조선후기 제주지역 포작의 존재양태

Abstract

This paper focused on the existence of ‘abalone collecting men’ or ‘pojak’ who have used the ocean for their living through all which the social situations then on Jejudo island could be sought. Jejudo people have had various histories with the sea because of the unique geographical characteristics as the island, with which Jeju residents have collected seafood at the earlier time and sometimes would faced heavy seas and drifted while trading with surrounding countries with their merchant vessels. Among such their lives are abalone collectors whose names had been disappeared with troubled sea waters. The summary of what discussed in this paper is as follows. In the second chapter, the researcher focused on the nature of the collectors by considering their name, existence, and meaning. First, the author searched the names of ‘pojakin’ or the abalone collectors in the old literatures including the True Record of the Joseon Dynasty and reviewed them comparing with the previous studies on their names which had been called variously such as ‘pojakin’, ‘pojakgan’, ‘pojakhan’, bokjakgan’, or ‘pojakbae.’ Jeju ‘pojakin’ could be defined as male fishers who gathered fish and seafood in the sea and exchanged and sold them in the villages around the coastal areas in Jeolla and Gyeongsang Province. They also were the men who had chosen to present to the king marine products. In the third chapter, the researcher focused their leaving of the island and their existence. First, the author considered the reason of their leaving for the mainland left behind Jeju which was their hometown. Here are the social and economical reasons that they were forced to go to the mainland: troubles in their livelihood caused by the poor geographical nature, the increasing amount of tribute for the Joseon Dynasty, and the excessive demand from corrupt officials and local nobilities. Second, the author studied the developments after their leaving for the mainland. The abalone collecting men were staying on the coastal areas mainly in Jeolla and Gyeonasang Province gathering seafood. And they obtained oceanic information in person including ship building know-how, navigation, and art of ocean war, which were urgently needed for Joseon government who had been suffering from the invasion from Japanese pirates. To this end, the government located them in the naval forces aiming to use their military abilities. On the other hand, other collectors who didn’t follow or did avoid the government’s structure, would wander around the Korean Peninsula and cause various social problems in collusion with the pirates including Japanese pirates. Third, the researcher focused on several measures taken by the Joseon government in order to prevent the increase in their collective escapes. The Joseon Dynasty attempted to take a few countermeasures to prevent it and bring them back from the pirates. These countermeasures, however, failed to decrease the number resulting in issuing the ban on leaving the mainland. For the remaining collectors, the government reduced the amount of seafood tribute and also set up a tax payment association named ‘peongyeokgo’ and ‘bomingo’ for the sake of their obligated labor to present seafood tribute to the king. 74 32호 However, they also had to have the duty of official soldiers among six obligated labors, which produced different kinds of problems. In the late of Joseon Dynasty, the number of the abalone gathering men had decreased and finally the existence and name had disappeared. Fourth, the author supposed and discussed the cause of their disappearing. As previously mentioned, the author strived to shed new light on them recognized as ‘the target of exploitation and control’ by revealing the meaning of the existence of the ‘pojakin’ in Jeju and considering their social status and the changes of Jikyeok. In the early days, they had robust marine activities with multiple aspects and attempted to go beyond the restrictions with their own flexibilities, expanding their special livelihood even under the contradiction of governance system in Joseon Dynasty. We should pay attention that their marine activities have the enormous significance in the marine history.