조선시대 서울에서의 상업정책과 시전(市廛) = Commercial Policy and Sijeons at Seoul in the Choson Dynasty

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The aim of commercial policy of Seoul was to procure goods needed by the state and citizens, to maintain transactions αder and stabilize price of necessary goods, and to levy tax and corvee labor on merchants. The main burden of sijeons, as the center of commercial system of Seoul, was commercial tax in the 15th century, the procurement of commodities for the state from the 16th century, and the provision of corvee labor after the daedong law. Confucian bureaucrats were passive in absorbing commercial tax. In return sijeons had the privilege of monopoly right over the dealing of commodities. This privilege was established gradually, as sijeons’ public burden increased and the sηeons association were established. At first sijeons associated to guard their common interests. Sijeons associations were established due to the authority of state, as they had the obligations and the privilege in the 17th century. They become a guild-like institution. Though sijeons associations had internal regulations, those seldom included penal provisions on unfair or illegal trading activities, because the state had the function of maintaining transactions order. The main policy to maintain transactions order was supervision of sijeons’ commercial activities before the 16th century, protection of sijeons’ monopoly right after the 17th century for promoting sijeons, and prohibition of cornering and hoarding after the late 18th century amid the growth of Seoul market and the abuse of the monopoly right Commercial policy and sijeon associations of Seoul evolved in response the needs of the economy.