The Review of Korean Studies
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- P-ISSN1229-0076
- E-ISSN2773-9351
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ISSN : 1229-0076
King Sejong’s Deliberative Politics: With Reference to the Process of Tax Reform
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Abstract
Sejong’s reform of the taxation system, which has been identified as one of his most outstanding achievements, was unique not only in terms of the nature of the reforms but the process in which it was carried out as well. This reform was in essence premised on the abolishment of the sonsil dapheombeop, which was a taxation system that involved inspectors being dispatched to individual fields in order to assess taxes to be levied based on the amount of crop damage from that year, in favor of the gongbeop under which uniform amounts of taxes were assessed based on land fertility and regional productivity. However, even more important than the gongbeop itself was the process in which these reforms were carried out. Sejong was able to surprisingly make use of a deliberative process that would last for seventeen years to get even those who had opposed this new system to recognize the necessity for its introduction. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: 1) How did Sejong overcome the opposition of high-ranking officials, who represented the main political force at that time, to his reform efforts? 2) What was Sejong’s reasoning for making use of such a comprehensive nationwide public opinion survey, a survey which can arguably be considered as the first of its kind in world history up until that point? 3) Viewed from the standpoint of open and public politics that served as the main political mechanism during the Joseon dynasty, how should we assess the manner in which Sejong arosed public opinion and managed his Confucian deliberative politics? 4) What kind of lessons can today’s Korean politicians learn from Sejong’s leadership in terms of politics and state management?
- keywords
- Statecraft, Confucian deliberative politics, gongbeop (貢法), sonsildapheombeop (損實踏驗法), yeonbun jeonbun (分田分), Statecraft, Confucian deliberative politics, gongbeop (貢法), sonsildapheombeop (損實踏驗法), yeonbun jeonbun (分田分)
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