『訓局謄錄『 인조∼영조대 上言에 대한 연구

Abstract

Analyzed in this article are the Sang’eon(上言) documents, submitted to the government during the reigns of kings from Injo to Yeongjo, meant for the king’s eyes and then collected in Hun’guk Deung’rok(訓局謄錄), in order to determine the problems that cropped up in the operations of the Hun’ryeon Dogam office and examine the actual living conditions of the soldiers of the time as well. Hun’guk Deung’rok is now in custody of the Jangseogak(藏書閣) archives at the Academy of Korean Studies, and the Sang’eon materials collected here in this book contain invaluable information regarding how the soldiers stationed at the Hun’ryeon Dogam office or ordinary citizens who were related to it tried to convey their frustrations and appeals to the authorities, and most of all, the king. These materials are full of details which let us know the operational functions of the Hun’ryeon Dogam office and the everyday lives of the soldiers, which are hard to come by in examination of other sources of information. The most frequent requests filed in these Sang’eon appeals were the ones asking to be excluded or exempted from military services[軍兵] or reserve duties[軍保] inside of or related to the Hun’ryeon Dogam office, as well as demands for better treatments, especially from the soldiers. They also asked for more rewards for their services, and in some cases they themselves became the object of appeals, as some Sang’eon materials describe the marketplace merchants’ demands that the soldiers must be banned from engaging in unauthorized commercial transactions[亂廛]. Analysis of how these requests submitted in the form of Sang’eon appeals were actually processed and resolved reveals that indeed many problems and malpractices surfaced in the Hun’ryeon Dogam office’s attempts to secure more soldiers. Examination also reveals that the soldiers suffered from continuous cuts in their salaries, which prompted them to file so many Sang’eon appeals in the first place. The issues described in these Sang’eon materials were more than diverse.