식민지기 언양지역 延安宋氏 가계의 토지상속

Abstract

In this paper we want to ask, how Korean people bequeath the property to their offspring. To answer this question, we have selected for study the customs of the Yônan Song family, who lived in the Ônyang area, through an examination of land registers, household registers, and genealogies. Before the colonial period, according to our data for 1911, this family reflected widespread Korean patterns for pre-modern: the first son inherited 57%, while the remaining 43% was shared by other children. Daughters. Most studies are pointed out the property allocation system of the colonial period distorted through the 1912 Civil Code without empirical studies, which imposed primogeniture likes Japanese cases. Specifically, this regulation had, among others, the following provisions: 1. In case of death of the “Head of Household”(戶主) the eldest son would inherit all of the household’'s property as the new Head of Household. The other children would only retain the right to claim the property. 2. In case of the death of the eldest son, the second son would succeed as head of household. If a son was too young, the wife would serve as head of household. 3. In case of the death of a member of the household who is not the Head of Household, his direct descendants inherited his property. 4. In case of the death of the wife of the Head of Household, girls who left the household through marriage retained inheritance rights. But, our result of the Yônan Song family’s case study shows, the first son's share maintained similar its ratio during the period 1911~77. After the first son inherited his father's estate, he reallocated it among his brothers. It shows influence of patriarchal order still have an important role in colonial period Korea, and, why first son’s authority in family is higher than other children.