다산과 여전론 ― 閭田論 형성의 의미를 중심으로 ―

Abstract

Dasan was a master of Sil-hak in the latter part of Chosun Dynasty period. Critically examining Juja-hak and affected by Nok-am, he newly made a profound study of Gyung-hak. He had been engaged in administrative affairs as a government official, and succeeded to the method of study of Sung-ho in Gyeongsei-lon. He suggested Yeojeon-lon which is an argument about land reform. The point of the argument is a kind of collective farm system based on cooperation in agriculture. Farmers work in concert under the command of a chief of 'Yeo'(Yeojang) and distribute a harvest in proportion to an amount of work in Yeo(閭) community of village unit which is divided according to the configuration of the ground. On the premise of division of labor, it is considered as a work-community in which all people in Yeo(閭) must work to live. People in Yeo pay a fixed tax by village unit, which is about one tenth of the yield. In addition, the administrative system of Yeo is combined with the military service. Yeo eventually heads for the wealth and military strength of a nation based on a stable agrarian economy which needs a condition that farmers can equally take possession of land and the expansion of the national finance. He newly established not just an image of human which has autonomy but also the practical social ethics based on equal human relation which gets over hierarchy of the ethical system. Moreover, his method of study has a feature of the awareness about practical ethics which keeps the balance between Su-gi(修己) and Chi-in(治人). He recognized the latter part of Chosun Dynasty period as a huge crisis due to the disintegration of the class of farming population. In sum, Yeojeon-lon was a practical reform idea which is built up with his understanding of reality and the method of study.