淸代 貴州省 錦屛縣 淸水江流域 소수민족사회의 共山연구 ― 『淸水江文書』의 加池寨 共山기재문서를 중심으로 ―

Abstract

Public Mountains(共山) are a unique way of owning mountains that can be confirmed in the folk documents of the minority societies in the Qingshui River basin of Jinping County, Southeast Guizhou Province. Public Mountain refers to a specific mountain area jointly owned and operated by two or more owners, who, in addition to a large number of individuals, maybe a kinship group, an organization within a village, or even an entire village. Public Mountain was a customary expression for which the use of the term was not determined by law, and the names for Public Mountain were also not unified. For this reason, at that time, the minority societies in the Qingshui River basin described these mountain areas as Public Mountain. However, it can be seen that various names such as Lineage Mountain(公山) or Zhong Mountain(衆山, Mountain land owned by many people) were used depending on the form of ownership or expression. Public Mountains seem to have continued to increase over time in the mid and late Qing periods. During Emperor Guangxu, the number of records of Public Mountain peaked, and the terminology for these mountains land was also gradually unified into Public Mountain. Due to this, Zhong Mountain, which was not much different from the existing Public Mountain, was gradually absorbed into Public Mountain, and the stated quantity decreased. On the contrary, it can be seen that Lineage Mountain, which stands out for its ownership centered on lineage organizations, continues to increase the number of stated quantities along with the inflow, diffusion, and development of lineage culture as the times pass. However, since the names of Public Mountains were not unified and remained at the customary level, several mixed and transitional expressions between the names can be identified in the process. Also, Public Mountains are a unique mountain land with both private and public nature. Individuals could own a part of these specific mountain areas in the form of “Shares.” Basically, individual property rights could be exercised on these Shares. However, in reality, such private ownership was only conducted under a very limited structure. In addition, the management of the mountains was carried out by many people, and the profits after logging were also distributed by their ownership interests. Due to these characteristics, the ownership structure of Public Mountains became increasingly complicated. However, The Public Mountains formed in the long-term nature of forestry and the difficult environment of forest management improved the stability of production ownership while strengthening mutual solidarity between owners. In particular, the minority society in the Qingshui River basin was an “acquaintance society” with very high reliability among its members. This social characteristic, which is closed to outsiders and has a solid bond between members, helped form a mountain ownership method such as Public Mountains. In addition, despite the closed ownership structure of Public Mountains, it seems that the sale of Public Mountains was often carried out. Public Mountains were sold for extremely personal reasons but were also sold due to the group's demand to which they belonged. The reason for the sale of Public Mountain Shares informed the various socio-economic problems that people experienced at the time and, at the same time, served as a basis for enabling the survival of individuals and communities through the disposal of common property. In addition, the owners of the Public Mountains tried to manage Public Mountains efficiently and stably by imposing fines or preparing monitoring costs for violations of regulations. However, conflicts between individuals or groups were unavoidable as many of the interests of each owner were involved in Public Mountains. In this case, disputes were settled through arbitration among villagers or transferring land to religious facilities. In other words, it can be said that Public Mountains were the result of the efforts of the minority community in the lower Qingshui River, Jinping County, to manage the large mountainous area more safely and efficiently. Fundamentally, it can be said that there was considerable trust or sense of solidarity among mountain landowners in the fundamental background of such a unique ownership and management method that could continue for hundreds of years. Also, lineage culture strengthened the bond between members, which could be loose, by enclosing it within the fence of blood ties. In particular, it is worth not that the lineage culture was combined with the existing Public Mountain system of the minority society to form Lineage Mountain, owned by blood-related groups. In addition, as this type of land ownership spread in the minority societies, the socio-economic foundation centered on Public Mountains in these societies was strengthened, and it made a significant contribution to achieving a high level of social cohesion centered on lineage organizations.