『擇里志』와 조선 후기 지방 이해의 혁신-浮浪하는 존재의 移住와 定住-

Abstract

This paper analyses Taengniji (1751, How to Select a Town for Settle- ment), and investigates what was transformative in its understanding of geography in the late Chosŏn period. The paper examines, first of all, what led the author Yi Chunghwan (1690～1752) to write the book. What were the author’s motives, and what were the book’s historical and social contexts?Generations of fierce political factionalism among the elites led to the rise of a whole class of marginalized sadaebu (scholar-officials) whose lives were uprooted during this period. My premise in this paper is that Yi, a prominent member of a political faction that had lost power and influence by the late Chosŏn period, dreamed of moving to a new location for his and his family’s survival, and that he also saw a collective need for such relocation for the marginalized sadaebu in general. I show in the paper that Yi’s criterion for selecting a location for this purpose was based on a location’s suitability for earning a livelihood and the safe protection of life. Yi called this criterion saengni, or “profit from living.” He thus expressed his desire to move to a new location where a sadaebu could first of all make a living and even go on to create great wealth. This paper then examines the 17th-and 18th-century intellectual milieu and worldview that influenced the primacy of saengni in Yi’s under- standing of geography, and how Yi concretely applied this perspective of saengni throughout the entire Taengniji narrative. Next, the paper analyses Yi’s affirmation of desire for security and for profit. This perspective, a departure from traditional Confucian values, led to a radically new understanding of geography and provided information and knowledge not available in the existing scholarship on geography at the time. Rather than showcasing existing administrative centers, Yi actively discovered and introduced emerging economic centers. Such locations included, for example, Wonsan (Hamkyŏng Province), Kangkyŏng (Ch’ungch’ŏng Province), and Wonju (Kangwon Province). He highlighted the fact that they were hubs for both transportation and logistics. He also emphasized accessibility to Hanyang, now Seoul, as a factor in evaluating a location. Furthermore, according to Yi, arable land and mountains must be adjacent to each other for safe protection of not only human lives, but also of wealth and property in times of war. Accessibility of a place by both land and water transportation was another important factor in selecting a good location for settlement. Most of the towns and villages that Yi recommended highly in his book as locations suitable for settlement by sadaebu, had not received much attention from previous scholarship on geography at the time. In his understanding and analysis of geography, Yi gave the highest priority to the value of making a living, or making “profit from living.” This ran counter to the prevalent sadaebu standards of Confucian ethics and decorum in Chosŏn Dynasty. In this regard, Yi’s scholarship was radical and bold. His perspective and his rationale led to a fundamental change in the understanding of geography in 18th-century Chosŏn Dynasty.