. James Legge translates it as “The rich may get through” (“Zheng Yue,” Shi Jing, in Legge, The Chinese Classics [University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center], 192.At the Close of Famine Relief the Magistrate Should Closely Examine All the Violations and Wrongs Committed throughout the Whole Relief Operation.
There are three things that a man should be afraid of: Heaven, the people, and his own mind. If his intentions are not sincere, then his mind will not lead him along the straight and narrow path. In this case he deceives his superior and his country, tries to avoid punishment, and endeavors to keep his self-interest, official rank, and stipend, mobilizing all the tricks and dissimulations that he can think of. However, since there is nothing that the people do not know, no matter how small his lie or deception may be, he should always listen to what the people say if he wants to know his own mistakes. He may be able to deceive his superior or the king, but not the people. The spirits of Heaven and Earth are watching him all the time; hence he cannot deceive Heaven. He may pretend not to know or look despondent, but he feels ashamed all the same, whether he looks upward or downward, because he cannot deceive his own mind. If there is no deception concerning these three elements, there will be fewer mistakes in the magistrate’s work of famine relief.
Essays of Tasan states as follows: “When a worldly official104 establishes a relief camp, he should be mindful of five thefts [odo], five concealments [oik], five gains [odŭk], and five losses [osil]. Always keeping these dangers in mind, he should be careful not to commit a mistake.
The so-called five thefts consist of the following: first, stealing through manipulating relief grain [tohŭi]; second, stealing through manipulating relief loans [todae]; third, stealing through manipulating the number of starving households [togu]; fourth, stealing through soliciting contributions [togwŏn]; and fifth, stealing through falsifying a report on the preparation of famine relief [tobi].
When the amount of relief grain is officially fixed, it is often collected and distributed in currency if profits can be made. Since there is always room for manipulation in converting grain into money and vice versa, and therefore the money for the grain is distributed at only half the regular market price, this is stealing from relief grain.
It also happens that the relief grain officially designated for relief loans is not appropriated as it was intended to be. Thus some of it is converted into relief grain distributed free of charge, and the people are unable to find the seeds for agriculture. Nevertheless, the clerks fabricate the documents and records as if the grain loans were duly made. This way of fabricating documents without lending grain is called puhwan, and that is actually stealing from relief loans.
Clerks also exaggerate the number of starving people by thousands but distribute relief grain only once. Furthermore, they cut down the amount distributed under numerous pretexts and excuses so that nothing much is left when all the reductions are made. The relief grain distributed to each individual is 1 sŏk, but the actual amount that one receives is merely a few tu upon investigation, and if one is unlucky, he can have only a taste of it. (In case children and elderly people receive relief grain once and are immediately removed from the list of beneficiaries, they are provided with only 3 sŭng of rice.) Since they deceive the king and the country by counting all those who only tasted the distributed grain and exaggerating their number by thousands, this is stealing from starving people.
When the day of exhorting contributions for famine relief arrives, the cudgels of law-enforcement officers raise wind, and wine flows on the table as if it were spring water. Threatening and placating alternately, they open a large storage house of a wealthy resident and transport the grain to the yamen, but on the road half the grain disappears into their pockets. Sometimes they take a bribe from the beginning and remove the name of a donor from their record. Then they hire a man to sell their bribes [which they took in the form of grain]. (When this happens, the money of the wealthy resident never comes to the district capital.) This is stealing from the contributions made for famine relief.
It also happens that the magistrate, without preparing a toe or a handful of grain, reports to the government that he has prepared 100 sŏk or 1,000 kok of grain. Since he deceives the king and seeks reward, this is stealing by making a false report on the preparation of famine relief.
The so-called five concealments are as follows: first, concealment of the death toll [iksa]; second, concealment of starving people [iga]; third, concealment of death by starvation [ikp’yo]; fourth, concealment of death from mistreatment [iksal]; and fifth, concealment of starving households to cover up one’s irregularities [ikp’o].
Although the number of deaths continues to increase so that sounds of mourning rise from many houses every day, the magistrate reports to the superior office that only one or two deaths have occurred. When it happens that his false report makes his superior ignorant of the facts about the people’s deaths and the king unable to apprehend the real situation of his people, this is concealment of the death toll.
Although the number of starving people is nearly one hundred thousand, only ten thousand of them are selected, and only one thousand of the ten thousand who are selected are allowed to have benefits from the government. If the governor, who feels suspicious, asks whether the figure in the report is true, the magistrate replies, “It is strange. The famine was not really all that bad, but the figures reflect an estimate somewhat on the high side. That is why the number is that high.” This is concealment of starving people.
Although a father and a son commit cannibalism against each other or dig up a newly buried corpse and eat its flesh, the authorities hide this fact. The starving people in their desperation fight over the dead bodies of those who died on the road; they withdraw a few steps back when they hear the sound of officers and throw the dead bodies into a pit when a royal inspector arrives on the scene. Nevertheless, the magistrate fabricates lies and reports to the superior office that he personally gathered the dead and buried them with his own money as the law required. This is concealment of death by starvation.
When starving people are severely beaten to death because they failed to pay their grain loans, although they are so frail and emaciated from hunger that they appear to be in danger of being blown away by a gust of wind or collapsing even if they are just touched by others, their deaths are treated and reported as deaths by illness. Since the drum outside the district office for registering complaints of official misconduct does not sound because the starving people are now too weak to travel far to appeal their grievances, those who practice these cruelties easily escape from the dangers of punishment. This is concealment of death from mistreatment.
Although the harvest cannot be gathered in the autumn because the clerks already embezzled the grain distributed by the government, the provincial government, and the Naval Command, the superior office does not know about this. Since that grain was issued for the purpose of famine relief, the magistrate finds himself in a dilemma. He cannot tell the truth because he will be punished, nor can he collect the taxes right away because the people are financially broken. That is the reason that the magistrate has no choice but to reduce the number of starving people, and this is concealment of starving households to cover up one’s irregularities
The so-called five gains are as follows: first, gain of property [tŭkjae]; second, gain of paper [tŭkji]; third, gain of awards [tŭksang]; fourth, gain of slander [tŭkbang]; and fifth, gain of a sin against Heaven [tŭkjoeŏch’ŏn].
When property procured through the five thefts is arranged to be transported to the magistrate’s hometown, that is gain of property.
Although official documents are piled up like clouds, they are neglected, and although record books and calendars are stacked up like a mountain, they are taken to his private house to be used as wallpaper. This is gain of paper.
If the magistrate falsely exaggerates the number of starving people and the status of readiness for famine relief, the governor through his report recommends him to the Border Defense Council. Then the council evaluates the performance of candidates in several grades and rewards them with ponies and bows. This is gain of prizes.
When the people look at the magistrate as if he were their enemy, publicly complain about all the irregularities and tricks that he secretly committed, and spread their words in all directions, this is procurement of slander.
When the shining spirits who fill the space between the heavens and the earth set up a large trap and discuss the ways of punishing men, this is procurement of a sin against Heaven.
The so-called five losses [osil] are as follows: first, loss of relief grain [silhŭi]; second, loss of porridge [siljuk]; third, loss of relief loans [sildae]; fourth, loss of public support [silinsim]; and fifth, loss of a job in the government [silgwanjik].
Since the clerks secretly enter fictitious names in the record of famine relief, all their relatives, including their brothers, nephews, brothers-in-law, and aunts, receive grain while they keep servants in their households. Furthermore, they spread false names even to remote, desolate villages so that all the relief grain flows into their rice bags, and they conspire and share profits with the supervisor of famine relief [who condones the creation of false names]. This is a reason that the loss of relief grain takes place.
Since the clerks steal half the rice for porridge from each kok, the porridge distributed to hungry people is so diluted that it contains only a few grains of rice and tastes like clear water. Furthermore, all sorts of slaves and servants who work in the granary, the relief camp, the yamen gate, the kitchen, the houses of clerks, and taverns recklessly enter the relief camp and fill their stomachs with porridge. The magistrate sees them but finds no problem with them; he rather trusts them and makes them his ears and eyes. This is a reason that the loss of porridge takes place.
The relief loans called chindae are the seeds for agriculture and the provisions needed for farming. The clerks, however, privately replace good grain with bad grain, and when there are private sales [sap’an] of grain by the government, they conspire to make the grain smell bad by using a bag of rotten meat. If the magistrate asks why the grain smells foul, the clerks reply that the smell comes from the government grain. This is a reason that the loss of relief loans takes place.
Since the magistrate already stole relief grain, secured the delay of tax payments, and damaged the lives of people by the five thefts and the five concealments, the people are scared and shudder at his cruel administration. Hence they turn their back on the magistrate, and none of them follow him. This is the loss of public support.
When the royal inspector investigates hidden tricks and brings them to light, he may not be able to expose all the wrongdoings; however, if he discovers even one of them, which is serious enough to deserve punishment, his ferocious runners, who wear pointed caps and carry chains, will rush to the magistrate and take him away. The people who watch him being taken away are joyful. Since the one who commits a serious wrongdoing is banished and the one whose wrongdoing is less serious is stripped of his office, this indicates the loss of a job in the government. He who is a magistrate should think over what he does in the quiet hours of the night. When he feels that he is free from all of the twenty wrongdoings,105 he is doing his job properly.
When the Magistrate Reports to the Superior Office Concerning the Relief Grain That He Personally Prepared, He Should Tell Only the Truth without Lying or Exaggerating.
The Comprehensive National Code stipulated: “The magistrate who exacts heavy taxes from the people under the pretext of making up for the shortage of relief funds and exaggerates in his report the number of starving people for his personal interest shall be investigated by the governor of the province to which he belongs and shall be punished under the law of making a false report to his superior.”106
How can it be possible for the magistrate to prepare relief grain by himself? Since the grain that he prepares is not from his own house or his farms, it is all from the district that he governs. Even if he prepared the grain by spending some of his monthly stipend, he cannot dare to say that he prepared it by himself, not to mention the grain that he secured from the people through threats and tricks. If he secures relief grain by recklessly exacting taxes from the people and reports that he prepared it by himself, is this not deceiving the king and committing a great crime? When he releases relief grain, he should make it clear where the grain came from so that he may not be ashamed of his report that he himself prepared the grain. A reasonable amount of relief grain that can be reported to have been prepared by the magistrate himself would be about several dozen sŏk, and therefore, it should not be more exaggerated than that. If the magistrate is not anxious to report all his accomplishments in detail, he will be close to attaining a good name.
The following happened when Im Yunsŏk became magistrate of Hapch’ŏn County. The following year a severe famine and epidemic broke out. As a result, the roads were littered with so many dead bodies that they looked like flophouses. Exhausting his efforts, Im saved many people on the verge of death. At that time the government rewarded the magistrates on the basis of the amount of relief grain that they prepared by themselves. The neighboring counties and districts exaggerated the amount, but Im did not. Consequently, Im failed to be rewarded despite his good works.
The following happened when Yi Chŏk became district magistrate of Imp’i. In the year when he took office there was a severe famine. Because he did his utmost to provide relief to the people, the whole district was able to escape perishing. When the governor made his report on the accomplishments of the magistrates for rewards, Yi did not say anything about the grain that he had prepared by himself because he regarded it as a shame to seek a name and buy a reward. As a result, he alone was left out from those who were rewarded.
Yi Kwan, who governed counties and districts a number of times, once said: “It will not always be appropriate that he who is a magistrate privately prepares relief grain, and it is also quite shameful to seek a reward for the preparation of relief grain. Even if he fed many starving people with the grain, it is appropriate that he should reduce the amount when he makes a report to his superior and responds to the order of the government.” When Yi Kwan served as metropolitan magistrate of Kyŏngju, a treasury official happened to read his report and lamented: “Since the relief grain prepared by a large district like Kyŏngju is only several dozen sŏk while the amounts prepared by small counties and districts are as much as several thousand sŏk, the figure submitted by the magistrate of Kyŏngju must not be the real one. Those who try to seek a reward by exaggerating the amount of relief grain they prepared should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Laws and Ordinances Are Clear about What Is Properly Done and What Is Not, and about the Distinction between Rendering Services and Committing Crimes.
The National Code stipulated: “The magistrate who conceals the deaths of starving people, which were caused by his neglect of famine relief, shall be severely punished.”107
The Supplement to the National Code stipulated: “The magistrate who is most outstanding in each province for the administration of famine relief shall be rewarded for his accomplishments.”
This is recorded in Precious Mirror for Succeeding Reigns: “In the second year [1470] of King Yejong, Kim Yŏnggyŏn,108 junior director of the Comprehensive Rites Agency [T’ongnyewŏn], returned from his inspection trip to Chŏlla Province and reported to the king that some of the magistrates who carried out famine relief had abandoned those who had edema and little children. Then the king issued a royal decree and severely reprimanded the governor responsible for them. He also ordered the governor to discipline the concerned magistrates with the punishment of beating with a heavy stick and not to forgive them even if they were merit subjects or members of royal families.”
King Hyojong in the second year of his reign [1651] dismissed Governor Nam Sŏn109 of Hwanghae Province because Nam failed to carry out famine relief properly.
In Kyehae year [1683] during the reign of Sukchong, a scholar named Sin Chongje, a resident of Puan, drowned himself in freezing water after breaking the ice. It was discovered that he had decided to take his own life, leaving his family behind, because he was unable to endure extreme hunger any longer. When the governor reported this to the king, the king ordered that the surviving family of the dead man be provided with emergency relief and that the magistrate of the concerned district be arrested and punished by beating with a heavy stick.
In Kyŏngsin year [1740] during the reign of Yŏngjo, the starving people in Seoul who originally came from the three provinces of Kyŏnggi, Hwanghae, and Kangwŏn numbered as many as 1,400. Upon hearing this, the king reprimanded the governors of the three provinces for their failure to pacify those starving people and make them settle down in their jurisdiction, and immediately ordered the Bureau of Famine Relief to provide porridge to the refugees.
In the third month of Kyemi year [1763] during the reign of Yŏngjo, the governor of Chŏlla Province reported to the king: “Of 483,700 starving people, those who died of starvation are as many as 450 people.” Feeling sorry for the dead, the king said, “Minister Li Yin in olden days took it as his own fault that one person in his domain was unable to make a decent living. Since I, the king, failed to save his people from death and the number of those who died in one province alone is nearly 500 people, I have failed to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors.” Then he ordered that the number of dishes for his royal diet be reduced for three days.
On the Day of Grain in Ear the Relief Camp Is Closed and a Banquet Called P’ajinyŏn Is Held to Mark the Closing of Relief Activities. However, Music and Entertainers Should Be Excluded from the Banquet.
Since the p’ajinyŏn, a banquet to mark the closing of relief activities, is intended to comfort those who have successfully carried out the work of famine relief, not to celebrate a happy occasion, it should offer only a bowl of wine and a dish of meat to treat the people who worked hard. Under circumstances in which thousands of dead bodies still remain unburied, and the moaning and groaning sounds made by those who survived but fell sick continue to be heard, and the people are still dying when they take too much barley for their hungry stomachs, it is certainly not a good time for gathering and having entertainment. In my observation, when the magistrate holds a banquet after a severe famine is over, the people who hear the sounds of the drum and singing lament and shed tears and keep a jealous eye on the banquet. Hence singing and dancing and playing of musical instruments should never be allowed. If the magistrate learned anything about the people’s suffering, how can he dare to allow anything suggestive of festivity?
During the Banquet the Magistrate Rewards Those Who Made Contributions to the Relief Efforts and Reports the Results to the Superior Office on the Following Day.
Persons like supervisors and subofficials of relief activities, supervisors of famine relief in outside villages, heads of townships, and those who donated over 20 sŏk of rice in response to the solicitation of contributions should all be invited to the banquet regardless of their social status. However, since the custom of remote districts is so crude and uncivilized that people of middle status can be suspicious of those of high status and people of low status of those of middle status, and those sitting in the upper floor and those sitting in the lower floor can quarrel with each other, spoiling the good occasion, the magistrate should prepare seats in the front yard of the guesthouse, which is on level ground, to hold the banquet. Then there will be no disputes or fights at all.
If the banquet is accompanied by music and entertainment, it is a general practice that money is collected from the attending guests to pay for the musicians and entertainers. This is certainly not right because a collection is made once again from those who already contributed their money.
Rewards are carried out as follows: Since supervisors of famine relief are elderly persons (they are mostly those who served as chief of the local yangban association), they are rewarded with goods like fans or shoes; supervising officers, who consist of two military officers, are given some desirable positions in the hall of martial arts; and subdistrict supervisors of famine relief, who consist of about ten persons, are rewarded with goods like fans, combs, tobacco pipes, and so forth. As to the clerks in charge of relief, who consist of two persons, the magistrate awards fans and combs to each of them and promises that he will grant them better positions in the following year; as to the slaves employed for relief efforts, who consist of two persons, the magistrate awards fans to each of them and promises to assign them to better positions in the following year; as to the slaves working in the granary during the famine relief, who consist of four persons, the magistrate awards 1 sŏk of barley to each of them; and as to the female slaves in charge of making porridge, who consist of five persons, the magistrate awards 1 sŏk of barley and 20 chŏk of cloth to each of them.
As to those who donated over 200 sŏk of rice, the magistrate awards a fan to each of them and has them wait for the rewards from the government.
As to those who donated 50 to 100 sŏk of rice, he awards a fan to each of them and has them wait for the rewards from the government; however, if it happens that the prospect of the government’s rewards for them is uncertain, he rewards them on the district level in the near future, appointing them according to their wishes as heads of the local gentry association (such as special director, granary supervisor, and the like) or military officers (such as battalion commander, special officer, and the like). However, he does not reveal his intention at this time.
As to those who donated 20 to 40 sŏk of rice, the magistrate during the banquet awards a small fan to each of them and appoints them as leaders of the local government according to their wishes. (However, their positions should not exceed the level of granary supervisor and battalion commander. The positions higher than these should be reserved for those who donated over 50 sŏk of rice.)
As to those who donated less than 10 sŏk of rice, the magistrate awards small fans and later sends a piece of writing through subofficials in charge of famine relief. His personal writings should be stamped with an official seal, generating the impression that they are official documents.
The Supplement to the National Code stipulated: “Those who privately saved a number of starving people or assisted the government by contributing their grain to famine relief shall be rewarded with prizes according to the degree of their services.”110
The Comprehensive National Code stipulated: “As to those who make voluntary contributions to famine relief throughout all provinces, those who contribute over 50 sŏk of rice shall be placed on the record and reported to the central government, and those who contribute below 50 sŏk of rice shall be rewarded by their provinces.”111
When one observes the ways in which magistrates solicit contributions for famine relief these days, they first flatter the potential donors with all kinds of promises; however, once the famine relief is closed, they do not even offer them a drink or award a fan, treating them as if they were garbage or a fish trap after fishing is over. When gratitude to the contributors to famine relief is thus forgotten, the insincerity of the magistrates is too extreme. Classic of Poetry says that the ruler’s “virtuous words are so grand and brilliant that they show the people not to be mean.”112 If the magistrate carries himself lightly, who would trust him? His conduct is quite wrong.
The People Who Are Exhausted after a Severe Famine Are like a Man Who Is in a State of Recovery after Suffering a Serious Illness; Therefore, the Magistrate Must Not Neglect Assisting the People and Stabilizing Their Lives.
The ways of making the people settle down after the famine are as follows: first, providing them with provisions; second, providing them with oxen; third, reducing their taxes; and fourth, remitting their debts. If the magistrate patrols the villages and farms and asks the people about the illnesses and troubles that bother them, and if he encourages them to strengthen the foundation of their livelihood, taking extreme caution not to shake or hurt it, that is the right way to cure a serious illness.
The following happened when Fan Chunren governed Qingzhou. When a severe famine struck the district year after year, the people ate up all their oxen for farming. Fan purchased oxen and seeds from a neighboring district and loaned them to the residents of his district in accordance with the number of their families and households. As to the area of minority people on the border, he employed outsiders to reclaim and cultivate the land, sowing seeds on a large piece of land. Finally he reaped a good harvest.
The following happened in the seventh year [1681] of King Sukchong. Earlier the Kwansŏ region had been afflicted with a poor harvest year after year, and the damage of six districts was particularly serious. Hence the government divided starving people into three groups for the purpose of famine relief: those who had relatives but no land; those who had land but no relatives; and those who wandered and begged for food, having neither relatives nor land. It provided them with provisions or grain and later forgave taxes, especially those of the people who belonged to the third category. Around that time the government, at the request of the governor, once again conducted a survey of the landless people and forgave their taxes, which amounted to 1,630 sŏk of grain.
In my observation, to make vagrant people [yumin] settle down is the foremost priority of benevolent administration. What is happening these days, however, is that the government pressures the people, who are still recovering from the disastrous damage of famine, to pay their taxes and collect what they owe to the government. As a result, those who are on the run flee much farther, and those who stay around are much more scattered. Therefore, the people in the southern provinces often say, “A good harvest is worse than a poor one; being rich is worse than being poor; and staying alive is worse than being dead.” Once houses and villages are deserted, they cannot be occupied again, and once the rice paddies and dry fields are abandoned, they are not cultivated again. What the government can gain [by pressuring the people who are already hard pressed to pay their taxes] is only a little; what it can lose, however, is enormous. If the people, the foundation of the state, fall down, on whom can the government rely in the future? Among the matters about which the government should be concerned and the magistrates should exert themselves, nothing will be more urgent than to stabilize the lives of the people.
1. An official belonging to the Terrestrial Ministry in Rites of Zhou.
2. The law carried out by the chief judge when there was a famine. Here it indicates granting generosity to criminal offenders.
3. The first chapter in Book of Rites.
4. Li Ki, in Legge, Sacred Books of the East, 106.
5. The author of the Commentary of Guliang. Commentary of Guliang is one of the three main commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals, along with Zuo’s Commentary (or Chronicle of Zuo) and Commentary of Gongyang.
6. Seoul during the reign of Sŏnjo was divided into five areas: east, west, south, north, and center.
7. A famous state councilor of the Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Yanguo, and his posthumous title Wenzhong.
8. The example here indicates the law of the Ever-Normal Granary made by Li Kui.
9. These were the twenty-fifth and thirtieth years of King Yŏngjo, when severe famine took place throughout the whole state.
10. An official of the mid-Chosŏn period. He also served as third minister of taxation, governor of Hwanghae Province, and third minister of rites.
11. Legge, The Works of Mencius, Book I, 132. The comments in parentheses are those of Chŏng Yagyong.
12. These terms all mean essentially the same thing.
13. Ch’ungch’ŏng, Chŏlla, and Kyŏngsang provinces in the south.
14. The commissioner here, according to Chŏng Yagyong’s note, is Yun Tongsŏm (1710–?), who served as inspector general and second minister of taxation.
15. Kim Simuk (Kyŏnggi Province), Yun Tongsŏp (Ch’ungch’ŏng Province), Hong Inhan (Chŏlla Province), and Yi Ijang (Kyŏngsang Province).
16. Called taedongmi, it indicates the tax that replaced tribute in kind.
17. The private residence of King Injo before he rose to the throne.
18. The private residence of King Yŏngjo before he rose to the throne.
19. Called tanmok in Korean, it is a species of flowering tree in the legume family. This plant has many uses, such as a material for making bows, reddish dye, and medicine. It was a major trade good in the seventeenth century.
20. Ŭlhae year was 1695, the twenty-first year of Sukchong.
21. A low-ranking official (junior rank 8) working at the Military Training Agency, the Weapons Bureau, or other government agencies.
22. A low-ranking official (junior rank 7) working at the State Tribunal or the Seals Office (Sangsŏwŏn).
23. An official of the early Chosŏn dynasty. He joined Great Lord Suyang (King Sejo) in his struggle for power and played a crucial role in enthroning him, eliminating his enemies who were loyal to King Tanjong, Lord Suyang’s nephew. Because of this success, Han served in numerous high-ranking positions for decades, including chief state councilor.
24. Modern Lankao, Henan Province. In 651 the state of Qi organized a meeting with the leaders of Lu, Song, Zheng, Wei, and Zhou to form a friendly alliance.
25. An official of the Song dynasty during the reign of Renzong.
26. “Preparation for Famine,” Laws on Taxation.
27. Zhu Xi Daquan (Complete Collected Works of Zhu Xi), Bieji, vol. 9, “Gongli.”
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. An official of the Later Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Zhonghuang. His administration was reputed to be so benevolent that even bandits avoided attacking it.
31. An official of the Western Jin dynasty (265–316). He provided relief to the refugees at the turbulent time of the revolt of the Yongjia era, and also served as prefect of Henei.
32. Zhang Sunchen, an official of the Lu state during the Spring and Autumn period. Wenzhong was his posthumous title.
33. Unknown.
34. Circuit (lu) is a generic name for the largest territorial administrative jurisdictions.
35. A military stronghold and gateway located in Sichuan.
36. The reign name of Xiaozong, eleventh emperor of the Song dynasty. He reigned from 1162 to 1189.
37. The official title chubu was originally a designation for recorders who were the members of a great many agencies, normally handling the flow of documents in and out of their units. However, it later became a designation for assistant magistrate on the staff of various units of territorial administration whose rank was just below vice magistrate (Palais, Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions, 182).
38. Established in the early Chosŏn period, this agency presided over matters concerning all the rites of the state.
39. An official of the mid-Chosŏn dynasty during the reign of Sukchong. His courtesy name was Taesu, and his pen name Nobong. He served as inspector general and as minister of personnel, of works, of taxation, and of punishments, and finally as second state councilor.
40. An official of the mid-Chosŏn dynasty during the reign of Sukchong. His courtesy name was Sabaek, and his pen name Sigam. He served as chief royal secretary, minister of war, and third state councilor.
41. A vehicle that was allowed to officials above junior second rank in the Chosŏn dynasty.
42. A general reference to the civil officials of senior fifth rank in the Chosŏn dynasty.
43. This statement indicates that serious discrimination existed in the late Chosŏn society against low-ranking officials or men of low status who acquired the title of grand master by contributing to relief efforts compared with the regular officials who held the same title. Tasan is not really enthusiastic about awarding official titles to common people for their monetary contributions during a famine; however, once the titles are awarded, he believes that those who are awarded the titles should be treated respectfully in accordance with their new titles.
44. Fourth minister without portfolio and fifth minister without portfolio, who belonged to junior second rank and senior third rank, respectively, were higher than chief of a post station or pyŏlchwa officials in their rank and hierarchy.
45. An official of junior ninth rank.
46. An official of junior eighth rank.
47. An official of junior seventh rank.
48. An official of junior sixth rank.
49. His courtesy name was Sukjang, and his pen name Hagam. He served as director and commander of the Five Army Garrisons during the reign of Sukjong, and as third and second state councilor during the reign of Yŏngjo.
50. An official of the Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Jihai. He served as investigating censor and received the title of Hanlin academician.
51. The phrase derives from Minor Odes of the Kingdom of Classic of Poetry. The original phrase is . James Legge translates it as “The rich may get through” (“Zheng Yue,” Shi Jing, in Legge, The Chinese Classics [University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center], 192.
52. This means that the quality of the rice does not matter when the loan is repaid.
53. A man of the Lu state. He was originally a poor scholar but made a great fortune through breeding cattle and trading salt.
54. A poor man in the text of The Mencius (Mengzi).
55. The complaint is about the amount of rice to be donated for famine relief, which was fixed by the government.
56. This is presumed to be a journal kept by Tasan when he was exiled in Kangjin. The work does not survive.
57. Zeng Nanfeng refers to Zeng Gong (1019–1083), an official and scholar of the Song dynasty during the reign of Renzong. Nanfeng was his pen name. Yuezhou jiuzai ji means Record of Saving the People of Yuezhou during the Famine.
58. An official of the Song dynasty during the reign of Qinzong, the last emperor of the Northern Song. He won respect from the populace for his timely emergency flood relief and earned the nickname “Buddha Hong.” Following the fall of the Northern Song to the Jurchen Tartars, ancestors of the Manchu, he was dispatched to the Jurchen court as a peace envoy. Unfortunately, he was detained by the Jurchen emperor, who admired him, for over fourteen years, during which time he acted as a tutor to one of the Jurchen princes, Wushi.
59. An official of the Song dynasty.
60. An official of the Ming dynasty. He served as a case reviewer for law enforcement.
61. An official of the Ming dynasty. He served as magistrate of Qingpu, modern Qingpu County in Shanghai. He was a reputed playwright and essayist and best known for his work, Desultory Remarks on Furnishing the Abode of the Retired Scholar (Kaopan yushi).
62. Unknown.
63. An official of the Song dynasty. His name was Teng Fu. Yuanfa was his pen name. His courtesy name was Dadao, and his posthumous title Zhangmin. He also served as academician of Longtuge (Dragon Diagram Hall).
64. Unknown.
65. Wang Zhiyuan (1193−1257), a local administrator of the Southern Song dynasty.
66. Also called Zhedong.
67. This sanatorium was established in two locations in the capital, one in the east and the other in the west. The one in the east was called Tongdaebiwŏn, and the one in the west, Sŏdaebiwŏn. These sanatoriums sometimes looked after those who were sick with famine or homeless.
68. This was a relief institution established during the Koryŏ dynasty that was run by loaning money or grain to the people. With the interest made from such loans, it provided relief to people during famines and looked after the sick.
69. This refers to East Sanatorium and West Sanatorium, which were located in Seoul during the Chosŏn period. They were government institutions established to look after the sick. They were first established in 1414, the fourteenth year of T’aejong, but their name was changed to Hwalinsŏ during the reign of Sejo.
70. The relief center located outside the Tongdaemun Gate.
71. The relief center located on the road to Ŭiju, which was the route used by both Korean and Chinese envoys. In ordinary times it was used as a resting place for the envoys. It is in modern Hongjedong in Seoul.
72. The relief center in the south side of Mt. Namsan in Seoul. It was also used as an inn for travelers.
73. His courtesy name was Kyejang, and his pen name Hoewa. He served as magistrate of Kanghwa, as inspector general, and as minister of taxation, of punishments, and of personnel.
74. His courtesy name was Talbo, and his pen name Chukch’ŏn. He served as minister of works and minister of rites, as sixth state councilor, and as director of the Office of the Special Counselors.
75. An official of the Chosŏn dynasty during the reign of Sukchong. His courtesy name was Munsŏ. He also served as censor general, inspector general, chief royal secretary, governor of Kyŏngsang Province, and minister of punishments.
76. The twenty-third of the twenty-four seasonal divisions according to the lunar calendar. In the Gregorian calendar it usually begins around January 5 and ends around January 20.
77. The ninth of the twenty-four seasonal divisions, around June 6 or 7.
78. The third of the twenty-four seasonal divisions, around March 5 or 6.
79. The fifth of the twenty-four seasonal divisions. It is also called Hansik and is around April 5. Traditionally it is a good time for outings and tending the tombs of ancestors.
80. Rice, millet, barley, wheat, and beans; a general reference to all kinds of cereals.
81. The eighteenth of the twenty-four seasonal divisions, around October 23 or 24.
82. The four terms used here indicate the criteria in carrying out the distribution of relief grain.
83. The Heavenly Ministry was similar to the Ministry of State, and the head of the Heavenly Ministry served as prime minister.
84. The Naval Command for the two southern provinces of Chŏlla and Kyŏngsang (Palais, Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions, 1187).
85. Kwanmu (
) is the grain that the magistrate purchases privately for the purpose of famine relief.
86. Mabang means both a horse stable and an inn with stable facilities. The horse stable here indicates the one established in the yard of a district office during the Chosŏn dynasty.
87. Tasan served as chief of Kŭmjŏng Post Station in 1795 for approximately half a year. During this period he visited Hongju in South Ch’ungch’ŏng Province.
88. This refers to a historical record that Fu Bi of the Song dynasty built a mass grave for vagrants and tramps who died of an epidemic disease.
89. An older brother of Queen Inhyŏn (1667–1701), the second wife of King Sukchong. His courtesy name was Chŏngsun, and his pen name Chijae. He served as censor general, magistrate of Kanghwa, minister of punishments, minister of rites, sixth state councilor, and chief magistrate of Seoul.
90. Unknown.
91. An official of the mid-Chosŏn period. His courtesy name was Chago, and his pen name Sŏlp’a. He also served as magistrate of Kaesŏng and second minister of taxation.
92. Written by King Sejong himself, this book is known to have provided the information on the use of pine needles as an alternative food during famine years. However, the full text is not handed down; only an abridged version translated into Korean hangŭl was published in 1554, the ninth year of King Myŏngjong.
93. His courtesy name was Kyeju, and his pen name Oejae. He served as inspector general, minister of rites, minister of personnel, and third state councilor.
94. An official of the Song dynasty during the reign of Renzong. His courtesy name was Baiyong, and his posthumous title Wenzhong. He served as vice grand councilor and vice minister of personnel.
95. A friend of Zhu Xi. His pen name was Jiaxian jushi. He left Collected Works of Jiaxin (Jiaxianji).
96. Unknown.
97. An official of the late Chosŏn dynasty during the reign of Chŏngjo. His courtesy name was Pŏpjŏng, and his pen name Haechwa. He served as headmaster of the National Confucian Academy, censor general, second minister of personnel, minister of punishments, and deputy director of the Office of Special Counselors.
98. “Kao Tsze,” in Legge, The Works of Mencius, Book 4, 404.
99. Ibid.
100. The leader of a bandit group in the late Song dynasty. He became the model of the hero in the novel Water Margin.
101. Namdang is either the name of a village in Kangjin or Kangjin itself, which is a small town where Tasan lived in exile.
102. A distilled beverage native to Korea. Though it is traditionally made from rice, most brands replace rice with barley, wheat, and potato.
103. This means that although the original tax was only 2 sŏk of rice, it increased out of all proportion in the process of being recollected because the process involved all sorts of tricks and irregularities that were usually committed by clerks.
104. The magistrate.
105. The five thefts, the five concealments, the five gains, and the five losses.
106. “Famine Relief,” Laws on Taxation.
107. “Preparation for Famine Relief” (“Pihwang”), Laws on Famine Relief.
108. An official of the early Chosŏn dynasty. His courtesy name was Noeji. He also served as second censor, fourth royal secretary, and second minister of personnel.
109. His courtesy name was Paegwŏn, and his pen name Ch’angmyŏng. He also served as fourth censor, fifth counselor, and royal secretary.
110. “Famine Relief,” Laws on Taxation.
111. “Famine Relief,” Laws on Taxation.
112. “Decade of Luming” (161), “Minor Odes of the Kingdom,” Shi Jing, in Legge, The Chinese Classics (University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center). My translation.