 2. Pre-war Choson Society on the Verge of Collapse III. SCARS FROM THE IMJIN WAR IV. EFFORTS TO REBUILD THE DYNASTY 1. Royal Household Practicing Thrift 2. Implementation of the Yŏmin hyusik (Rest with the People) Policy 3. The Fiscal Austerity Program 4. Compilation of the Government Budget 5. Tax Cut Policies 6. Resurgence IV. THE BIRTH OF THE SAGE KING : AN INVENTED MYTH REFERENCES
키워드
Imjin War of 1592Yŏmin hyusik (Rest with the people) policybelt-tightening policiesfiscal austeritytax-cut policywar effectresurgence.
저자
KIM SUNG WOO [ a professor at Daegu Haany University, Korea. ]
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.