朝鮮前期 京商의 商業活動

Abstract

This paper examines the commercial activities of Seoul merchants(gyeongsang, 京商) in the early Choson dynasty based on an analysis of their patterns of formation in terms of domestic and international trade. Seoul merchants who were also known as ‘great merchants'(busang daego, 富商大賈), were the biggest merchant group of the early Choson dynasty and monopolized domestic commerce and international trade in commercial size and assets. Their domestic commercial activities included the application of the state tax system such as a tribute and land tax, and they also led civil commerce of the entire country on a foundation of organized relationships and collaboration of capital. On the other hand, their activities in international trade grew significantly through their utilization of the international trade system that linked China and Japan that was formed after the late 15th century and developed especially in the 16th century. They also expanded their commercial assets through stable commercial organizations, collaboration of capital and intermediary trade. Accordingly, the domestic commerce and international trade of the Seoul merchants in the early Choson dynasty show that they were not merely root for the policy of ‘commercial restraint' but they were also the same people who led the dissolution of that policy. It also shows that the level and extent of commerce in the early Choson dynasty played an important role as the background and foundation of commercial change in the late Choson dynasty.