조선시대의 관찰사를 통한 중앙통제에 관한 연구

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to review whether the central control by the Gwanchalsas had been factually achieved it's goals in Chosun dynasty. Whether the performance of Gwanchalsa's tasks had been successful or not affected greatly if the centralization policy of Chosun dynasty was fruitful or not.. As the Gwanchalsas in Chosun dynasty were the prime governors of 8 Do ― 8 Provinces, they connected directly to the King apart from the central ministries. The Gwanchalsas advised, supervised, and controlled the local officers on performing the 7 tasks of Sooryeong ― the common name of the head officers of local administrative units ― facilitating of farming, taxation, financing, residents welfare, education etc., and all the other governing activities. The main devices of Gwanchalsa's central control were Sunlyeok ― the round of inspection, and Popyeom - the evaluation of performance. During their Sunlyeoks, Gwanchalsas made decisions on reports and petitions, heard and examined the illegal acts of local officers, inspected the Sooryeongs of their activities, and settled all the other public affairs and private petitions. However, the number of times of Sunlyeok were reduced, and the period of it was shortened through out the latter of Chosun dynasty. Furthermore, the generalized Gwanchalsa's holding a concurrent Suryoeng, named Mocksa or Buyun, system severely weakened the function of supervise and control by the Sunlyeok of Gwanchalsas. Popyeom was to make the important officers govern the people well by evaluating the performances of the main officers in the area. The Popyeom was needed to be done very strictly, because it was one of the most important tasks of Gwanchalsas since early of the Chosun dynasty. But the Popyeoms were not exact from the beginning, and became more and more corrupt in latter period. As these, the reduction of Sunlyeok and the corruption of Popyeom had lead the central control by the Gwanchalsas to what was not in reality. So, we can hardly see that the centralizing policy through the Gwanchalsa system in Chosun dynasty was successful.