18세기 外官의 緘答 작성과 그 과정 - 蔚山都護府使 사례를 중심으로 -

Abstract

During the Joseon Dynasty, a public official who committed a mistake had to be investigated. A Hamdab (緘答) was a document that such an official was allowed to prepare and submit. The Hamdab was a kind of statement that gave a detailed description of a situation or a mistake. This document also indicated that the public official was treated with respect. After receiving a written questionnaire, a Gongham (公緘) from the competent office, the public official started to prepare his Hamdab. This paper analyzed Hamdab-related materials stored in Gyujanggak (the royal library of the Joseon Dynasty) and identified some characteristics of the Hamdab and the procedure followed by the Ulsan-Dohobusa (蔚山都護府使, a kind of local magistrate) in the 18th century, for writing it. The results of the analysis can be summarized as follows. First, the 18th century Ulsan-Dohobusas wrote a regular form of Hamdab. The document consisted of the year of completion, the author’s name, foreword , body, conclusion, postscript and signature. Second, the cases of the 18th century Ulsan-Dohobusas revealed the following as the procedure for the preparation of the Hamdab of each local official. The central government office recommended an investigation to the King. When the King permitted it, the Seungjeongwon (the royal secretariat) prepared and submitted the Chugo-Jeonji (推考傳旨). Then, after receiving the royal approval for the Chugo-Jeonji, the Seungjeongwon sent it to the government office that asked for the investigation. The office attached the content of the Chugo-Jeonji to the Gwan (關), which was sent to the provincial governor. Based on the content of the Chugo-Jeonji, the governor ordered that the local official should write and submit a Hamdab. When the governor sent the Gwan to the local official, the governor added a notice that the Hamdab should be written as soon as possible. On the day after receiving the Gwan, the local official wrote his Hamdab in correct script style and submitted it to the governor together with the Cheobjeong (牒呈) and the Seomog (書目). The governor copied the content of the Hamdab into the Gwan, which was then sent back to the government office. After receiving the Gwan from the governor, the government office examined the applicable laws on the basis of the Hamdab conveyed in the Gwan and reported the result of the investigation to the King. This paper is significant in that it discloses some aspects of the Hamdab written by local officials, which existing studies have not considered.