조선시대 신분사 관련 자료조작 - 家系人物관련 僞造자료와 僞書를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study has examined the cases of forgery of documents in the history of Choseon Dynasty period considering the problem of social position profile. The two upper classes of old Korea(兩班) which were the ruling class of Choseon Dynasty period were conspicuously interested in family names(姓) and origins(本貫), lineages(家系), ancestors(祖上), and genealogical tables(族譜) and thought that the social position of the nobility(兩班) was based on noble lineages(血統) and known ancestors(顯祖). Therefore, the people who had a problem with them, either altered or forged these documents according to their purposes. In the event, they either removed the materials made before they became the members of the nobility or didn’t hand them down to posterity, thus only the materials made after they became the members of the nobility were handed down to posterity. The documents concerning social position profile in the middle ages of Korea had been significantly changed in the latter part of Choseon Dynasty period, and of theses changes, one of the most prominent changes is that ① after Hyang-Ri(鄕吏) that had supplied the ruling classes of many generations were demoted to Jung In-cheung(中人層), a lower social position than they occupied before, as being differentiated from Sa-Jok(士族), naturally, the informations on Hyang-Ri(鄕吏) were either erased or altered in the documents on social position profile such as Ga-Gye(家系), Se-Gye(世系), Jok-Bo(族譜) and others. ② As a requisite for becoming the nobility, known ancestors became needed, thus frauds of petty officers (Byeok-Gwan(僻貫), Hui-Gwan(稀貫)) such as changing family names(改貫, 換本) or falsely assuming other family names(冒貫) prevailed. ③ From the latter part of the Silla dynasty period to the Choseon Dynasty period, the Si-Jo-dong-rae theory(始祖東來說) which says the founder(始祖) of the Choseon Dynasty came from east(東來), was prevalent under the strong influence of the Mo-Hwa(慕華) ideology of scholars and literary men whose main object was to follow Chinese politics and culture and others, so to speak, everything the Chinese had. ④ Vertically, consciousness on family name and origin(姓貫意識) and ancestor profile was repeatedly going back to the past as the collapse of the Choseon Dynasty came close since the 16th century, therefore, ancestor profile manipulation grew severe, and transversally, in the sense of collecting and putting together families, mixing up genealogical tables of different families who have the same family names but different origins(同姓異本), and genealogical tables of different families who have the same family names(合譜) and consciousness on family name and origin was carried out very frequently(大同譜), and as a result of these activities, ‘Bo Cheop-ryu(譜牒類)’s poured out. Meanwhile, there are significant differences on the problems of integrity, moral justification, Chul-Che(出處), and Jeol-Ui(節義) according to each period such as the last period of the Goryeo Dynasty, the former period of the Choseon Dynasty, and the latter period of the Choseon Dynasty. The situation in the last period of the Goryeo Dynasty, when it was still a Buddhist society, was totally different from the former period of the Choseon Dynasty, when the neo- Confucianism was confirmed as a reigning idea. And from the 17th century downward, that is, after the In-Jo restoration(仁祖反正) was carried out as making the sinful activities of the Gwang-Hae administration(光海政權) and the neutral foreign policy its excuses, the situation was not the same with the former period of the Choseon Dynasty. That is, the integrity and moral justification centered theory which had been escalated by the Sa-Rim party(士林派) was more pursued by the West party(西人) linked by several persons like Kim Sang-heon(金尙憲), Kim Jang-saeng(金長生), and Song Si-yeol(宋時烈), which started leading the world of thought as the Manchu war(胡亂) and In-Jo restoration(仁祖反正) paved the way for it. And they revered the principle of pursuing the Ming Dynasty(明) and rejecting barbarians(崇明闢異思想), and integrity and moral justification centered theory to preserve their political power, thus, Hyang-Ban(鄕班) who had been left out from the political power or the newly rising nobility after Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592(倭亂) and the Manchu war(胡亂), eager to take advantage of the trend, compiled their genealogical tables and ‘Ga-Seung(家乘)’s which are a kind of genealogical table(族譜) but only composed of their direct ancestors, and published ‘Jeon-Gi(傳記)’s and ‘Mun-Jip(文集)’s. As a result, rough and exaggerated ‘Bo Cheop- ryu(譜牒類)’s poured out since 18th and 19th centuries. As mentioned above, the documents on social position and ancestor profile which was forged and altered in the latter period of the Choseon Dynasty, thus the processes in which they were formed should be analyzed very accurately. Only after that, a successful study would be possible.