조선 후기의 庶․賤人 범죄자 유배

Abstract

This research aims to explore the exile system for the commoner and the lower-class crimimals in the Joseon dynasty. In fact in the past the study on the exile system of the Joseon dynast was focused on the exile of the state criminals and high-ranking criminals, overseen by Uigeumbu(義禁府, the office for the deliberation of forbidden affairs), but recently the importance of studying the exile of the commoner and lower-class (庶‧賤人) criminals, overseen by both Hyeungjo(刑曹, the ministry of Justice) and gwanchalsa(觀察使, local governors), has been raised. The Korean term "seo-cheunin(庶‧賤人)" encompasses the yangban(兩班 the gentry) not in public office, lower-military officials and lowest-class people, as well as the middle class. Their exile was overseen by Hyeungjo and local governors called gwanchalsa. Uigeumbu exiled convicts from Hanseongbu(漢城府, the capital city administration) to a local province, while local governors exiled their convicts to another province. Once a new convict arrived, the local governor handled the criminal according to the established regulations, such as assigning the convict a place to stay and appoint a bosujuin(保授主人) as supervising master, and reported the process to the king. If a convict was unable to maintain his own daily routine, and invariably rely on his bosujuin(保授主人), the supervising master would suffer from the convict's unreasonable demands and viciousness. Then in response the local governor (守令: suryeong) would replace the bosujuin or support him by collecting grain from villagers. If the place of exile was in a bad year, the convict was to be transferred to another province in a good year; if the district has more than 10 convicts, some of them were to be transferred to another district. Initially, this was limited to transfers within the province, but in severe years, transfers were also made to other provinces. If the convict under care fled and died due to poor conditions, and if the appointed bosujuin and local governor who failed to supervise the person were to be punished. If the criminal fled while being transferred, the governor and transporters were to be punished. When a sudden death occurred, the governor would send attendants to examine the fugitive’s body, listen to the statements of the supervising master and his close neighbors, identify the death from illness, and then report to the local governor, who would in turn report all the process to the king. The cases of exiles for commoner and lower-class criminals, carried out by Hyeungjo and local governors, were much more numerous than those of exiles for high-ranking officials sent by Uigeumbu. Accordingly, the procedures and methods of exile, as well as the transfers according to the circumstances of the place of exile, were stipulated in detail, and the treatment of the bosujuin was also explored according to the circumstances of the district. The rules for dealing with fugitives and the dead were also set in detail, indicating that the exile of commoner and lower-class criminals was an important part of the Joseon dynasty penal system.