Gwajeonbeop

Overview

The Gwajeonbeop (科田法) was enacted during the land system reform at the end of the Goryeo period, and prescribed a method of distributing to officeholders the right to collect taxes (the right to collect taxes on land) from land. It was enacted in May 1391 (the third year of King Gongyang) on the recommendation of the Dopyeong Uisasa (都評議使司). (The date is according to the lunar calendar.) The process of abolishing the private estates (私田) at the end of Goryeo and establishing the Gwajeonbeop became a decisive turning point in the founding of Joseon, and the Gwajeonbeop was inherited as it was by Joseon.

Background

In the late Goryeo period, the Jeonsigwa system collapsed, and the powerful aristocratic families (權門勢族) expanded large-scale estates through annexation (兼并), seizure (點奪), and grants of exemption (賜牌), among other means. Cases arose in which several people collected taxes from a single piece of land, increasing the burden on farmers, and the state treasury was exhausted. Attempts to correct this, such as the land and people rectification project (田民辨正事業) during the reform of Shin Don, were made but failed due to the opposition of the powerful aristocratic families. As the tax transport by sea was cut off due to Japanese pirates (倭寇), it was difficult even to supply officials' salaries and military provisions.

Progression

Yi Song-gye's faction, which seized political power through the Wihwado Withdrawal, began land reform under the pretext of stabilizing people's livelihoods and securing state finances and military provisions.

• July 1388: Jo Jun submitted a memorial recommending land reform for the first time. Afterward, Yi Haeng, Hwang Sun-sang, Jo In-ok, and Heo Eung joined in.
• August and December 1389: Jo Jun successively submitted memorials on land reform, confronting opponents of the reform, including Yi Saek, Yi Rim, Woo Hyeon-bo, Byeon An-yeol, Gwon Geun, and Yu Baek-yu.
• January 1390: For the first time, new land documents (田籍) were distributed by the Geupjeondogam (給田都監).
• September 1390: During the reign of King Gongyang, the old land documents of both public and private land were burned. King Gongyang is said to have lamented that the system of the founding ancestors had collapsed in his generation.
• May 1391: The Gwajeonbeop was enacted according to a memorial from the Dopyeong Uisasa.

Contents

Land Distribution

Land distributed by the state is divided into (私田), in which the right to collect taxes goes to individuals, and (公田), which goes to public institutions.