The Minjung Movement and Consciousness During Later Choson

International Journal of Korean History (Vol.5, Dec. 2003) 85

The Minjung Movement and Consciousness during the Late Chosŏn Period

Ha Wonho*

Introduction

Throughout history, one can find examples of the ruled resisting the oppression of their rulers. However, various types of responses and resistance, each dependent on the prevalent social conditions of the day, have emerged over time. Despite all the similarities between Korea, China, and Japan in the political, economic, and cultural spheres, their responses to the oppression of the ruling classes have varied, due to their differing social environments. When looked at from the standpoint of world history, the struggle for colonial possessions that embroiled the world’s largest powers reached its zenith during the late Chosŏn dynasty. This struggle resulted in the spread of capitalism, which eventually affected even the most closed economies. Yet, in the midst of such struggle, Chosŏn society remained for the most part “hermetic” from the outside world. Rather than accepting capitalism, Chosŏn was busy dealing with the changes that were occurring in the age-

* Research Professor, Sungkyunkwan University. 86 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ old tributary system that linked it with Japan and China. Internally, Chosŏn experienced many upheavals during this period, the majority of which were caused by changes in the nature of social and economic conflicts. The ruled class was actively seeking the ways to resist the ruling system and ideology: The historical experiences and the development of the consciousness of the Minjung, the ruled class, served as the foundation for the anti-foreign and anti-feudalist movement during the period of increased foreign access to Chosŏn immediately after the signing of the Kanghwa Treaty. This paper will analyze the process through which various forms of Minjung resistance, developed as a result of various social conflicts, were formed, and how the awareness of the Minjung class was formed during the period following the Kanghwa Treaty. This paper is also intended to better understand the Minjung’s worldview during the late Chosŏn dynasty by reviewing the development and inherent limitations of Minjung consciousness. In order to compare various types of Minjung responses and the formation of their consciousness prior to the Kanghwa Treaty, and thus identify the similarities and differences between these responses, a preliminary analysis of Chosŏn society must first be carried out. Chosŏn was still very much an agrarian society at the end of the dynasty, and the majority of the ruled class was composed of peasants. However, the majority of the peasants who became landless as a result of the excessive tax burden and of the advent of the large-scale ownership of land was forced to become drifters, bandits, or seek work in coalmines. In order to develop a better understanding of various types of responses and of the Minjung’s perception of the prevailing social conflicts of the day, this class of peasants will be included within this paper’s definition of the Minjung.1 Ha Wonho 87 Minjung’s Response to Social Conflicts

Large-scale Ownership of Land and Taxation Problems

From the late 17th century onwards the large-scale landowners’ oppression of peasants worsened significantly. The exploitation of the peasantry by the amun (the royal family), politically connected families, local governors and local leaders reached its peak. This was especially true in case of the taxation issue during the reign of King Sukjong:

The royal family’s abuse of the taxation system was endless. There was no spot of land or sea from which the royal family did not collect taxes. The peasants were so burdened by their tax obligations that at the end of the year, there was barely enough left to survive on. People began to argue that if this Kungjang taxation system was not done away with, the dynasty would collapse.

Many government officials, local governors and special royal envoys began to appeal to the king that he either abolish, or revamp, the taxation system. However, the king upheld the right of the royal family to collect taxes, and the exploitations continued unabated.2 In cases where the royal family charged taxes on land that had yet to be developed, there was less number of civil petitions presented. However, by the end of the 17th century there remained practically no land that was 88 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ undeveloped, which meant that by this point the royals were directly collecting taxes from those who toiled the land, a development that led to increased resistance from the peasantry. According to a report published by the Office of the Inspector General in 1730, peasants from three islands in the Kŭmsŏng area of Chŏlla province, which included Haŭi, and Taegŭm, traveled to Seoul in order to lodge a legal protest against the Hansŏngbu (government ministry responsible for the security of the capital area). The reason for this legal protest was the following: “The household of Princess Chŏngmyŏng has been collecting taxation on 20 kyŏl of land from our three islands. However, after her passing, her descendants argued that during the reign of King Sŏnjo, taxation was collected from every piece of land on these islands. They are now trying to collect taxation from 160 kyŏl of privately owned land”. However, the peasants lost their case.3 In this particular case, King Yŏngjo ordered that the Office of the Inspector General, which had brought the case to his attention in the first place, find a way to resolve this problem. However, more often than not, in such cases where legal petitions were brought before the government regarding taxation issues, the peasants had a slim chance to win. In this regard, government official Pak Munsu reported the following:

We are already overpopulated and have little land left that is uncultivated, or that is not privately owned. These days the royal family’s taxation system has experienced severe difficulties because of the fact that there is little to no tax to be collected. This is Ha Wonho 89

because there is very little publicly owned land remaining. I have heard that the royal tax collectors have begun to try to overtake privately owned land by presenting the peasants with royal decrees calling for their removal or by buying back contested land at the lowest price. No matter how hard the peasants may resist against such overtures, they lose in 90 percent of the cases. This has resulted in an increase in the number of petitions filed by peasants and thus seriously undermining the honor of the royal family.4

Such vehement resistance from the peasants against the expropriation of land means that the concept of private ownership had already begun to take root. As a result, King Yŏngjo ordered that no collection be made from privately owned land.5 However, this problem remained largely unattended until the reign of King Chŏngjo. Chŏngjo adopted a policy to reduce the royal household taxation system as a means of weakening the power of those attached to the royal family. This policy abolished the Law on the Collection of Taxation by Royal Households of 1776, the first year of King Chŏngjo. Subsequently, the Hojo became responsible for the collection of taxes for the royal households, which meant that the position of royal tax collector was officially abolished.6 The phenomenon of the large-scaled ownership of land by politically connected individuals and local leaders also emerged as a serious problem. Politicians and local governors used their power to purchase land, with local leaders also becoming quite adept at amassing large amounts of it. A rumor 90 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ began to circulate that wealthy individuals owned all the best lands.7 King Yŏngjo expressed his concern about this growing concentration of land within the hands of a few individuals:

Not only the local leaders are guilty of engaging in the large-scale ownership of land, but the literati are also to blame. On a recent tour of the countryside, I came across a large plot of land. When I asked one of the locals whose land it was, he replied that it belonged to a literati family. Based on my observations, it is my belief that such cases have become common throughout the country, which has resulted in worsening the already terrible plight of the peasantry.

According to Pak Chiwŏn, “the number of peasants with a plot of own land is less than 20 percent”.8 For his part Lee Kyukyŏng maintained that large-scale landowners owned 80 to 90 percent of the nation’s land, and that land privately owned by peasants did not even account for 10 percent.9 Meanwhile, Chŏng Yakyong wrote about the state of affairs in the Honam area at the beginning of the 19th century as follows, “out of 100 households, the landlords account for five, peasants owning their own land twenty-five, while tenant-farmers accounted for the other seventy-five.”10 According to an investigation conducted by the central government in the 18th century, the number of landless peasants exceeded 50,000 in Kyŏngsang-do and 100,000 in Ch’ungch’ŏng-do.11 The main recourse of the peasantry to counter this exploitation was the Ha Wonho 91 legal petitions. If the government refused their original demands, these peasants would employ mob violence against local governors and in some cases even against the central government.12 As Chosŏn society was an agricultural one, land disputes were a common occurrence. Nevertheless, the large-scale ownership of land and the removal of peasants from their land became the most pertinent causes of social conflict. The main means through which the peasants made their discontentment known was by withholding the rent they had to pay on the land and by refusing to pay their taxes. The tenant farmers’ refusal to pay taxes resulted from the economic inequality that had rapidly emerged as a result of the collapse of the middle-class peasantry, and from the exorbitant tenant fees charged by the landowners. These tenant fees were set at such a high rate that peasants could not save any of their produced goods, which threatened their very livelihoods. The peasants toiling the lands owned by the royal family or government officials also began to refuse to pay relevant taxes, such as the Kwandunjŏn and the Kungbangjŏn. However, the movement to refuse to pay taxes was the result of more complex issues.13 For the most part, the peasants’ resistance was aimed at decreasing their tax burden. As the size of the lands owned by landowners continued to expand, peasant resistance usually took the form of a collective action involving a large number of individuals. While there were many government owned lands from which the habitual 50 percent of the yield was collected in accordance with the T’ajo system until the beginning of the 19th century, this began to change with the introduction of the Tojo system. Tojo system was in part the large-scale landlords’ response to the growing peasant resistance against it.14 However, the peasants’ resistance to this newly introduced landlord 92 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ based taxation system continued until the mid-19th century. In fact, peasants’ demands for a more equal redistribution of land did not begin until 1894, by which time a politically aware leadership group had emerged. While the exploitation of the peasants had been a serious problem since the Middle Ages, it reached yet a new level at the end of the Chosŏn dynasty with the increase in agricultural output and the spread of a commodity and currency based economy. During the 18th century all the separate taxes were combined into one comprehensive tax known as the Chŏnggyeje (in which taxes such as the chŏnjŏng, kunjŏng, and hwanjŏng were included) that had to be paid at the village level rather than on individual basis. This permitted local governors to further exploit the peasantry by exercising their “newfound” right to collect taxes. Moreover, these governors falsified reports to include lands that were deemed as wasteland in order to further line their pockets.15 These sometimes-violent tactics employed by these local governors to collect taxes on land, such as attacks on government installations by the peasantry, rapidly grew in numbers. Such reaction by the peasantry eventually grew into the all-out rebellions of the 19th century. With the introduction of the Tokyŏl taxation system in which local officials were able to overtax the peasantry in the 19th century, the exploitation of the peasantry became even worse. The peasant uprising of 1862 was a direct result of the abuse of this system.16 Tokyŏl, which had historically been prohibited, began to spread again by the mid- 19th century. This Tokyŏl combined traditional taxes such as the chŏnse and Taetongse, with other taxes such as the Kunyŏkse (military tax) and the Hwangokse (used to cover the amounts that the government had been defrauded by), and some other taxes. It resulted in increased exploitation by Ha Wonho 93 the middle-class, and worsened the peasants’ plight. For example, the Hwan’gokse, which was originally designed as a source of income for those who had been dispossessed of their land, simply became another tax that the peasants had to pay. As a result, the grain collected as a part of the Hwan’gokse became a commercial commodity that local governors and officials could further exploit, leading to even higher taxation. As such, whenever local government budgets fell short, the amount of Hwan’gokse collected from the peasantry rose accordingly. The Kunyŏkse, which was originally designed as a substitute for military service, this also became a source of abuse by local officials. It applied the tax to all males rather than only those of military age, the deceased, the neighbors of those who ran away, and to the relatives of those who evaded their military duty. Another common practice was that of ch’ŏpjing [duplicate taxes]. All of these burdened the peasantry to the breaking point.17

Minjung’s Resistance

Those peasants who lost their land as a result of growing taxation and the spread of the large-scale ownership of land became drifters or beggars or joined brigand gangs in order to survive. Some of them became laborers in urban areas or in mines.18 The number of such drifters increased due to consecutive poor harvests. However, it was the growing tax burden and the large-scale ownership of land that significantly increased their number during the late Chosŏn dynasty. In 1717, a report stated that there were some 103,000 landless peasants on the brink of starvation in the Ch’ungch’ŏng 94 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ area.19 Reference to such drifters are commonly found in literary works from that period:

Old men become public entertainers / young men become monks / those who can’t become either of these / carry their old blankets / using their children / to beg here and there / the oldest and the youngest / starve to death / youths barely survive/ doing everything they can to stay alive / becoming thieves and organized criminals / who should be blamed for this turn of events / it can’t be blamed solely on them (Hyangsanbyŏlgok, 18th century).

Some of the peasants who lost their land became laborers. The presence of so many dispossessed farmers naturally led to the creation of a big labor market. For example, in 1793, as a result of a bad harvest in Yŏnan, Baech’ŏn, Haeju and Anak, in Hwanghae province, some 91 households from these areas became drifters.20 When we look at a similar report published a month earlier, we find that only 40 percent of the total number of drifters recorded in September had returned to their villages by October.21 As such, the class consisting of drifters and migrant workers had already been formed by this point. The majority of peasants became tenant farmers or farm employees of the large-scale landowners, while drifters were able to find work in the growing urban labor markets. For most of these drifters, a certain amount of time was required before they could find steady employment, and most of this time was spend Ha Wonho 95 wandering from place to place or engaging in criminal activities. Seoul and the surrounding suburbs soon became a main area of employment for dispossessed peasants, which led many drifters to head for Seoul with hopes that some kind of work could be found.22 This led to the creation of an urban underclass living off the little work that could be had. Some of these drifters became full-time laborers in urban areas. This was especially true in the Seoul area, where the demand for labor was quite high with the spread of commerce. This was one of the main causes of the population explosion in the Seoul area. Some of the stories of those who headed for Seoul after having lost their lands can be found in the literature from that era.23 Although the official statistics on the population of Seoul at the time was set at 200,000 people, the actual number was far greater. Such oversight was due to the government’s unwillingness to lose tax revenues they earned from all of these people who had left their hometowns. Whenever famine or bad harvest occurred, the number of peasants moving to the suburbs of Seoul increased, resulting in the burgeoning of this new urban underclass. These drifters made a living by selling their labor in the ever-expanding commercial district near the Han River. The so-called Kyŏnggang merchants, who were responsible for the transportation of grain to the capital area from the rural areas, also profited from speculating on the price of grain. These merchants used the differences in the asking price for grain in each region to fill up their pockets by sending the grain bound for Seoul to the place where the highest profit could be earned. They also used the capital they had accumulated to control the distribution of grain in the Seoul area. With their ability to control the entire sales structure from retail to wholesale markets, these merchants were able to control the price of 96 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ grain in the Seoul area. In 1833 the price of grain rapidly increased as a result of the manipulation of prices by these merchants, and the urban underclass rioted against these immoral business practices.24 While most of the drifters who chose to remain in rural areas and attempted to find employment, others joined brigand gangs. These people wandered from place to place looking for victims. They would focus on the markets found in towns. These markets served as the commercial center of rural areas and also as a source of labor for dispossessed peasants. The first such record of a marketplace can be found during the era of King Sŏngjong. The year 1470 saw a terrible harvest, which led the people of Chŏlla-do province to gather and form a market called Changmun.25 This Changmun, which was initiated by the people rather than the government, became a place where commodities could be traded. Changmun usually opened in large open spaces at the center of the town. 26 However, the Chosŏn government held a negative view towards these markets. From the moment these markets emerged, the government maintained its position that all forms of commerce were immoral and that such commerce would have a negative impact on the country, and weaken the people’s willingness to engage in agriculture.27 The government, based on its long-held policy of suppressing all forms of commerce, refused to license the expansion of these markets. While the central government held fast to its refusal to promote such markets, local governors turned a blind eye to this practice on the grounds that it served as a means to relieve the suffering of the rural poor.28 People’s growing demands for distribution outlets, which originated from the increase in productivity, forced the government to eventually abandon its prohibition on such markets.29 As these marketplaces began to Ha Wonho 97 be seen as a means of alleviating the suffering of the rural poor, it was only natural that the dispossessed peasants flocked to them during the late Chosŏn dynasty.30 Many landless peasants became slash and burn subsistence farmers in mountainous areas. Those who did so were able to avoid having to pay taxes and could make a living for themselves and their families. At the end of the 17th century, Kim Changhyŏp (1651~1708) wrote a poem entitled Sanmin, describing the life of these slash and burn farmers who ran away from the corrupt local governors and officials:

Look at how pitiful you are. Why do you live in such a harsh environment? I would love to live in a populated area, but I am so afraid of those corrupt officials.31

Many landless peasants became slash and burn subsistence farmers, existing outside of the taxation system. The government began to focus on the ways to collect taxes from these slash and burn subsistence farmers.32 Some other landless peasants became miners.33 Needless to say, it was not only these drifters who were drawn to the mines, but there were also laborers from rural areas who rushed to find work in this field. Chŏng Yakyong pointed out that landowners were hard pressed to secure any laborers, and this even if they offered 100 chŏn a day, because all available labor had gone to seek employ in the gold mines.34 As many of these laborers left the agricultural sector in search of work in the gold mines, landowners found it difficult to maintain production. Moreover, some of the 98 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ peasants who owned land also joined in this rush to find employment in the mines.35 This tendency to become miners was advantageous from a productivity standpoint. In the 18th century, Wu Jŏngkyu suggested that mining should be developed based on the following logic; “if the government allows mines to be opened, then the owners of these mines will be the ones hiring the necessary labor and those who have lost their lands will be able to find employment in this sector…”36 As such, the government stood to gain many benefits by opening up the mining sector: This sector could solve the growing problem of drifters. Furthermore, the wages to be paid to these laborers would be uniform in amount, totaling a few chŏn a day, and these employees were allowed to continue digging for a period of three days, and to keep whatever they found, after the mine had been shut down. 37 According to a report from this era, those digging the holes were paid three chŏn a day. It is likely that this was the average wage for a miner.38 Therefore, most of the people who sought employment in the mining sector did so to escape the exploitative nature of the landlord system and the excessive taxation burden. These people developed a strong willingness to bring about social reform, and actively participated in the Hong Kyŏngrae’s revolt of 1811.39 The growing conflict between the owners of these mines and the employees also marked this period. The majority of these conflicts were individual rather than class-based, and revolved around the issue of wages. Regarding this issue, Chŏng Yakyong stated that there was a need to see who was at fault in each individual case, and to make necessary adjustments in order to avoid other such conflicts.40 Chŏng maintained that both sides Ha Wonho 99 should abide by the decisions made by the villagers with regards to each case. Such wage related incidents forced the advent of a more equality- based relationship between management and labor. On the other hand, the conflicts associated with these wage disputes worsened with each episode. Workers’ willingness to strike for more wages clearly proves the existence of a labor-management structure during this period. However, as the majority of the contracts between labor and management were oral ones, many abuses of the agreed terms were recorded.41 As mentioned earlier, many drifters became brigands. At some point, the problem became so serious that demands were made to the government to adopt a policy to exile these “thieves” to an isolated location in order to resolve the problem; the government, however, was aware that a more comprehensive policy was needed on the grounds that the majority of these thieves had come from the drifter class.42 The number of these drifters, who had lost their lands due to the spread of large-scale land ownership and crushed under the growing burden from taxation, increased exponentially during the late Chosŏn dynasty. Accordingly, many types of “brigands” appeared during this period. As mentioned in the Hyangsanbyŏlgok, many drifters became kŏsa, or public entertainers. These kŏsa traveled from town to town entertaining the public with circus-like acts to make a living. Lee Wujin, the advisor to King Chŏngjo, defined these kŏsa as neither monks nor commoners, and as people who, given their absence from the national registry, should be considered as the most dangerous of the drifter groups from whom taxes could not be collected or labor obtained.43 Lee also maintained that while in small groups, these kŏsa tended to become bandits, whereas when they were in large numbers, they plotted against the govern- 100 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ ment.44 For the feudal government, this kŏsa group represented the most dangerous threat, given their ability to wander from place to place. Such perception indicates that this problem of drifters was not limited to certain areas only, but had become a nationwide issue.45 During the reign of King Sukjong, crime became such a serious issue, with the urban underclass participating in these activities, that people could not leave their houses at night for fear of being attacked and robbed.46 As time went by these bandits adopted more sophisticated methods and weaponry. 47 These bandits’ resistance activities were not only limited to attacks on the rich, but also included stealing from tax collectors and attacking government outposts, which was construed as direct challenges to the feudal government. Although the majority of these thieves had a fervent desire to see social change be brought about, because of their position as social outcasts, their only way to fight the system was by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. The types of Minjung’s resistance to the ever-growing social and economic hardship varied according to the group one belonged to. However, as Chosŏn was an agrarian society, attempts to bring about social change were bound to be focused on the peasant class. While the peasant resistance to the changing socio-economic conditions originally took the form of petitions and group action, more active responses, such as open revolt, became the norm in the 19th century. Also, the social and political consciousness of this peasant class became more developed as time went by.48 The ability of this peasant class to resist the feudal system and its inherent contradictions also expanded over time. For example, organizations Ha Wonho 101 such as the durae (labor co-op) and the chonkye (village affairs) began to gain prominence during this period. Organizations to collect the necessary taxes at the village level were also formed, along with many new community-oriented organizations, all of which strengthened villagers’ ability to resist the exploitation of the government and the taxation system. An example of villagers using kye organizations as a means of resisting against the feudal system can be found in the 1826 incident when kye members in Kyungju attacked the governor of Changgi.49 As a result of the education provided within every community from 1840 onwards, the collection of people’s opinions about the taxation problem, and the provision to help much suffering peasantry, these local communities became organized as active units of resistance against the feudal order.50 However, before nationwide peasant resistance broke out in 1862, peasant resistance at the local community level was still limited to petitions. Nevertheless, as the existing power structure refused to take these civil petitions seriously, group action was taken, such as traveling to Seoul to deliver their petitions to the central government. This meek response from the government only served to further fuel the anger of the peasantry and to invigorate their resistance. In this regard, a nationwide revolt was perhaps inevitable, which actualized in the infamous outbreak of 1862.51 The peasant revolt of 1862 was the product of merging interests at the local community level. Along with the peasantry, local power groups and merchants also joined in this nationwide revolt, which meant that an alliance of various social class had been formed, which made it possible for this revolt to spread throughout the country. It goes without saying that responses varied between local communities according to social class. However, this outbreak marked a 102 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ departure from previous resistance movements in terms of organization, violence and impact on the people. Nevertheless, the objectives of this movement were not to overturn the feudal system in itself, but rather to put an end to the corruption of the local officials. Thus, no real pressure was placed on the central government to initiate social reform.52 The Peasant War of 1894 was the first uprising, which was based on the desire to bring about full-fledged social change and to overthrow the feudal system by the people.

The Development of the Minjung Mentality and Its Limitations

Chosŏn society was left in turmoil after the Manchu invasions. In the political sphere, factional politics consisting of various interest groups was fraught with power struggle, which spread insecurity throughout the society. With Yŏngjo and Chŏngjo’s T’angpyŏng policy, stability was somewhat restored. However, the seeds of conflict continued to germinate. This problem continued until the government by in-law families system began during the 19th century. The gap between the rich and poor created increased social tension between various classes. The Minjung’s response to the large- scale ownership of land and growing burden of taxation took on many different forms, and over time their political consciousness began to form. Also, folk religions such as Chŏnggamlok and Mirŭk spread rapidly among the general population, and also served to help form the Minjung’s resistance framework. However, the Minjung’s consciousness developed Ha Wonho 103 due to many different factors and in many different ways. The social changes that occurred during the late Chosŏn dynasty are evidenced by the growing instability of the social class system during this period. In the aftermath of the first and second Manchu invasions, changes began to occur in the social class structure, with upward social movement made possible by the introduction of the Napsok and Kongmyŏgch’ŏp systems, which allowed people to pay their way to a higher social status. The most remarkable changes occurred within the servant class (nobi). Some of them ran away to escape their status, when some others went as far as killing their masters.53 That these slaves sometimes formed secret kye meetings known as the saljukye and kŏmkye where they plotted to kill their masters reflects the social changes that were occurring during this period. These secret organizations can be regarded as examples of the extreme resistance to the ruling class. According to Choyahwoetong;

Bandits mass together and form organizations known as salyakkye, kongdongkye or kŏmkye. They steal from the rich and even kill innocent people. The existence of a saljukye near Ch’ŏngp’a village was recently discovered. A yangban by the name of Mok Raesŏn found out that one of his servants had participated in this movement, and quickly had him executed. The local police arrested seven or eight individuals who participated in this movement and uncovered a book laying out their objectives: kill the yangban, rape their women and steal their fortune.54 104 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~

This passage clearly indicates the extreme opposition that had emerged by this point. Although the government established laws to prevent servants from running away, it was unsuccessful. During the reign of King Yŏngjo, the government introduced the Chongmo law, which based a person’s status as a servant on one’s maternal lineage in order to increase the commoner class (yangin), and thus create new sources of tax revenues. As a result, the number of servants decreased significantly. 55 While the fraying of the servitude system reflects the social characteristics of the late Chosŏn society, the increase in the economically active population during this period meant that agricultural labor was devalued considerably. Such increase in the economically active population made it possible to mobilize labor, and force the government to ease restrictions on the costly servant class, which in turn reduced their numbers. These social changes and growing insecurity caused great dismay to the Minjung, and the Minjung expressed their anger in many different ways such as mailing anonymous letters and spreading groundless rumors. In the aftermath of Manchu invasions, the Minjung adopted what can be called a siege mentality that was to continue well into the 18th century. The majority of the cases where anonymous letters were circulated during the 17th and 18th centuries were focused on this constant fear of invasion. In September 1674, a rumor that the Manchus and Japanese would invade Korea began to spread. This caused great consternation amongst the general population in and around the Seoul area.56 In 1676 an anonymous letter began to circulate, saying that the Japanese were preparing to invade the mainland. This letter was eventually sent to the Prime Minister who took it Ha Wonho 105 to the King.57 As a result of this anonymous letter, not only the Minjung, but also the yangban class ran away in fear of the presumed Japanese invasion, which forced King Sukjong to launch an investigation into finding the origins of these letters.58 Other such letters portending an imminent attack by the Japanese also spread during the reigns of Yŏngjo and Chŏngjo. In 1760, a man named Gŏ Chiryŏng and a monk named Chŏng yun spread a rumor that Yun Sŏ, Kim Ho and Cho Dam had formed a secret army and conspired with the Japanese in a place called Kolkakdo. Upon hearing these rumors, two brothers Shin Huil and Shin Hupaeng hurried to put them up in the town square. Such incidents clearly expose the insecurity that permeated Chosŏn society in the aftermath of the Hideoyoshi invasions. In April 1787 another anonymous letter began to circulate in the Kyŏnggi and Hosŏ areas. This letter stated that the Northern horse riding tribes were preparing to invade Chosŏn and that pirate ships had been spotted on the shores of the country. As a result, most of the inhabitants from these areas evacuated from the villages.59 Another such case arose in the Kwach’ŏn area of Kyŏggi-do, except that this time the rumor said that the horsemen had already made it as far as Ŭi-il village, which once again caused mass exodus from these areas.60 Two months later, two men from the Chinch’ŏn region named Kim Dongik and Kim Dongch’ŏl spread a rumor about the existence of the Haedo Kŏsa Moŭi.61 This Haedo Kŏsa Moŭi was originally found in the Chŏnggamlok, which stated that a wise man named Jung would appear and establish a new dynasty. This sort of rumor played on the public’s fear of foreign invasion. The persistence of such rumors caused a meritorious subject named Kang You to send a 106 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ petition to King Chŏngjo in which he argued that the king should build a fortress in the Namyang area, store grain within this fortress, and erect defense structures in and around five villages on the East Coast where the local grain could be stored.62 Other rumors and anonymous letters included criticisms on the government and stories that the military had mobilized to put down local revolts. However, there were some instances where open criticisms of the entire feudal system, or even challenges to this system were included. In 1672, a song written in native Korean that criticized the government spread throughout the country. The government then tried to stop the song from spreading. A report from the Sakanwŏn, the advisory body to the king, stated the following:

The official respect for the government has collapsed. People are no longer careful about what they say. It appears as if openly criticizing the government is no longer sufficient, and as such they have put their words into a song. The first group to sing this song was the wives from the Seoul area. Now, even the Kisaeng have begun to sing this song, and the whole country openly partakes in this vile practice. These ignorant Minjung are mocking the government. We must discover the origins of this song and punish the perpetrator in accordance with the law.63

This song, which criticized the government and yangban class while Ha Wonho 107 expressing the Minjung’s opinions, spread like wildfire throughout the country. Songs written in Korean were used as a means of mobilizing the Minjung for revolts. Kŏchangka, which was written during the 1840s, expresses severe antipathy for local governors and officials. Lyrics such as “corrupted tyrants who abuse their power using torture,” reflect the widespread corruption and tyranny that prevailed amongst local government officials.64 Yu Kyech’un, who participated in the Chinju uprising of 1862, also wrote such a song and used it to mobilize the Minjung.65 Unlike anonymous letters, most of the rumors had religious overtones. They were about someone’s healing power, people with magical powers, or self-professed saviors. Thus, while authorship and objectives were hard to prove in the case of the anonymous letters, they were clearly stated in the rumors.66 In 1718, Shin Ŭisŏng, a shaman who lived in the Kŭmsong area, and a man named Yun Bongrip from the Hwoeyang area, stirred up the Minjung by claiming to be a Saint and Confucius respectively. They attracted people with claims that they could cure diseases with the aid of their talismans and holy water. Once the crowd was gathered, Shin and Yun began to spread rumors of an infectious disease that will hit the nation, causing everyone to die, and that people should follow them to Hwoengsŏng in order to be saved. This led the majority of villagers to abandon their farms and follow these charlatans.67 Another incident, this time involving the so-called Mirŭk faith, took place during Sukjong’s reign. However, this particular incident had a more widespread effect because of the size of its organization.68 In this instance, a monk named Yŏhwan, along with some twenty individuals including 108 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ shamans and geomancers, were arrested and charged with attempts to launch an attack on Seoul from the Yangju area.69 The government was shocked by the fact that the participants in this movement were attempting to overthrow the entire feudal system, and that the alternative system that they pledged to introduce was of a religious nature. In August 1713, Li Wun, a man from the Yangju area accused his neighbors, the Baek brothers, of having remarked that the feudal system had no future and that they had insulted King Injo, King Hyojong and King Sukjong. While such incidents had by then become non-punishable offenses, such cases serve to prove the Minjung’s attitude towards the feudal order.70 Instances where the Chŏnggamlok was used to spread groundless rumors began to increase from Sukjong’s reign onwards. In 1671, shamans Cha Chunggŏl from Haeju, Cho Idal and Aejin from Chaeryŏng, started a rumor based on the Chŏnggamlok. It stated that “the luck of Seoul has run out, and the Jeonup will arise to take its place”, and “A Buddha named Chŏng Pilsŏk who lives in Ŭisang Temple in Mt. Suyang shall in the future establish a new dynasty.”71 In this particular case, Jeonup refers to the last name Jung, while Chŏng Pilsŏk is the full name of the man who was to establish a new dynasty. The Chŏnggamlok, written during the Koryŏ dynasty, began to be given more importance in the aftermath of the Manchu invasions. The purported destruction of the Yi dynasty and rise of the Jung dynasty found in the Chŏnggamlok was a clear call for dynastic change as well as a refusal to abide by the current system. The people found answers in the Chŏnggamlok to solve their concerns about foreign invasion and of the growing opposition to the feudal system. All of the uprisings that took place Ha Wonho 109 during the late Chosŏn dynasty made use of this Chŏnggamlok in one way or another. This was also true of the Hong Kyŏngrae revolt. That the leaders of these uprisings used the Chŏnggamlok to mobilize the Minjung indicates that this book reflected the general population’s attitudes in regards to the growing social contradictions. Other books such as the Namsagobiki or the Tosŏnbiki were also used to mobilize the Minjung. In 1748, a notice was posted on the public bulletin board in Chungju and Munŭi. This notice, based on the Tosŏnbiki, claimed that Chosŏn was about to be invaded by pirates masquerading as Japanese marauders, and that people should evacuate the area and head for predetermined sanctuaries.72 The notice claimed that “the alarm system is out of order in the Southern area, and the fortress in the Northern area has been destroyed. Thus we can assume that an invasion is imminent,”73 and that “there are so many rumors circulating now about Japanese marauders entering our country. However these men are not Japanese marauders, but only people masquerading as them. These invaders already began to invade our shores in the year of Mushin, when we were experiencing much internal strife.”74 The internal strife they mention here is that of the year of Mushin.75 Li Jisŏ, the instigator of this incident, also made reference to the Chŏng Pilsŏk found in the Chŏnggamlok, “A man named Chŏng, who lives in Bongrae, Kŭmsan had a son who was dropped from the heavens one morning and who was able to speak by that very evening. The baby grew so big and tall in that first day that people marveled at his power.”76 Another person involved in this incident, Wu Kyujang, who was arrested and tortured for his role in this event, showed the general sentiment amongst the population of Munŭi:

110 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~

I recently traveled to Nokok Village, a village near Munŭi, and ran into laborers who were running away. One of these men, a man by the name of Pak Chi-rim, told me to run way because the enemy had already established itself in Munŭi, and that this was why the people were now running away. I told him that he must be mistaken and continued on my way eventually arriving in the village of Murŭngjŏng. There, I saw many people hiding before a man named Li Shin’s house. Apparently, five to six villages in the Sŏnggok area were in turmoil, and I began to believe that perhaps Park had been right after all … I also heard Kim Kyŏngyun that Japanese marauders had invaded the area between Munŭi and Okch’ŏn. The local government officials had abandoned their defensive positions and stopped transporting the grain that had been collected as tax.

This incident, which took the form of an uprising caused by an anonymous letter, was organized by a man named Han Yu who had been excluded from the power structure. Han used quotes from the Tosŏnbiki, as well as some of the messianic messages found in the Chŏnggamlok, and the revolt that had occurred in the year of Mushin to create a sense of insecurity amongst the Minjung. This incident clearly illustrates the general sense of insecurity that permeated Chosŏn society at the time. The leaders of Hong Kyungrae’s revolt of 1811 used disasters, such as Ha Wonho 111 earthquakes and famines, and the people’s suffering following these disasters as justification for their revolt. They also used a widespread belief that a man by the last name of Jung would arise to lead the nation and create a new dynasty to mobilize the Minjung. These leaders, arguing that Jung was about to launch a simultaneous revolt from Hamgyŏng-do, Kangwon- do and Kyŏngsang-do, pleaded with the Minjung throughout the nation to unite against the Yi dynasty. 77 However, as can be seen from the denouement of Hong Kyungrae’s revolt in 1811, the leaders of the move- ment remained trapped by a feudalistic mindset based on Confucianism, and the main objective of their uprising was simply to replace one ruling power faction with another.78 For example, Han Yu, who was one of the leaders of the uprisings of 1862 and who belonged to the fallen yangban class, could not distance himself from the traditional Confucian mindset. Another leader Yu Kyechun, was also entrapped in this same prism, constantly using terms such as “making appeals to the king” and “people’s petitions”. Yu Kyechun’s main objective in this uprising was to appeal directly to the king in order to have the monarch rectify all the wrongs that had been committed.79 As such, although the Minjung did possess some awareness of the abuses of the feudal system, they did not seek to form regional alliances designed to overthrow the system. The majority of the Minjung were peasants whose political consciousness had been heightened by the uprisings of 1862. However, this resistance never reached the point of an all-out struggle to overthrow the feudal system. In fact, a true sense of political awareness never developed among this class. The Minjung’s desire to overthrow the entire system and not develop until the end of the 19th century. 112 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~

Following the Chinju peasant uprising of 1862, a man named Li Piljae organized uprisings in Chich’ŏn, Chinju, Yŏnghae and Mungyŏng between 1869 and 1871. Lee used the organizational structure of the Donghak movement to overcome the inability of previous uprisings to move beyond the local level.80 Other revolts such as Li Piljae’s revolt followed, and by 1894 the peasants had accumulated the experience needed to launch the most widespread peasant uprising ever by making use of this nationwide structure, and had begun to call for the complete change in the feudal order and the abolishment of the landlord system.

Conclusion

In the aftermath of the Hideoyoshi and Manchu invasions, the basic ruling structure of Chosŏn society began to crumble. The ruling class was able to maintain its supremacy by restraining conflicts between conservative and progressive factions, and in some cases by outright cooperation between these two camps. However, no basic reforms were ever undertaken and the exploitation of the peasantry became even worse as a result of the development of the increase in social productivity, which led to the rise of Minjung resistance. Due to the changes in the social environment, various types of Minjung resistance emerged such as sending petitions to the government, increase in the number of drifters, slash and burn subsistence farmers brigands, and uprisings to protest the abusive nature of the feudal system. Legal petitions appeared in response to large-scale ownership of land and the burgeoning tax burden on the peasantry. The petitions were Ha Wonho 113 initially submitted on individual basis. However, as time went by, it became group based, eventually leading on to open revolts by the end of the 19th century. Many drifters became slash and burn subsistence farmers in order to evade the talons of the taxation system, while others joined brigand gangs. The growth of these gangs became a nationwide problem the feudal government could not deal with. The development of commerce and mining areas lead many drifters to become laborers in big urban centers or mines. In rural areas, these drifters became temporary laborers selling their services in and around market places. However, as employment possibilities were slim and steady work was hard to come by, many of these rural laborers joined forces with brigand gangs. As time went by, these brigand gangs became more organized and bold, resorting to attacking even the government offices as well as the rich: it was their way of resisting the feudal system. This underclass, which had been excluded from the existing social structure due to the rampant economic contradictions, had a strong desire to bring about social reform. However, as they had already been excluded from society, their ability to seek social reform or correct the social contradictions was seriously curtailed. As a result, the only way left form them to protest was to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Those peasants who remained tied to the feudal system resisted against the system itself by refusing to pay taxes. Still, it was impossible for these peasants to push for the basic reform of the land system. At this stage, their desire for social change did not go beyond that of criticizing the government, and never expanded into a movement to overthrow the ruling class. In the midst of growing social insecurity after the Manchu invasions, the spread of factional warfare within the ruling class, and the burgeoning 114 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~ socio-economic contradictions, the Minjung did not contend itself with simply critiquing the system but actually began to openly challenge the ruling structure. The Minjung participated in spreading anonymous letters, and rumors, posted provocative notices in town squares, and began to join open rebellions against the system. Moreover, the Minjung’s consciousness that developed during this process changed from opposing the corruption of the feudal system to demanding the change of the system itself. In other words, the Minjung’s consciousness was originally formed around the desire to right the wrongs of the feudal system, but as time went by and as their strength grew, their demands expanded. By 1862, revolts were breaking out nationwide. Despite their participation in these revolts and their growing opposition to the system however, the Minjung was unable to completely free itself from its feudal mindset, and resistance remained for the most part unorganized. But, as a result of the numerous uprisings, the Minjung was able to eventually overcome these limitations and launch a war-scale uprising, namely, the 1894 Peasant’s War.

Notes :

1 The concept of the Minjung began to form after the 1980s with the emergence of the Minjung historians. These scholars defined the Minjung as the main actor in the reform movement designed to resist the various social conflicts of the day. The Minjung class was composed of peasants, small-scale producers, petty merchants, laborers and progressive intellectuals, all of whom perceived the national and class conflict as a result of the modernization drive (this modernization drive can be equated with the global capitalist system). For a more detailed analysis of the concept of the Minjung, see Jong Changryul, “The Emergence of the Minjung Historians in Korea”, The Current State of Minjung Theory (Dolbyeokgae, 1989). Although the period dealt with in this book is prior to the dawn of the modernization era, this paper employs the Ha Wonho 115

definition presented in this book because it was during this period that the root of the Minjung movement was formed. 2 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.37, September kyeyu of the 28th year of King Sukjong, Vol.13, May kisa of the 8th year of King Sukjong 3 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.28, December kyehae of the 6th year of King Yŏngjo 4 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.28, December muo of the 6th year of King Yŏngjo 5 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.36, December pyŏngin of the 9th year of King Yŏngjo 6 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol.2, September kisa of the 1st year of King Chŏngjo ; Han Sanggwan, “Peasant Revolts during the Late 18th Century”, The Peasant War of 1894, II, (Yuksa Bipyungsa, 1992), pp.71~72. 7 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.36, December pyŏngin of the 9th year of King Yŏngjo 8 Yŏnamjip 9 O Juyŏn Munjang Chŏnsango, Vol.2 10 Jŏng Tasan Chŏnsŏ 11 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.41, March muja of the 31st year of King Sukjong ; Vol.59, March kimi of the 43rd year of King Sukjong 12 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.31, April ŭlmyo of the 23rd year of King Sukjong 13 Some of the reasons for this movement to refuse to pay taxes were as follows: 1) the tenancy fees, which were already too high, were once again raised; 2) the land tax and other related taxes were also exorbitant; 3) the peasants opposed the landlords’ practice of moving them from one plot to next; 4) in many cases, rather than paying taxes, the peasants preferred to simply return their plots of land to the landlords; 5) the peasants refused to pay taxes to unscrupulous landlords, and 6) the peasants also refused to pay the taxes of landlords who had mismanaged their finances and now found themselves unable to pay their own taxes. Kim Yongseob, History of Modern Korean Agriculture (Ilchokak, 1976), pp.30~42. 14 Ibid., pp.43~58. 15 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.42, October kyeyu of the 12th year of King Yŏngjo. Yun Ha, the governor of Yŏngam, successfully defrauded the government of some 1000 kyŏl of land. He came to be known to the locals peasantry as the ‘governing thief’. 16 Ahn Byungwook, “The Introduction of the Dokyeol System during the 19th Century and the Destruction of the Feudal Order”, The National History Compilation, Vol.7 (1989) ; Jung Seonnam, “The Collection and Management of the Chŏnkyŏl System”, Hankuksaron, Vol.22 (1990). 17 Chang Dongpyo, Local Finances during the Late Chosŏn Dynasty (Kookhak Community Corp, 1999). 18 With regards to the issue of these dispossessed individuals, please see, Kim Moojin, “Drifters during the Chosŏn Era”, Kaemyungsahak, Vol.4 (1993) ; Byun Jooseung, “The Characteristics and Status of Drifters during the 19th Century”, The National History Compilation, Vol.40-41 (1992) ; “The 116 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~

Characteristics and Status of Drifters during the 18th Century”, Jeonjusahak, Vol.3 (1995). 19 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.59, March kyehae of the 43rd year of King Sukjong 20 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol. 38, October ŭlhae of the 17th year of King Chŏngjo 21 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol. 38, September kimi of the 17th year of King Chŏngjo 22 Pipyŏnsadŭnglok, Vol.53, March 2nd of the 29th year of King Sukjong 23 Chujaejip, “Children and the elderly are calling after each other as they walk All of these people are going up to Seoul The spring wind blows on their swollen and emaciated faces Will they ever make it to Seoul?” 24 On the issue of this 1833 rice riot, please refer to, Kang Mangil, Ibid., pp.84~85. 25 Sŏngjong Sillok, Vol.27, February imsin of the 4th year of King Sŏngjong 26 Sŏngjong Sillok, Vol.20, July imsul of the 3rd year of King Sŏngjong 27 Sŏngjong Sillok, Vol.20, July imsul of the 3rd year of King Sŏngjong 28 Chungjong Sillok, Vol.8, June kapcha of the 4th year of King Chungjong 29 Lee Kyungsik, “The Establishment of Market Places in the 16th Century”, The Journal of Korean History, Vol.57 (1987). 30 According to a report prepared by Hong Ŭikye during King Chŏngjo’s regime, “many bandits began to gather in marketplaces”. Pipyŏnsadŭnglok, Vol.170, January 19th, 11th year of King Chŏngjo 31 Nongamjip, Vol.1 32 Lee Kyungsik, “Slash and Burn Agriculture and the Taxation Problem During the Late Chosŏn Dynasty,” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, Vol.10 (Seoul National Univ. Inst. of Korean Studies, 1989). 33 Kim Sungsoo, “Dongchŏmpyŏlgok, a 19th Century Poem for Miners”, Minjok Munhak (Minjok Munhak Research Inst., 1992). 34 Yŏyudang Chŏnsŏ, Vol.9 35 Surok, Kyu Jang gak 5120-163-1, 24 July 36 Woo Jungkyu, Kyŏngjaeyaŏn 37 Mokmin Shimsŏ 38 You Seungjoo, “The Capitalist Production System under Gold, Silver and Copper Mining during the Late Chosŏn Dynasty”, The Journal of Korean History, Vol.36 (1982). 39 Jeong Seokjong, “The Characteristics of Hong Kyŏngrae’s Revolt”, The Journal of Korean History, Vol.7 (The Association for Korean Historical Studies, 1972) ; Tsuruzono Yutaka, “The Participants in the Pyŏngando Peasant War”, The Minjung Movement during the Chosŏn Dynasty (Pulpit, 1981) 40 Mokmin Shimsŏ 41 Choi Yunoh, “The Development of Employment in the Agricultural Sector Ha Wonho 117

during the 18th and 19th Centuries”, The Journal of Korean History, Vol. 7 7 (1992). 42 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.31, February ŭlhae of the 23rd year of King Sukjong; Vol. 25, July of the 24th year of King Sukjong 43 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol. 21, February pyŏngsin of the 10th year of King Chŏngjo 44 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol. 21, February ŭlyu of the 10th year of King Chŏngjo 45 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.37, August kapsin of the 28th year of King Sukjong; Vol.38, March kimi of the 29th year of King Sukjong ; Vol.38, November imsul of the 29th year of King Sukjong 46 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.38, March kyŏngsul of the 29th year of King Sukjong ; Vol.38, November of the 29th year of King Sukjong 47 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.39, November kapsin of the 10th year of King Yŏngjo ; Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.77, August sinmyo of the 28th year of King Yŏngjo 48 Han Sangkwon, “Peasant Resistance in the Goksan Area of Hwanghae in 1811”, The History and Reality, Vol.5 (1991). With regards to the Goksan peasant resistance movement, which broke out right before the Hong Kyŏngrae revolt, Han maintains that this incident marked the beginning of the peasantry becoming the main actors in bringing about social change. 49 Ilsŏnglok, May 2nd, 1826 50 It was at the local community level that the organization and activation of the populace against the feudal order was launched, and that the response to this order was prepared. Ahn Byungwook, Ibid. 51 Han Myoungki, “The Characteristics and Various Types of Anti-Feudalism during the First Half of the 19th Century”, The Peasant War of 1894, Vol. 1 (1992). 52 The Mangwon Institute of Korean Studies, The Peasant Revolt of 1862 (1988). 53 Hyŏnjong kaesuSillok, Vol.27, August sinhae of the 14th year of King Hyŏnjong ; Sukjong Sillok, Vol.9, July chŏngmi of the 6th year of King Sukjong 54 Choyahwoetong ; reprinted on p.23 of Jung Seokjong, Social Changes during the Late Chosŏn Dynasty (Ilchokak, 1983). 55 Hiraki Minoru, The Nobi System during the Late Chosŏn Dynasty (Jisik-sanup Publications, 1982). 56 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.1, September ŭlch’uk of the 1st year of King Sukjong 57 Sukjong Sillok, Vol. 5, February chŏngmyo of the 2nd year of King Sukjong 58 Sukjong Sillok, Vol. 24, January ŭlch’uk of the 18th year of King Sukjong 59 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol.23, April pyŏngjin of the 11th year of King Chŏngjo 60 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol.23, April chŏngsa of the 11th year of King Chŏngjo 61 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol.23, June kyŏngsul of the 11th year of King Chŏngjo 62 Chŏngjo Sillok, Vol.24, August kyŏnghae of the 11th year of King Chŏngjo 63 Sukjong Sillok, Vol. 24, November sinyu of the 18th year of King Sukjong 64 Jin Kyeonghwan, The Tenancy System as Represented in Traditional 118 The Minjung Movement and Consciousnes ~

Literature (2000), pp.391~92. 65 Kim Jinbong, “The Chinju Uprising”, Baeksan Hakbo Vol.8 (1970). 66 Ko Sunghoon, Uprising during the Late Chosŏn Dynasty (Ph.D. diss.: Dongguk University, 1993). 67 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.62 August pyŏngsin of the 44th year of King Sukjong, Vol.64, November sinmyo of the 46th year of King Sukjong 68 Jung Seokjong, Ibid. 69 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.19 August sinch’uk of the 14th year of King Sukjong 70 Sukjong Sillok, Vol.52 August muo of the 38th year of King Sukjong 71 Ko Sunghoon, “Uprisings During the Reign of King Sukjong: Focusing on the Buddha Incident in Mt. Suyang”, Compilation of Papers to Commemorate the 70th Birthday of Nam Doyoung (Minjok Munhaksa, 1993). 72 Ko Sunghoon, Ibid. 73 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.67, May pyŏngo of the 24th year of King Yŏngjo 74 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.67, May pyŏngo of the 24th year of King Yŏngjo 75 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.67, May pyŏngo of the 24th year of King Yŏngjo 76 Yŏngjo Sillok, Vol.67, May musin of the 24th year of King Yŏngjo 77 Tsuruzono Yutaka, Ibid. 78 Jung Changryeol, “The Political Consciousness Behind Peasant Uprisings during the Late Chosŏn Dynasty”, Korean Lifestyles and Minjung Culture (Daedong Research Inst., 1984) 79 Imsullok 80 Yoon Daewon, “Li Piljae’s Revolt”, Hanguksaron, Vol.16 (1987).