초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The landownership structure and land purchase/sale customs in place during late Chosŏn were very similar to the ones which formed in the Western world and Japan in the aftermath of modernization- oriented reforms. In the case of the Western countries and Japan, the formation of exclusivity in terms of landownership and market- friendly land purchase/sale customs progressed in conjunction with political reforms. However, in the case of Chosŏn, the landownership structure and land purchase/sale customs had already been established by the 17th century, or before the advent of modernization- oriented reforms. Thus, the same landownership structure and land purchase/sale customs which progressed as part of the march towards “modernity” or capitalism in the West also developed in Chosŏn. However, these phenomena did not occur in conjunction with modernity or capitalism in the Korean case, but on their own. This implies that economic and political modernity do not emerge simultaneously, nor do these two phenomena progress in a closely intertwined manner. In other words, the belief that all aspects of a society must change in a homogenous fashion that has been derived from Western experiences should not be perceived as a one-size fits all rule. In addition, the landownership system of Chosŏn revolved around exclusively established ownership rights. To this end, landowner-tenant farmer relations resembled more of an economic contract than a relationship between a dominant and a subordinate power. This was very similar to the landlord system which formed and developed in England, France, and Japan after their modernization-oriented reforms. Chosŏn’s landownership structure and land purchase/sale customs were very different from not only the West and Japan, but China as well. China was much faster to adopt private ownership and the purchase/sale of land than Chosŏn. However, by the Qing dynasty, which held away during the period right before the advent of modernity, the landownership structure was based on a hierarchical system, and the purchase/sale of land was very non-market and non-capitalist in nature. Viewed from this standpoint, the recent “Theory of East Asian Society” can be regarded as oversimplifying or purely ignoring the differences between the three countries. The fact that these differences were closely related to the characteristics of the new political cultures which took root during the strategic transition to modernity makes it evident that a new approach to the study of land ownership in East Asia is required.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
landownership structure, land purchase/sale customs, Westcentrism, peasant society in East Asia, hwanmae (conditional or revocable sale)
