栗谷 李珥의 제도 變通論과 ‘祖宗之法’ — 선조 7년의 「萬言封事」를 중심으로 —

Abstract

Yulgok Yi Yi’s Memorials in Ten Thousand Words, submitted to King Seonjo in the first lunar month of 1574, well demonstrates how Yulgok attempted to overcome the oppositions to his theory of institutional reform (byeontong non 變通論). China and Joseon both had historical experiences of expulsion of reformist scholar-officials such as Wang Anshi and Jo Gwangjo for their “irrational” arguments to change the dynasty’s ancestral laws, while maintaining their traditional preference of ancestral laws and cautions against changes. What is most conspicuous in the structure and the contents of the Memorials is Yulgok’s claims and emphasis on changes as means to stabilize living conditions of the people. Such claim was grounded on a state-level promotion of the community compacts (hyangyak 鄕約). Hence, Yulgok was obliged to persuade not only the current officials who were reluctant to reform harmful statutes, but also his colleagues who preferred edifice of populace, on the urgency and importance of stabilizing people’s lives and changing laws. In his Memorials, Yulgok chose strategies to emphasize that he is not altering the ancestral laws as they are not subject to changes, but recently made institutional problems were.