. Zhu Xi said, “The two sentences composed by Xin Qiji can directly lead to a civil disturbance.”Once the Failure of the Crop Becomes Clear, the Magistrate Should Persuade the People to Sow Alternative Crops as Soon as Possible, Converting Rice Paddies into Dry Fields, and Especially in the Autumn He Should Make Sure Once Again That They Sow Barley.
This is so-called sowing alternative crops [taep’a]. The alternative crops are just a few: one is millet, another is buckwheat, and another is late beans. As much as several hundred sŏk of seeds of these crops should be saved during ordinary years in order to be ready for unexpected disasters. If this is not possible, the magistrate should not stop urging the people to save seeds privately so that they can be prepared for a long drought.
Since the prospects for the crop of Kisa year [1809] appeared to be bleak, the government made the people cultivate buckwheat by issuing a decree. Buckwheat seeds, however, could not be found in several dozen districts on the border of the southern provinces except in Yŏngam County. It was reported that Yŏngam had saved 200 kok of buckwheat seeds. The other districts, leading their people, visited Yŏngam to get the seeds, but the residents of Yŏngam, gathering by the thousands, refused to share their seeds with the outsiders. As a result, even their magistrate was not able to persuade them, and the people from the other districts felt sore about this, but they had no choice but to return home empty-handed.
When the crop of Kapsul year [1814] already turned out to be a failure as early as the summer, the magistrate urged the people to grow millet, but the seeds could not be found throughout all ten districts on the southern border. Only the Kim clan in Changhŭng had 300 tu of millet seeds, and it sold them at 15 maces per sŭng. Thus it made 45 kwan (450 taels) in a few days, but the original price of the seeds was no more than 3 kwan (30 taels). Despite what they saw, there were no people who saved millet seed afterward.
The people will be willing to sow alternative seeds in the converted rice paddies only after the magistrate promises them tax exemption in advance. If his orders are vague about tax exemption, they will be reluctant to follow them even if the magistrate urges them to.
When Zhu Xi served as prefect of Nankang, he issued a public notice urging the people to sow barley and wheat: “Since the government has urged you to sow barley and wheat on several occasions because the drought this year is unusually more severe than in ordinary years, you should all be united in making efforts to save the lives of the people. According to the reports I have received, many places still remain uncultivated, which I believe is the act of those who are exceedingly stubborn and lazy. I will certainly look into the matter and punish the offenders. I announce this admonition before taking any action.”
When the Days in the Spring Grow Longer, It Is Worthwhile to Launch Construction Work. If There Are Public Buildings That Are in Disrepair, They Should Be Repaired.
The following happened when Fan Zhongyan governed the region of Zhexi. In the second year [1050] of Huangyou there was a severe famine in the land of Wu. However, he gave parties every day and let the people join him on the lake. Consequently, the people left their villages to enjoy themselves from the spring to the summer. Furthermore, Fan urged the Buddhist temples to raise great construction works, saying, “In famine years labor is cheap.” Then he repaired warehouses and the quarters for the clerks, hiring a thousand workers every day. The governor impeached him, submitting a memorial to the court. He said, “In Hangzhou the relief administration is neglected, the entertainment and enjoyment of the officials in charge are out of control, and the public projects launched either publicly or privately waste the strength of the people.” Fan Zhongyan responded in writing to these charges one by one. He argued that the reason that he gave parties and started public work projects was to help the poor by using the surplus property of the rich. Thus the people were able to sell or buy food, and the artisans and workers were able to have their jobs. No relief administration could be more effective than that since many thousands of people could survive because of that measure. That year only Hangzhou among the regions of Zhedong and Zhexi was stabilized, and none of its residents abandoned their hometowns. This was only thanks to his good work.
Records for Self-Admonitions stated: “A certain Buddhist temple in the land of Puyang constructed a massive tower that cost many thousands of taels. Someone said to Chen Zhengzhong,90 ‘Since they start such construction work in a famine year like this, which is quite useless, why do you not inform the county authorities to stop them?’ ‘How can the monks construct the tower by themselves?’ Chen replied, laughing. ‘Since the monks employ local people for their work, they are gathering property from the rich people to help the poor. Just because of the construction, the poor people get food, and the temple acquires a new tower. Faced with a severe famine like this, I am rather worried that the monks would stop their work.’ ”
Essentials of Magistracy stated: “According to the laws of the Song dynasty, in case there is a need to start new public works, such as building irrigation systems in the drought-stricken land or constructing roads or dams or a temple of the guardian deity, the governor is required to calculate all the necessary expenditures regarding construction cost, money, and grain, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of such works, and report to the court in advance. During the reign of Xiaozong there was a severe famine in the Zhedong region. At that time Zhu Xi, who served as supervisor [tiju] of the region, requested that he be allowed to start irrigation works by gathering starving people, and this caused controversy in the court. When his request was eventually denied, he made another request, saying, ‘When drought disasters take place every year, the state opens its granaries to save the people. If the government adds a little more to the relief fund and appropriates it for financial resources for starting public works and mobilizing workers, it can not only save the people but also create a source of public benefits. In my humble observation, all the fields are devastated wherever one goes, but in the fields near reservoirs the rice is growing well with ripe ears as if they grew in the years of good harvest, which attests the importance of irrigation works. If each village and security group is made to produce the advantages of reservoirs, there will permanently be no worries that the people will abandon their homes and starve to death, and the government will be able to reduce expenses to lower taxes permanently and open its granaries to save the people from famine.’ ”
The following happened when Second Minister Yi Husan91 served as governor of Kangwŏn Province. There was a famine in his district, and the provincial office still remained unrepaired after it had burned down during the Japanese invasion. He said, “Since the people in the old days raised construction works during a famine, why do we not do the same?” Then he recruited starving people by selling the grain and cloth in the provincial warehouses. A multitude of people gathered soon, and the construction was finished within a few months.
The Magistrate Should Order That a Few Plants or Herbs Good for Famine Relief Be Selected and That Their Seeds and Seedlings Be Nurtured by the Students of the Provincial School So That They Can Be Widely Distributed to the People.
The following happened when Yi T’aeyŏn served as governor of Chŏlla Province. At that time a severe famine broke out, and he submitted a thorough report on the miserable state of the people. In his report he requested that the government reduce the taxes of the people by allowing some edible grass seeds to substitute for their taxes in grain, which he believed would greatly help overcome their crisis. Furthermore, he had previously saved bamboo seeds and seaweed that served as alternative foods; then he gathered charitable monks and had them make porridge on the roadside to feed starving people.
In the ninth year [1554] of King Myŏngjong the Bureau of Famine Relief reported to the king: “Although the main thing in famine relief is to conserve grain to save starving people, what should we do if grain is in short supply? We cannot just stand and watch the people suffering. So our king Sejong the Great wrote a book called Ways of Solving Starvation through Alternative Grains [Kuhwang pyŏkgokbang]92 to save the lives of people. Since pine needles, for instance, are better than the five grains for protecting stomach function and making lifespan longer, the use of pine needles is a good way of saving those who are starving. Because they are used to luxurious customs, the people in Seoul are ashamed to have gruel for their diet, so they have tasty food in the morning and go hungry in the evening when their provisions run out. Unless Your Majesty strictly admonishes them to use this diet prescription, the orders issued by the government will be of no avail. Therefore, it should be arranged that the Five Wards, in the case of Seoul, and governors and magistrates, in the case of local provinces, make copies of the prescription in woodcut prints and distribute them widely to civilians so that everyone can know how to use pine needles for food. If there is anyone who is ignorant of this and unable to answer when the governor or special crop assessor or inspector asks a question about it, the clerks and functionaries who are in charge of the person should be reprimanded, and the magistrate should receive a negative evaluation of the performance of his duty. So we request that Your Majesty allow us to produce woodcut prints of the prescription for the use of pine needles and distribute them widely to the people.” The king granted the request.
In the twelfth year [1671] of King Hyŏnjong there was a severe famine. Second Royal Secretary Yi Tanha93 memorialized to the king: “Except the five grains, there is nothing better than pine needles that can be used for food. I have heard that in Kyesa year [1593], right after the Japanese invasion, the people ate porridge made of pine needles by mixing it with rice flour in the ratio of 10 to 1. The amount of rice for porridge distributed to each individual is 2 hop per day. If 2 hop of rice are made into flour, they become 5 hop. Since 5 hop are enough to feed five people, would it not be profitable to feed the five with the amount of rice for one? If some of the districts provide only pine-needle porridge and the others only rice porridge, it will certainly happen that starving people will either try to seek or avoid visiting their relief camps, and the official who provides pine-needle porridge will be so subject to either complaints or praises from the people that he will not be able to perform his duty properly. Once rice runs out, it is impossible to make pine-needle porridge even if the magistrate wants to. In my opinion, therefore, pine-needle porridge should be distributed first in Seoul, and other kinds of porridge should be prohibited. Since those who are reluctant to have pine-needle porridge are not really starving, they should all be rejected, and if all the local provinces join this way of providing relief, providing pine-needle porridge, we will be able to save more lives with less rice.”
In Ŭlhae year [1695] King Sukchong issued a royal decree: “A severe famine like the one this year is unprecedented. There is nothing better than acorns for saving the people from starvation during a famine. Although I ordered that the acorns that fell in the palace garden be gathered, they amounted to only 20 tu, far too few to be of any help to the people. However, their quantity will hardly matter if the intention in gathering those acorns is to save the people. So I grant these acorns to the Bureau of Famine Relief.”
In a Famine Year the Magistrate Should Make Special Efforts to Eliminate Thieves. However, He Will Find It Hard to Execute Them if He Comes to Know the Real Situation.
The following happened when Wang Zeng governed Luoyang. In a village there was a man who stored grain in the warehouse in a famine year. Then a large crowd of hungry people gathered and robbed him of his grain after threatening him. Although in a case like this the culprits were sentenced to death in the neighboring districts, Wang Zeng ordered only that they be flogged and released. The districts, both far and near, heard of this and tried to emulate it. As a result, thousands of people could save their lives.
In my observation, the example set by Wang Zeng should not be followed. Since the work of eliminating thieves is one of the twelve tasks for famine relief of which the grand minister of education in Rites of Zhou takes charge, such generosity is excessive. The most that the magistrate can do is only to let them avoid capital punishment.
The following happened when Wang Yaochen94 governed Guangzhou. When there was a severe drought, a gang of thieves committed robbery. Although they were supposed to be put to death according to the current law, Wang said, “Since this is a case of hungry people trying to find food, the administration of famine relief should treat them with compassion.” Then he requested that the thieves be punished without depriving them of their lives. Later a new law was enacted to this effect, and it is handed down to this day.
When Xin Qiji95 of the Song dynasty governed Hunan, he posted a public notice concerning famine relief, using only eight characters: “Those who steal rice belonging to others will be beheaded, and those who do not sell their grain will be banished” . Zhu Xi said, “The two sentences composed by Xin Qiji can directly lead to a civil disturbance.”
The following happened when Chen Liangqi96 governed Jiangzhou. When a severe famine broke out, there was a man who stole rice belonging to another man and physically harmed the owner when he was caught by him. He was to be put to death according to the current law. However, Chen Liangqi said, “The famine-relief administration of the old days was really intended to save the people from their sufferings; therefore, it showed compassion even to those who committed a crime during the years of famine. Why, then, should the present case be an exception?” With this remark he requested that the life of the offender be saved.
In a year of severe famine it is appropriate to suspend all punishments from the autumnal equinox of that year to the vernal equinox of the following year. How can we allow poor people, who have already suffered, to continue to suffer? This compassion should not be confined only to those who stole rice belonging to others. Minister Chŏng Pŏmjo97 in a poem says, “As to a thief in the famine year, do not discuss his human nature since statesmanship is not in the state these days.” There was a time when I used to admire and memorize this line.
Zhu Xi in his writing on the prohibition of thievery stated: “Since it is feared that those who do not discriminate between what needs to be done and what should not be done band together and secretly mow and take away rice belonging to others, the government should order patrolling inspectors to increase their vigilance, strictly punishing the offenders.”
In my observation, those who mow and take away rice belonging to others are not thieves but people of good status who lost their conscience. However, he who is in charge of the law has no choice but to enforce the law strictly. On the day of the autumnal equinox the magistrate should persuade the residents to set up lookouts to watch over the crop, organizing five lookouts as one security group [po] and five security groups as one superior security group [yŏng] and making the guards communicate with each other by using wooden instruments that make a sound. If anyone still secretly mows and takes away rice belonging to others, the magistrate should have the person arrested and handed over to the authorities to be punished.
The following happened when Zhou Ji governed the prefecture of Anqing. Hungry people banded together and stole grain from a wealthy household, but the wealthy household reported that robbers took the grain by force. Zhou Ji said to the wealthy household, “They did this because they were starving. Submit a report on the amount of grain stolen from your house. The government will make reparation for your loss.” Then he released those who had stolen the grain. When Zhou Ji died sometime later, it is said that all the residents, including officials and civilians, closed their gates and stores and cried aloud on the streets.
The following happened when Zhang Chun governed the district of Nankang. When famine broke out because of drought, robberies were rampant all over the district. Issuing a proclamation, Zhang Chun vowed that he would put to death those who committed robbery. Later a man was arrested for stealing 5 dou of rice. When this happened, Zhang Chun secretly ordered that another condemned criminal be brought and beaten to death, posting a public notice that said, “This is the man who stole the rice.” Thereafter the people all became afraid and obeyed his order.
Essays of Tasan stated: “During the famine years of Kisa [1809] and Kapsul [1814] people of good status turned into robbers and plundered people’s houses during the night. Arising everywhere, they banded together in groups of several dozen and committed robbery, covering their faces with fish traps called kari that were made of paper. The provincial military headquarters and garrison commands, as well as district magistrates, all put to death those who were caught for robbery or made them starve to death after throwing them into the jail, and common people found this convenient.
“I have thought about this matter and have come to believe that we should not be too rigid in drawing the distinctions between robbers and thieves. Thieves refrain from violent robberies in famine years only because they realize that they will not get much loot. They are not ordinary people. In order to be able to steal, they need to have a certain talent or skill. Their acts like drilling a hole in a wall, jumping over a fence, breaking a bolt on a door, opening locks, preventing guard dogs from barking, and tricking others as goblins do are not the kind of things ordinary people of good status can do. You need to be skilled to engage in that sort of crime. In times of famine decent people might form small groups to commit robberies because they are simpleminded and naïve. Thieves, on the other hand, do not change into decent people even in years in which there is a bumper crop. No matter how hard you try to rehabilitate them, it is impossible. But those who use force to rob others in a famine year will become ordinary people of good status again when they have enough to eat. If we look at the matter in this way, it would be regrettable to kill such robbers; they deserve sympathy if their hardship in their real lives is taken into account. Mengzi said, ‘In good years the children of the people are most of them good, while in bad years most of them abandon themselves to evil.’98 The reason is that ‘they allow their minds to be ensnared and drowned in evil.’99 How can these people be compared with gang leaders like Huang Chao and Song Jiang?100 What, then, should we do with them? It would be advisable to banish them to remote islands and have them return home when there is a good harvest.”
Arson Committed by Starving People Must Also Be Strictly Prohibited.
Essays of Tasan stated: “During the famine years of Kisa [1809] and Kapsul [1814] some of the residents of Mongjip became so resentful over a bowl of rice or a bowl of soup that they set fire to the houses of their neighbors, losing their human nature. Eight or nine houses were set on fire every day, and four hundred houses in Namdang,101 as a result, were totally devastated in less than ten days, and the situation of seacoast villages was much worse. The authorities must eradicate this evil practice by strictly enforcing the law and posting a public notice.”
The public notice should state as follows: “He who commits arson because of personal enmity over a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup, when he is caught on the spot or the evidence of the crime is clear, shall be investigated by the upper households of the village to which he belongs. If the suspect is found guilty, he will be immediately turned over to the authorities and banished from his community by the military officer.”
The offender in this case cannot be reprimanded or punished by the rule of law used in ordinary times. If he is sentenced to the punishment of beating with heavy or light sticks, he will be dead on the spot. Since his crime does not deserve to be punished by death, he should not be allowed to die that way. The punishment for his crime should be limited to banishment and not more than that.
Since There Is Nothing That Consumes More Grain than Brewing Wine, Prohibiting the Production of Spirits Is Inevitable.
Prohibiting the production of spirits in a famine year has now become a general practice. However, since the clerks and law-enforcement officers exploit the people under the pretext of carrying out the law, they are unable to stop private production of spirits, and the people are unable to bear their harassment. Furthermore, since rice wine can be taken as a substitute for a meal and is also helpful to travelers, it is not really necessary to prohibit its production strictly. The problem is soju,102 which is generally consumed in the district capital and thereby becomes a main cause of the disorderly conduct of clerks and law-enforcement officers. This is also one of the reasons that the brewing of soju should be strictly prohibited. The law-enforcement officials should confiscate distilling implements of soju and keep them in the official storage room; they should also make sure that pottery manufacturers do not produce such implements any longer. If there is anyone who secretly produces soju, they should collect fines and add them to the famine-relief funds. In the supervision of the outside of the town, it will be advisable to apply the same rule only to the villages where the state granary and markets are located.
Since the coastal towns along the roads of the P’yŏngan and Hwanghae regions and those including Tongnae [on the east coast] mostly use distilling implements made of copper (which produce twice the amount of soju), it is much easier to prohibit the use of them.
Reduction of Taxes and Remission of Public Loans Were the Laws of Ancient Sage Kings. When the Magistrate Collects Grain Loans in the Winter and Land Taxes in the Spring, as Well as Miscellaneous Taxes and His Private Loans Owed to the District’s Capital Agent, He Should Generously Extend Due Dates without Putting Too Much Pressure on Taxpayers.
The due date for government-loaned grain cannot be extended except for one-quarter of the whole amount even in a severe famine year, and the repayment deadline for grain loans borrowed from the province or the Naval Command cannot be extended at all. The rule of keeping half the reserved grain while releasing the rest [chŏlban yugo] that is required by the law is no longer kept; all the grain in storage nowadays is distributed. If the loaned grain remains uncollected, famine relief in the following year will be impossible. Therefore, the magistrate has no choice but to put pressure on the people to repay their grain loan to the government.
If the magistrate after Frost Descent persuades the relatively well-off people with all sincerity every day to repay their grain loans so that he can secure the resources for famine relief, he will be able to collect all the loans from those who are capable of repaying them. However, in the case of those who are incapable of repaying their loans, it will be of little help even if he severely reproaches and lashes them every day until they bleed.
In collecting the government grain loan, the magistrate must personally check the grain before he accepts it, separating the grain that goes to the province from the grain that goes to the Naval Command. Then he will be able to find out how much grain can be used for famine relief provided gratis and how much can be used for relief loans. Therefore, he should not be lax in collecting grain taxes and loans. However, he should not dispatch superintendents. Since superintendents in charge of tax collection are ferocious like wolves and tigers, he should not dare to release them to harm the people. Once they are dispatched, what comes next is predictable.
When winter arrives, the superior office sends an official dispatch to the magistrate and pressures him to expedite collecting the government-loaned grain. The language used in the dispatch is so intimidating that the magistrate who reads it is overwhelmed by it. It says, “In your report we do not want to see the two characters ‘not yet collected’ [misu, 
] except for the extension of the deadline [chŏngt’oe] allowed by the government.” The magistrate, however, should not be intimidated by a dispatch like this. At the same time he should persuade the people to repay their loans with sincere and kind words. If there are still loans that he has failed to collect, he should report them truthfully, providing a proper explanation.
The report to be submitted states as follows: “Although I did my best to carry out the order of the superior office, the condition of the people was extremely serious to the degree that my pressure was to no avail. Under circumstances in which there is nothing in the grain but an empty husk and not a handful of chaff can be collected even though the marrow is squeezed out of the people, what can the magistrate do? Although it is really dreadful to think of the adverse impact that this failure may have on my public career, how can I inflict further evils on those poor people whose sufferings and outcries I can hardly bear to see? So I cannot help but submit this report, disobeying your injunctions that the two characters ‘not yet collected’ not be included in my report.”
During the famine of Kisa year [1809] there was an unemployed scholar, a resident of a village called Nasanch’on, who owed 2 sŏk of rice to the government for taxes but died before he paid it. The superintendent eventually collected the taxes from his family but ran away without depositing it in the state coffers. Now the village was required to make up for the stolen taxes. Thus the residents had to sell their lands to raise the money, and orphans and widows starved to death while wandering the streets. When the original price of the lands they had sold was calculated, it amounted to 120,000 maces [1,200 taels].103 How sad! When a minister conducts an inspection tour, he lights a pair of large torches, which cost 2 sŏk of rice, but the minister never realizes that those torches placed in front of his sedan chair actually cost as much as 120,000 maces. Since the grievances of the people are like this, the magistrate cannot help but pay attention to their welfare.
The miscellaneous taxes collected in the name of the public depository are all illegal. They not only were illegal from the beginning but also are a major source of tricks committed by clerks. In a famine year the magistrate should personally examine the ledger and cut down the expenditures that concern his needs before reducing other expenses. If there are ordinances that can be abolished (such as the demands from the mobile border commander’s headquarters), he should abolish them, as well as other various taxes, after consulting the superior office. Laozi said, “The way of governing the common people should be like boiling a small fish” because the fish can be reduced to pulp when it is shaken a little. Would it then be right to agitate the people who suffer from famine?