Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T04:51:08.022Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Commoners in Early Yi Dynasty Civil Examinations: An Aspect of Korean Social Structure, 1392–1600

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Yŏng-Ho Ch'oe
Get access

Abstract

The civil examination system in the Confucian state of Yi Dynasty Korea was an important channel of recruitment for government officials and the graduates of the civil examinations carried enormous power and prestige. The determination as to who participated in these examinations will shed more light on the nature of Yi society. Contrary to the prevailing belief that the civil examinations were open only to men of yangban birth and closed to the commoners, there is strong evidence suggesting commoners' participations in the examinations. Legally, there was no statutory restriction against commoners. The state educational system that trained the future examination candidates not only did not discriminate against commoners but even encouraged qualified commoners to enroll in schools. Moreover, certain social groups whose social status was clearly lower than that of commoners were also allowed in the examinations. There were also individual cases in which men of non-yangban origin rose through the civil examinations to become government officials, some holding high ranking posts. In view of such evidence, the notion that the yangban status was wholly hereditary is no longer tenable. Instead, what distinguished yangban from commoners was one's determination and commitment to pursue Confucian scholarship by enrolling in a Confucian school, for student status exempted him from burdensome military duty.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , August 1974 , pp. 611 - 631
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Ho, Ping-ti, The Ladder of Success in Imperial China: Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368–1911 (N. Y.: Columbia University Press, 1962), p. 5.Google Scholar

2 Sambongjip (Han'guk saryo ch'ongsŏ No. 13), comp. by Kuksa P'yŏngh'an Wiwŏnhoc (Seoul, 1961), p. 209.

3 Although a system of examinations to recruit state officials is known to have existed in Korea as early as the Unified Silla period (668–935), tnc full scale Chinese-style examination system was not formally introduced into Korea until 958, when a Chinese expatriate from the Later Chou of the Five Dynasties, named Ssang Ki (Shuang Chi in Chinese), conducted the first examination. Sec, Korydsa (Tongbanghak Yŏn'guso edition, Seoul, 1955), 93, 23 a–b.

4 Kim Yŏng-mo, “Yi-jo samŭijŏng ŭi sahocjŏk paegyŏng,” Han'guk sahoehak, I (1964), 40.

5 The particular edition I used is in the Kyu-janggak Collection of Seoul National University Library (Catalogue Number 106) and is believed to have been compiled ca. 1760. Sec, Song, June-ho, “The Government Examination Rosters of the Yi Dynasty,” in Studies in Asian Genealogy, ed. by Palmer, Spencer J. (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1971).Google Scholar

6 Sang-baek, Yi, Han'guksa: Kŭnse chŏn'gi p'yŏn (Seoul: Chindan Hakhoe, 1962), pp. 278–79.Google Scholar

7 Chosŏn Minjujŭi Inmin Konghwaguk, Kwa-hagwŏn, Yŏksa Yŏn'guso, Chosŏn t'ongsa. Vol. I (P'yongyang, 1962), p. 557.

8 Sec, for example, Han U-gŭn, Han'gufi t'ongsa (Seoul, 1970), pp. 254–55.

9 Sohn, Pow-key, “Social History of the Early Yi Dynasty, 1392–1592: Emphasis on the Functional Aspect of Government Structure” (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1963), p. 89, n. 4. This dissertation provides an extremely perceptive analysis of the power structure of the early Yi government, centering around the relationship between the monarchy and the yangban.Google Scholar

10 Merit subjects and those holding the second rank and above were allowed to nominate their sons, grandsons, sons-in-law, brothers, and nephews for ŭm privilege. Officials holding the third rank could nominate their sons and grandsons, while those who had served in the Boards of Personnel and War, in the Military Command, in the three ccnsorarc offices, and in the Office of Royal Aide-de-Camp were permitted to nominate their sons. Those nominated, however, had to undergo certain tests before they were given official posts. Sec Kyŏnggul( taejŏn (Chōsen Sŏtokufu Chŭsūin edition, Seoul, 1934), p. 153.

11 Sec Chŭngbo munhŏn pigo (Kanhacng-hoe, Kojŏn edition, Seoul, 1957), chapters 198 and 199 [hereafter, MHPG].Google Scholar

12 Ibid., 229, 19b.

13 Kyŏnggul( taejŏn, pp. 240–41. T'aejong sillok 9, 7a.

14 Taejŏn songnok kŭp chuhae (Chūsūin, Chōsen Sōto-kufu edition, Seoul, 1935), p. 16.Google Scholar

15 If successful candidates were new recruits having no previous service in the government, they were given government posts ranging from 6b to 9a ranks in the order of performance in the examination. If they had previously served in the government, they were given promotion up to the lower 3a rank from the previously held ranks. Kyŏngguf( taejŏn, p. 156.

16 Kugyŏlt, taejŏn hoet'ong (Seoul: Koryŏ Tae-hakkyo, 1960), pp. 254–58.Google Scholar

17 Kyŏngguk, taejŏn. pp. 207–208.

18 Sŏngjong sillok, I79, 11b–12a.

19 T'aejong sillok. 33, I7a–b.

20 Taejŏn songnok kŭp chuhae, pp. 165–6.

21 Chungjong sillok, 85, 40a–b.

22 lbid., 88, 18a.

23 Ibid., 85, 40a–b; 88, 18a; 93, 62a.

24 Kyŏngguk taejŏn, pp. 240–43.

25 The Analects, XV, 38.

26 MHPG, 203, 8b. See also another regulation presented by Song Chun-gil in 1659, Ibid., 209, 5a.

27 Yi I, Yulgok chŏnsŏ (Seoul: Taedong Munhwa Yŏn'guwŏn, 1958), 15. 42a. MHPG, 207, 16a. Sec also Yŏnsan'gun ilgi [tillok], 25, 22b.Google Scholar

28 Taehak chi (Seoul: Yulgok Munhwawŏn, 1970). I, 559 and II, 1–28. Nosan'gun ilgi [Tan-jong sitlok], 1, 29a–b.Google Scholar

29 Milchu chingsin nok (Miryang, 1936), 2, 5a.Google Scholar [R]yŏksa kwahak, 1965, No. 1, 63–64. Eisukc, Zenshō, “Chōsen ni okcru kei no fukyū,” Chōsen gakuhō, VII (1955), 91–92. Chōsen no shūraku, III (1933), 448.Google Scholar

30 See Man-gil, Kang, ŏSŏnch'o packchŏng ko,” Sahak yŏn'eu, XVIII (1964), 491–526.Google Scholar

31 Sejong sillok., 58, 3b.

32 Yüeh, Tung, Chao-hsien fu (Chōsen shiryō sōkan, no. 15), ed. by Henshūkai, Chōsenshi (Seoul, 1937), 18b–19a.Google Scholar

33 Ledyard, Gari, The Dutch Come to Korea (Seoul: Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, 1971), p. 218.Google Scholar

34 Pyŏng-do, Yi, tr. and ed., Hamel p'yoryu ki (Seoul, 1954), p. 80.Google Scholar

35 Sŏngjong sillok, 114, Ib; 130, 2b; 143, 5b–6a.

36 Kukcho pangmok (Seoul: Kukhoc Tosŏgwan, 1971), p. 58a.Google Scholar

37 Ik, Yi, Sŏngho saesŏl (Mun'gwang Sŏrim edition, Seoul, 1929), Chapter 9B, p. 42.Google Scholar

38 MHPG, 221, 31b. See also Sŏnjo sillok, 76, 7b.

39 Chōsen jimmei jisho (Seoul: Chōsen Sōto-kufu, 1937), p. 1372.Google Scholar

40 Sŏngho saesŏl. Chapter 9A, pp. 22–23. Yi Kūng-ik, Yŏllyŏsil kisul (Seoul: Minjok Munhwa Ch'ujinhoe, 1967), pyŏlchip chapter 13, X, 894–85.Google ScholarMong-in, Yu, Ŏu yadam (Kohŭng, 1964). Chapter I, pp. 38–39. Chungjong sillolr, 20, 3b.Google Scholar

41 Kufcho pangmok, p. 79a.

42 Chungjong sillok, 20, 3b; 24, 18a.

43 Chōsen jimmei jisho, p. 1675.

44 Chungjong sillok, 13, 35a–36b. Sŏngjong sillok, 166, 6b, 8b–ab.

45 Sŏngjong sillok., 162, la.

46 Taejŏn songnok, p. 105.

47 Sejo sillok, 22, 24a. See also Ibid., 46, 21a; 50, 8a; 62, 18a.

48 Kyŏngguk taejŏn, p. 165.

49 Kukcho pangmo, p. 54a.

50 Sŏngjong sillok, 292, 1a–b. See also Ibid., 183, loa–b; 184, 10a.

51 Kukcho pangmok, p. 74a.

52 Chungjong sillok, 33, 33a.

53 Ibid., 20. 33a; 21, 2b, 36a; 24, 46a; 37, 54a.

54 Sejong sillok, 9, IIb. See also Yi Sang-back, p. 231, n. 6.

55 Kyŏngguk taejŏn, p. 417.

56 Munjong sillok, 4, 24a–b.

57 Ibid.

58 Kukcho pangmok, p. 30b.

59 Sec Sŏngjong sillok, 166, 6b–10b, 13b–16b.

60 Taejŏn songnok kŭP chuhae, p. 199. See also Chungjong sillok, 20, 20a–b; 25, 25b.

61 Sejo sillok, 18, 19b. See also Sejong sillok, 62, 18a.

62 Chungjong sillok, 64, 30b. Yŏnsan'gun ilgi. 54, 2a. Mun-hae, Kwōn, Taedong ŭmbu kunok (Seoul: Chŏngyangsa, 1950), 4. 73a.Google Scholar

63 Chungjong sillok, 29, 433–443; 31, 49a.

64 Ibid., 29, 56a; 54, 46a. Kukcho pangmok, p. 82a.

65 Chungjong sillok, 18, 19a; 34, 4a. kisul, Yŏllyŏsil, Chapter 8, II, 731. Kimyo pogyŏn nok in Vol. II of Taedong yasŭng (Seoul: Kosho Kankō-kai, 1909), P. 525.Google Scholar

66 Sŏk-hyŏng, Kim, Chōsen hōfan jidai no kai-kyū kōsei, tr. by Yasukazu, Sucmatsu and Tal-hŏn, Yi (Tokyo, 1960), pp. 156–57.Google Scholar See also Chwa-ho, Cho, “Asia-jŏk kwanin chibae ŭi Han'guk-chŏk chŏnt'ong,” in Han'guksa ŭi pansŏng ed. by Hakhoe, Yŏksa (Seoul, 1969), p. 75.Google Scholar

67 Munhwa Yu-ssi sebo (1803 edition). I am grateful to Dr. Fujiya Kawashima of International Christian University, Tokyo, for providing this information.

68 Sŏ Kŏ-jŏng, Sagajip (Koyang, 1929), 13, 9a-. 11a. Scdŏk, ch'ongyo, 1, 12b (Handwritten. Har-vard-Yenching Library Collection).Google ScholarSŏng-ji, Yang, Nulchejip (Seoul, 1938), 6, 98b–100a.Google Scholar

69 Sagajip, 13, 10b.

70 Nulchejip, 6, 100a.

71 Munhwa Yu-ssi sebo, preface 3a.

72 See pp. 474–89. Compiled shortly after the Hideyoshi invasion, this important bibliography lists with annotation more than 670 titles of books that had survived the devastating war. This book, photo reproduced in 1969, is very useful in know-ing the books published belore the Japanese invasion of 1592–97.

73 Iwakichi, Inaba, “Chōsen chujin kō,” Tōa kieizai kenkyū, XVII (1933), 196–97.Google Scholar

74 See, for example, Hong-jik, Yi, ed., Kuksa taesajon (Seoul, 1969), p. 1044.Google Scholar

75 Manabu, Watanabe, Kinsei Chōsen kyōikushi kenkyū (Tokyo, 1969), p. 166.Google Scholar

76 MHPG, 45, 31b. See also Yu-wŏn, Yi, Imha p'ilgyŏng (Seoul: Taedong Munhwa Yŏn'guwŏn, 1961), p. 467 c–d.Google Scholar

77 Yag-yong, Chŏng, Mongmin simsŏ in Vol. II of Chŏng Tasan chŏnsŏ (Seoul: Munhŏn P'yŏnch'an Wiwonhoe, 1961), 6, 10a–b.Google Scholar That the assumption of the title yuhat{ is related to the examination is also implied in a 1708 ruling; sec, Sugyo chibyo (Chōsen Sōtokufu Chūsūin edition, Seoul, 1943). p. 297.Google Scholar

78 MHPG, 45. 31b–32a.

79 Mansŏng taedongbo (Seoul, 1931), I, 103a.Google Scholar

80 Sec also the photo reproduction of Yi Sun-sin's military diploma in Henshūkai, Chōsenshi, Chōsen shiryō shū shin zoku (Seoul, 1937) plate 49.Google Scholar

81 Hyŏng-wŏn, Yu, Pan'gye surok (Seoul: Kojŏn Kanhaenghoe, 1958), 9, 34a–b.Google Scholar

82 Although no specific stipulation exempting students from military duty can be found, evidence cited below makes it quite clear that this was so. See also Yŏn'gusil, Yukkun Sagwan Hakkyo Han'guk Kunsa, Han'guk kunjesa, I (Seoul, 1968), 26–27.Google Scholar

83 See T'aehak chi, I, 548, 575. Yulgok chŏnso, 15, 29b–30a, 40b. Hop'ae samok (1625 edition, Kyujanggak collection No. 12344), 3b–4a. Hui-ch'un, Yu, Miam ilgi ch'o (Seoul, 1936–38), III, no. Myŏngjong silok, 23, 54a.Google Scholar

84 Chungjong sillol, 29, 41b. Injo sillok., 13, 44a–b; 14, 2b; 21, 9b–10a. Sukchong sillok, 49, 10a. Yu Su-wŏn, Usŏ (1969 reprint, Seoul), 27d.

85 Quoted in Ch'ang-gyu, Ch'oe, Kŭndae Han'guk chŏngch'i sasangsa (Seoul, 1972), p. 93.Google Scholar

86 Miam ilgi ch'o, IV, 313.

87 Ibid., 345.

88 Ibid., 391.

89 Ibid., V, 346–48.