The Review of Korean Studies
- Apply for Authority
- P-ISSN1229-0076
- E-ISSN2773-9351
- SCOPUS, ESCI
ISSN : 1229-0076
Law and the Body in Joseon Korea: Statecraft and the Negotiation of Ideology
- Downloaded
- Viewed
Abstract
Once considered almost exclusively to be the domain of legal scholars, Joseon dynasty criminal law is recently attracting increasing attention from social, political and intellectual historians of Korea. Despite often reaching opposing conclusions on the characteristics of Joseon legal culture, historians and legal scholars share a strong focus on the dominating role of Confucian ideology. While acknowledging the importance of Confucianism for Joseon statecraft, this paper argues that in actual statecraft and the application of the law, this ideology was negotiated with the perceived needs of the state. The focus of analysis is the relationship between the judicial process—investigation, interrogation and punishment—and cosmological, ideological and cultural notions related to the body. The purpose is to show the tension between the state need to maintain the system and uphold social order (as defined by the state) and the need for the state itself to adhere to the basic principles of the ideology that underpinned this system. Addressing the role of law and punishment in statecraft, the analysis is based on a theoretical framework that combines a conflict-based understanding of society with one that is consensus-based. While on the one hand the violation of notions related to the body was the purport of punishment when dealing with the most severe crimes against the state and its ideology, we can also see how such notions influenced the discourses on penal benevolence, torture and exhumation, whilst partly constituting the reason why some forms of torture were prohibited.
- keywords
- punishment, torture, mutilation, exhumation, somatic integrity
Reference
Brook, Timothy. 2011. “Capital Punishment and State Sovereignty in China.” Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 11 (2): 107-21.
Brook, Timothy, Jérôme Bourgon, and Gregory Blue. 2008. Death by a Thousand Cuts. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Chugwanji 秋官志. (1781) 2004. Facsimile edition. Vol. 2. Seoul: Seoul Daehakgyo Chulpanbu.
Chun, Bong Duck. 1980. “Legal Attitudes of the Late Yi Dynasty.” In Traditional Korean Legal Attitudes, by Bong Duck Chun, William Shaw and Dai-Kwon Choi, 1-14. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
Daejeon hoetong 大典會通. (1865) 1985. Reprint of 1938 publication, edited by the Government-General of Joseon. Seoul: Bogyeong Munhwasa.
Daejeon tongpyeon 大典通編. (1785) 1963. Seoul: Beopjecheo.
Daemyeongnyul jikhae 大明律直解. (1686) 2001. Facsimile edition. Seoul: Seoul Daehakgyo Gyujanggak.
Deuchler, Martina. 1992. The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology. Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University.
Dubber, Markus D. 2011. “Regulatory and Legal Aspects of Penality.” In Law as Punishment / Law as Regulation, edited by Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas and Martha Merrill Umphrey, 19-49. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Edwards, Peter. 1996. Torture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Foucault, Michel. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.
Garland, David. 1990. “Frameworks of Inquiry in the Sociology of Punishment.” The British Journal of Sociology 14 (1): 1-15.
Geogwan daeyo 居官大要. (n.d.) 1983. Facsimile edition. Seoul: Beopjecheo.
Gu, Deokhoe. 2007. “Daemyeongnyul gwa Joseon junggi hyeongnyul sang ui sinbun chabyeol.” Yeoksa wa hyeonsil 65: 59-88.
Gyeongguk daejeon 經國大典. (1485) 1983. Facsimile edition. Seoul: Asea Munhwasa.
Haboush, JaHyun Kim. 2001. The Confucian Kingship in Korea: Yŏngjo and the Politics of Sagacity. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hahm, Pyong-choon. 1967. The Korean Political Tradition and Law. Seoul: Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch.
Han, Sanggwon. 2007. “Sejongdae chidoron gwa Daemyeongnyul: Jeoldo sambeomja cheobeol eul dulleossan nonbyeon eul jungsim euro.” Yeoksa wa hyeonsil 65: 27-57.
Han, Sanggwon. 2011. “Joseon sidae gyohwa wa hyeongjeong.” Yeoksa wa hyeonsil 79: 271-303.
Hyogyeong 孝經. (n.d.) 1973. Seoul: Gigongsa.
Jackson, Andrew. 2011. “The 1728 Musillan Rebellion: Resources and the Fifth-Columnists.” Unpublished PhD dissertation. School of Oriental and African Studies.
Jeong, Yak-yong. (1818) 1978. Mongmin simseo 牧民心書. Vol. 1. Translated by Dasan Yeonguhoe. Changbi Sinseo 20. Seoul: Changjak gwa Bipyeong.
Jeong, Yak-yong. (1819) 1999. Heumheum sinseo 欽欽新書. Seoul: Hyeondae Sirhaksa.
Jeungbo munheon bigo 增補文獻備考. (1908) 1957. Vol. 2. Seoul: Dongguk Munhwasa.
Jiang, Yonglin. 2011. The Mandate of Heaven and The Great Ming Code. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Jo, Jiman. 2008. “Joseon sidae beop munhwa.” Beop gyoyuk yeongu 3 (1): 135-63.
Jo, Yunseon. 2009. “Yeongjodae namhyeong, hokhyeong pyeji gwajeong ui siltae wa heumhyul e daehan pyeongga.” Joseon sidaesa hakbo 48: 211-53.
Joseon wangjo sillok 朝鮮王朝實錄. Guksa Pyeonchan Wiwonhoe. http://sillok.history.go.kr/main/main.jsp.
Kalton, Michael C. 1985. “The Writings of Kwŏn Kŭn: The Context and Shape of Early Yi Dynasty Neo-Confucianism.” In The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea, edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary and JaHyun Kim Haboush, 89-123. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kim, Ho. 2000. Heo Jun ui “Dongui bogam” yeongu. Seoul: Iljisa.
Kim, Ho. 2003. “Haeje: ‘Sinju Muwollok’ gwa Joseon jeongi ui geomsi.” In Sinju Muwollok, translated by Kim Ho, 13-42. Seoul: Sagyejeol.
Kim, Ho. 2010. “‘Heumheum sinseo’ ui ilgochal: Dasan ui gwaosal haeseok eul jungsim euro.” Joseon sidaesa hakbo 54: 233-67.
Kim, Ho. 2012a. “‘Uisal’ ui jogeon gwa hangye: Dasan ui ‘Heumheum sinseo’ reul jungsim euro.” Yeoksa wa hyeonsil 84: 331-62.
Kim, Ho. 2012b. “Joseon hugi gangsang ui gangjo wa Dasan Jeong Yak-yong eui jeong, li, beop: ‘Heumheum sinseo’ e natanan beop gwa dodeok ui ginjang.” Dasanhak 20: 7-39.
Kim, Gichun. 1990. Joseon sidae hyeongjeon: “Gyeongguk daejeon” hyeongjeon jungsim euro. Seoul: Samyeongsa.
Kim, Seongsu. 2008. “Joseon hugi seoyang uihak ui suyong gwa inchegwan ui byeonhwa: Seongho hakpa jungsim euro.” Minjok munhwa 31: 311-58.
Miethe, Terance D. and Hong Lu. 2005. Punishment: A Comparative Historical Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sarat, Austin, Lawrence Douglas and Martha Merrill Umphrey, eds. 2011. Law as Punishment / Law as Regulation. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Seungjeongwon ilgi 承政院日記. Guksa Pyeonchan Wiwonhoe. http://sjw.history.go.kr/main/main.jsp.
Shaw, William. 1980. “Social and Intellectual Aspects of Traditional Korean Law, 1392-1910.” In Traditional Korean Legal Attitudes, Bong Duck Chun, William Shaw and Dai-Kwon Choi, 15-53. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
Shaw, William. 1987. “The Neo-Confucian Revolution of Values in Early Yi Korea: Its Implications for Korean Legal Thought.” In Law and the State in Traditional East Asia: Six Studies on the Sources of East Asian Law, edited by Brian E. McKnight, 149-72. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Shin, Dong-won (Sin Dong-won). 2004. “Byeon Gangsoega ro ingneun seong, byeong, jugeom ui munhwasa.” Yeoksa bipyeong 67: 307-32.
Shin, Dong-won (Sin Dong-won). 2010. “The Characteristics of Joseon Medicine: Discourses on the Body, Illustration and Dissection.” The Review of Korean Studies 13 (1): 149-78.
Silverman, Lisa. 2001. Tortured Subjects: Pain, Truth and the Body in Early Modern France. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Sim, Huigi. 1998. “18 segi ui hyeongsa beopjedo gaehyeok.” Hanguk munhwa 20: 205-44.
Sim, Jae-u. 1999. “Jeongjodae ‘Heumhyul jeonchik’ ui banpo wa hyeonggu jeongbi.” Gyujanggak 22: 135-53.
Sim, Jae-u. 2003. “Joseon sidae beopjeon pyeonchan gwa hyeongsa jeongchaek ui byeonhwa.” Jindan hakbo 96: 243-64.
Sim, Jae-u. 2010. “Yeongjodae jeongchibeom cheobeol eul tonghae bon beop gwa jeongchi.” Jeongsin munhwa yeongu 33 (4): 41-68.
Sim, Jae-u. 2011a. “Joseon sidae neungji cheosahyeong jiphaeng ui silsang gwa geu teukjing.” Sahoe wa yeoksa 90: 153-54.
Sim, Jae-u. 2011b. Ne joe reul gohayeora: Beomnyul gwa hyeongbeol ro ingneun Joseon. Seoul: Sancheoreom.
Sinju Muwollok 新註無寃錄. (1440) 2003. Translated by Kim Ho. Seoul: Sagyejeol.
Thompson, E. P. 2001. “The Rule of Law.” In The Essential E. P. Thompson, edited by Dorothy Thompson, 432-42. New York: The New Press.
Tomiya, Itaru. 2012. “The Transition from the Ultimate Mutilation to the Death Penalty: A Study on Capital Punishment from the Han to the Tang.” In Capital Punishment in East Asia, edited by Itaru Tomiya, 1-54. Kyoto: Kyoto University Press.
Turner, Karen. 1999. “The Criminal Body and the Body Politic: Punishments in Early Imperial China.” Cultural Dynamics 11 (2): 237-54.
Yun, Baeknam. 1948. Joseon hyeongjeongsa. Seoul: Munye Seorim.
- Downloaded
- Viewed
- 0KCI Citations
- 0WOS Citations