15세기 초 朴興生의 牧民論 －『居官箴戒』를 중심으로－ = Park Heung-saeng’s “Mokmin” theory in the early 15th century －Examination of his Geo’gwan Jam’gye－

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Examined in this article is the idea of “treating and caring for the public(‘Mokmin, 牧民’)” shown by a person named Park Heung-saeng, who was a governmental official and academician in the early days of Joseon. His Geo’gwan Jam’gye(居官箴戒) is the only remaining example of the 15th century ‘Mokmin’ texts, which is believed to have been usually an abstract of Chinese “Gwanjam”-type writings. As a 15th century academic figure, Park Heung-saeng was not only well versed in Neo-Confucianism, but widely acceptive to practical academic approaches. His another writing Chwal’yo Shinseo, which he argued as an important text to be read by local officials, included a wide range of practical knowledge ranging from Yin and Yang theories to medicinal expertise. As a loyal Neo-Confucian scholar, he began his career as a professor at a local Hyang’gyo school, and later became the prefect of the Jeolla-do province’s Chang’pyeong-hyeon area, where he continued to maintain his own notion of Neo-Confucian care for the people(牧民論).
According to him, local officials dealing with the people should first develop their own character and put their own body under check, while remaining authoritative to junior officials as well as appearing benevolent to the public. Although Park Heung-saeng emphasized the importance of strict adherence to the law and instructed others to be faithful to law enforcement, he also recommended balanced restraints as well as recognition of the situation at hand. Compared to the more conventional legal practices and not to mention the atmosphere of the time, which supported relentless law enforcement and expected results from such efforts, Park Heung-saeng tended to emphasize humans’ moral nature. He suggested that efforts to enlighten people should be launched first, before resorting to the rulings of law. In other words, he was a person who was more loyal to the Neo-Confucian ideology which aimed to construct an autonomous moral community based upon humans’ good will. His instructions for the local officials in the early 15th century laid out the foundation for the next generation’s new arguments in the same vein, which displayed even more Neo-Confucian ideological tendencies, in the 16th century.