19세기 전반 對淸 홍삼무역의 발전과 임상옥의 활동

Abstract

Recently, studies in late Joseon period commerce are flourishing but there are still very few researches in individual merchants or merchant families due to insufficient materials. This article has conducted a case study in a particular merchant named Ihm Sang-ok to fill in such an academic vacuum. The primary source used in the study is the biography of Ihm Sang-ok, which was written in the 1930s by a historian Mun Il-pyeong. Mun came from the same birthplace as Ihm, and he wrote Ihm’s biography based on oral traditions, records of the deceased, and the anthology. Ihm Sang-ok was born in 1779 in Uiju, Korea. It is said that he was committed to learning until 18, but there is also a possibility that Ihm had a certain grounding as a tradesman during this time. He started his merchant career since 18, but his early efforts seemed unsuccessful since he had to continue engaging in trade even when his father died when Ihm was 28. International trade circumstances were one factor because they were just beginning to escape long-time recession, so that it was not easy for anyone to succeed in merchant business due to its small scale. However, fortune turned to Ihm’s favor as he acquired red ginseng trading rights to China at the age of 29 under the support of Bak Jong-gyeong, court powerman. Ihm Sang-ok since then transformed himself into a merchant ‘prince’ by leading red ginseng trade for the next decade. Ihm was Bak’s ‘service guest’(門客) and offered a huge sum of condolence money to Bak’s father’s funeral, thereby winning his support. Moreover, after Ihm obtained the red ginseng monopoly, red ginseng trade with Qing China made big progress as its export and trade volume dramatically increased. Such trade boom comprises an important background for the emergence of international business mogul. and Ihm Sang-ok maximized his personal abilities to take advantage of the situation to clench multinational wealth and reputation. As seen above, Bak’s patronage played a vital role in Ihm’s enterprise, which evidently demonstrates that Ihm’s political inclination was conservative, content with status quo. Such tendency was well illustrated in his attitude towards the Hong Gyeong-lae’s rebellion, as Ihm not only opposed to the cause but actually led anti-rebellion militia forces to put it down. Ihm in his fifties can be characterized as a philanthropist or a bureaucrat. He donated large money for relief causes in northwestern area of the Korean peninsula, and the government rewarded him by awarding office posts. Because of this, Ihm actually governed a county for 2 years. Ihm’s involvement in officialdom made some people in the related area assess him as a literati rather than a merchant. Therefore, such colorful activities of Ihm Sang-ok are indeed an interesting case study of an entrepreneur collaborating with the political powers of the late Joseon era.