조선시대 徒刑의 집행과 徒配罪人 관리

Abstract

Examined in this article is the Do’hyeong(徒刑) sentence of Joseon, which was an East Asian form of punishment ordering an individual to a sentence of hard labor in a designated place. Among other types of punishment practiced by the Joseon government, this Do’hyeong sentence never received the attention it deserved, and was less discussed than any other forms of punishment. So the characteristics of this particular punishment, and how they changed over time are discussed here in this article. The Do’hyeong punishment had originally been institutionalized in China, as a form of sentence ordering a person to hard labor. In the early days of the Joseon period a variety of labor duties were imposed upon offenders who received the Do’hyeong sentence. They were usually positioned at governmental offices to serve menial functions as guards(Cheongjik, 廳直, office janitor) or torch-bearers(Jeong’ryo-gan, 庭燎干, personnel in charge of torch-lighting in the office). They were also called upon to serve as Dochim-gun(擣砧軍) at the Joji-seo office(造紙署, in charge of paper production) to prepare pre-paper materials to be more suitable for paper manufacturing, and were also stationed at fire-signal[烽火] posts or road stations[驛站] which were important in dynastic commuciation. Yet the fashion of executing the Do’hyeong sentence significantly changed in the dynasty’s latter half period. Offenders who received such sentence would no longer be demanded to engage in hard labor. Instead they would be exiled to different regions(Jeongbae, 定配). As a result, Do’hyeong became a punishment which in appearance was not that much different from the traditional Yu’hyeong(流刑, exile)punishment, as it only sentenced an offender to a short-term exile with the length of the exile pre-established. As the Do’hyeong and Yu’hyeong sentences essentially turning into punishments rather similar to each other, it became increasingly necessary for the government to collectively manage (and discern) the Do’hyeong and Yu’hyeong offenders located in the local regions. Thus created was the “Do/Ryu-an(徒流案)” list of offenders, who received either the Do’hyeong or Yu’hyeong sentences. The records of offenders who were eventually pardoned[赦免] from their sentences show us that there were in fact a lot of offenders who were sentenced to the Do’hyeong and Yu’hyeong punishments(Do/Bae Jwe’in, 徒配 罪人).