『고대일록』을 통해본 함양 사족층의 동향

Abstract

'Ko­dae Diaries,' written by Kyeong­wun Jeong, began in 1592 when Japanese army invaded Choseon and ended in the early Kwang­hae reign. This contains detailed daily activities around the author himself as well as the pertinent persons and events. It allows us to reconstruct what the situations at the war time were like. Ham­yang region where he lived had been influenced earlier than any other places by the neo­confucianism through their county magistrate, Jong­jik Kim, who was a leader of the outside government or Sa­rim faction. The local literatus class in that region grew up from migrated families after their offsprings had begun to pass civil and military service examinations and accordingly assumed official positions in the government. They also communicated closely with the scholars of Nam­myong School. Neo­confucianism emphasized actual practices rather than mere theoretical debates. This ideology enabled them actively to take part in the Anti-Japanese Righteous Volunteer Fighters, when Japanese army invaded firstly in from 1592 to 1598 and secondly in from 1597 to 1598. Their reaction clearly reflected what they felt their responsibilities about their land as the local elite class. The diary also shows that the local literatus class concerned deeply about their economic basis such as cultivation land and slavery. Moreover, they were even involved in commercial activities, too, which belonged at that time mostly to merchant class. In the reign of King Jung­jong, literati were defined not by their economic wealth but by family members who were at least a public officer, a passer of local examinations, or a high officer within great­great grand father nodes including matrilineal line. This regulation explained the reason why they were strongly engaged in taking civil and military service examinations to maintain their status. In the reign of King Seon­jo, local confucian scholars were allowed to send their written opinions to king as a public opinion. Almost of all the literatus class in this area belonged to the Splinter Group of the Easterner (or Dae­Book) Faction, they tended to oppose to Westerners Faction (or Seo­in). The author, who was a disciple of In­hong Jeong, was so political that he often blamed the opposite people so many times in his diary. We can observe a positive function of local literati, on one hand, to recover their society and enlighten local people. They, however, began to confront each other, on the other hand, with such issues as setting up a tablet order in the shrine of local confucian schools which facilitated, at last, to divide into a different political faction after 17th century.