율곡의 향약에 보이는 협동조합의 정신

Abstract

The purpose of this paper aims to examine how the purpose, organization, and the details of Hyangyak, as expounded by Yulgok(1536~1584), are related to the modern cooperatives. The origin of the modern-day cooperatives is usually traced back to the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, which was founded in 1844. Namely, it was by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers that the system and operational principles for the modern-day cooperative were first founded. To discuss the origins of the cooperative, however, one should first understand the idea and spirit of the cooperative, which constitute their essence, before one talks about their system and operational principles. Given that the key idea of the cooperatives lies in the spirit of collaboration, the spirit can be found, not only in the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in the UK, but also in our own tradition. Therefore, this paper focuses its examination of the spirit of the cooperative on the details of Yulgok’s Hyangyak. To sum up, provided that the essential purpose of Hyanghyak is to ensure a smooth community life by getting country people to relieve one another’s difficulties through mutual aid and thereby realize the ideal provincial communities, this must not be terribly at variance with the modern-day cooperatives’ commitment to collaboration through mutual aid which is designed to realize a cooperative community.