The Myo ˘njujo ˘n Documents: Accounting Methods and Merchants’ Organisations in Nineteenth Century Korea
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The Myo ˘njujo ˘n documents are a varied collection of mainly accounting documents from late nineteenth century Seoul that once belonged to the guildhall of the Choso ˘n capital’s guild of domestic silk merchants—the Myo ˘njujo ˘n. This paper looks at what these documents can tell us about the way the merchants of this period and their guilds organised the information that they needed to keep track of, and what sorts of bookkeeping methods they employed. Although the Myo ˘njujo ˘n was a merchants’ organisation, its account books actually appear to be rather similar to those created by clan organisations, since the guild was, basically, a non-profit making organisation whose aim was to protect its members’ interests and regulate relations with the government. But while these were not accounts created by merchants focused primarily on making profits, their complexity, accuracy and the diversity of ways in which they organise information reflect the importance and complexity of the tasks which the guild had to fulfil.
Abstract
The Myo ˘njujo ˘n documents are a varied collection of mainly accounting documents from late nineteenth century Seoul that once belonged to the guildhall of the Choso ˘n capital’s guild of domestic silk merchants—the Myo ˘njujo ˘n. This paper looks at what these documents can tell us about the way the merchants of this period and their guilds organised the information that they needed to keep track of, and what sorts of bookkeeping methods they employed. Although the Myo ˘njujo ˘n was a merchants’ organisation, its account books actually appear to be rather similar to those created by clan organisations, since the guild was, basically, a non-profit making organisation whose aim was to protect its members’ interests and regulate relations with the government. But while these were not accounts created by merchants focused primarily on making profits, their complexity, accuracy and the diversity of ways in which they organise information reflect the importance and complexity of the tasks which the guild had to fulfil.