중봉(重峯) 조헌(趙憲)의 경세론(經世論) — 만언소(萬言疏)를 중심으로 —

Abstract

Jo Hoen(趙憲; 1544-1592)’s Maneonso(萬言疏; an essay to the king in 10,000 words) contains the Joseon scholars' straight-talking spirit, the heart for the people, and the tradition of reform on state affairs at the time. Among Cho's Maneonso, the most acutely pointed out period absurdities are <Hakjeong-so>(學政疎; an essay to the king about the education policy) and <Nonsipe-so>(論時弊疏; an essay to the king about the absurdity of the times). This two Maneonso show the spirit of Cho's appeal to the king. <Hakjeong-so> presented measures for school policy reform and talent training, and <Nonsipe-so> revealed the spirit for the people and the absurd reform of the times. He argued that the absurdity of education policy at the time should be reformed. The measures included securing human resources taught in schools, encouraging students, strictly managing the civil service recruitment system operations, ways to help students development, and detailed measures to teach students. In <Nonsipe-so> he described measures against the then harshly enforced people's immigration policy. His statement revealed bribery and harsh extortion, a chronic disease of Joseon society at the time. The first problem, he pointed out in relation to the suffering of the people is the evils of the policy toward the people who have moved to the north. The second problem is the plight of the Southern Korean people. He argued that the plight of the people was due to the severity of taxes, the large number of military service and the absurdity of punishment, and suggested measures to cope with it. Also, he attacked unscrupulous then-high ranking officials and called for royal savings. Cho Hun succeeded the reform idea of Lee Yi, and the Maneonso of Yulgok School, which was followed by Lee Yi and Cho Heon, followed by Song Si-yeol and Lee Yoo-tae, is a characteristic of Yulgok School.