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.