장서각 수집 契文書 현황과 契 조직의 성격

Abstract

In the Joseon period, Gye was established as an important social gathering and organizational unit within towns of many regions, and thus its correct understanding is crucial to understanding how the regional communities and societies functioned in that period. Therefore, this paper examines the Joseon-era Gye documents collected from the Jangseogak Archives, which total 109 items, according to their type and content. Of these, 71 are from Gyeongsang Province, the highest concentration among all the provinces, and 31 of them are from Andong Province. In this paper, the types of Gye meetings are divided into six categories: Gwan-gye (官契, for government offices), Dong-gye (洞契, for counties), Jok-gye (族契, for households or kinship groups), Chinmok-gye (親睦契, for promoting amity and friendship), Hak-gye (學契, for educational and scholarly pursuits), and Sachal-gye (寺刹契, associated with Buddhist monasteries). The Jangseogak Archives have amassed a significant collection of historical documents and materials through donations from distinguished local families. As a result, a substantial portion of the archive consists of Jok-gye (族契) documents. Additionally, materials related to Chinmok-gye and Hak-gye are also prevalent. However, there were no documents pertaining to Geumsong-gye (禁松契), a group committed to averting legal disputes. Among the collected items from Buddhist temples, some documents associated with Sachal-gye were also identified. Until now, research into the Gye materials housed at Jangseogak has been conducted in a fragmentary manner. To further the progress of Gye studies, it is essential to continue with dedicated case studies. An issue to be resolved is the standardization of categorizing Gye cases, as scholars have applied various criteria over time. Moreover, crucial preliminary tasks such as organizing the materials, producing introductions, and translating the original Chinese texts into Korean need to be pursued more vigorously and with greater urgency.