초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Kim Yuk (金堉, 1580~1658) played a major role in enacting the Taedongpŏp (大同法), meaning the Uniform Land Tax Law, which is known to have been the most important financial reform in Chosŏn Korea. Many scholars have paid special attention to Kim’s idea and produced a number of papers purporting that his reform proposal exemplified pragmatism. Some scholars have even attempted to associate the ideology behind his reform with that of early sirhak(實學), literally meaning Practical Learning, in that both stood separately from the Confucian mindset. Existing studies on Kim Yuk, however, neglect to consider the fact that Kim was not merely a theorist but a high-ranking government official. Kim, rather than a stubborn idealist who clung to his idea per se, was a bureaucrat in charge of the fiscal affairs of the state. Indeed, he sought political compromise. Existing studies also have simply assumed that pragmatism or practicality stands opposite of Confucianism, interpreting sirhak as a new intellectual trend transcending Confucianism. In fact, however, the practicality found within Kim’s reform idea was not his own; it derived from earlier reformers like Yi I (李珥, 1536-1584), one of the paragons of the leading Confucian scholar-officials of the Chosŏn dynasty. Focusing on those two points, this paper critically examines the nature of Kim Yuk’s reform proposal and contends that sirhak was a school of Confucianism.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Kim Yuk(金堉), Taedongpŏp(the uniform land tax law), Yi I(李珥), reformism, pragmatism, practicality, Chosŏn
