조선전기 사족부녀 대송(代訟)의 성격과 소송 양상

Abstract

This paper examined the process and features of institutionalization in Daesong in the way of litigation of women in the Chosun Dynasty. Women in the early Chosun Dynasty had no distinction between participation in litigation and Daesong, but since the 16th century, participation in litigation gradually decreased and Daesong expanded. In the Chosun Dynasty, the litigation system was based on the participation of the parties, but the provision of Daesong of women of yangban class started from the regulations restricting the lawsuit parties from entering the court. The direction of the criminal prosecution regulations for these women of yangban class influenced Sasong (詞訟), thereby regulating the participation of women of yangban class. As an alternative, Daesong was allowed, and the rules of the Kyungkuk-dajeon(經國大典) were introduced. The criminal prosecution of women of yangban class and the provisions of Daesong were deeply related to the strengthening of the order of Confucian ethics since the time of King Sejong. At that time, the monogamous system was regarded as an ideal system and the policy was established. As the separation of space between men and women was emphasized and legislated by virtue of practical ethics, a rule was created to prohibit women of yangban class from entering the court and limit face-to-face psychology. As an alternative, the Daesong rule appeared. In the end, Daesong had a strong purpose to preserve chastity of women of yangban class, and has a preferential personality allowed for this. However, when analyzing the actual case of a lawsuit, the wife was a litigant in the dispute over her deceased husband's property and the power of the litigant took precedence over her son. This fact means that women in her husband's property have authority over the husband's property and the right of the litigant party when a legal dispute arises, and shows the authority and status of the wife's family system. In other words, the authority and status of the wife were systematically protected in the management of families during the Chosun Dynasty. Measures restricting women in aristocratic elites' participation in lawsuits have caused women to avoid court entry. As a result, the lawsuit ability of women of yangban class was restricted, which increased the possibility of problems in the management and maintenance of husband's property. The policy to allow Daesong of women of yangban class was analyzed to take into account the supplementation of women in aristocratic elites's contracted litigation ability and protection of authority over husband's property. Thus Daesong(代訟) shows the regulatory aspects of the social activities of women of yangban class, while at the same time officially recognizing and guaranteeing the role and status of the wife in the family system. This is considered to be a cross-section of the Confucian patriarchal system of the Chosun Dynasty, which valued and guaranteed women's economic rights and family management.