조선후기 상인 조직의 인원 구성과 변동: 저산팔읍 상무우사의 사례 분석

Abstract

Previous studies on the organization of peddlers in late Chosŏn Korea did not provide sufficient evidence‒based analysis. In this paper, Ch’ŏnggŭmnok of the peddlers’ community in the Eight Ramie Producing Counties was analyzed intensively to approach the actual management of peddlers’ organizations in Ch’ungch’ŏngnam province in the late 19th century. Ch’ŏnggŭmnok is not without the usefulness of the analysis, although it is difficult to call it a list covering the entire number of people in the organization, as data in the nature of the guest book or attendance book. The peddlers’ community in the Eight Ramie Producing Counties was an organization of ‘peddlers’, but it is hard to say that it was an organization of ‘real’ peddlers, as is commonly understood, and it was also understood as a community of stallholders. These characteristics can be inferred from the stall names listed in Ch’ŏnggŭmnok. However, the continuity of stall names over the long term is not confirmed, and this can be seen through quantitative analysis of the number of members. The nature of the organization seems to have been changed from the 1880s, as can be seen by the change in the official titles and the change in the number of people. In this paper, it was clarified that the peddlers’ community in the Eight Ramie Producing Counties was the largest organization of merchants in Ch’ungch’ŏngnam province at the time. In addition, in the 1880s, the newly introduced personnel were given new positions regardless of the originally set promotion procedures or practices, as nonmerchants participated in the community for secondary interests in consideration of their relationship with the central organization or political issues. Therefore, it is highly likely that the membership was quite loose and that the sense of belonging to the community was also poor, unlike what had been understood previously, as shown by the analysis of the quantity index such as frequency of entry and participation duration on Ch’ŏnggŭmnok. This feature is also supported by the fact that the provisions for the punishment between the members have not been found since 1855.