조선후기 수령의 향촌통치와 관민소통책 -18세기 목민서를 중심으로- (The suryong's governing policy to control the hyangchon and communication between government officials and the people in the later Chosun period -focused on Mongminso in the 18th century-)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국사상사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국사상사학 / 49호 / 123 ~ 159페이지
· 저자명 : 홍해뜸

초록

본 논문에서는 18세기 목민서가 제시하는 수령의 향촌지배 방안과 관민소통책을 살펴보았다. 목민서에는 새로운 향촌통치 방법을 서술하고 있었고 이는 당시 조선 정부의 개혁방향과 맞닿아 있었다. 목민서 저자들은 수령과 민의 관계를 고민하며 민과의 소통을 중요하게 여겼고 이러한 문제의식을 공유하고 있었다.
이를 위해 먼저 수령과 민 사이에 존재하는 중간세력인 향임과 이서를 통제해야 했다. 이 방법은 향소를 강력하게 장악하고 형장을 강조하는 방법과 향소의 자율성을 인정하면서 교화를 강조하는 방법으로 나뉘었다. 전자를 표명하는 목민서는 『목민고』였고 후자는 『임관정요』, 『선각』, 『칠사고』 였다.
이렇게 수령의 향촌지배방안에는 목민서 간 차이가 존재하였으나 궁극적으로 이들 목민서에서 지향한 것은 관과 민의 소통이었다. 먼저 청송시 수령의 역할과 태도에 주목하여, 소장처리 절차와 방법을 상세하게 제시하였다. 특히 목민서에서는 소지뿐만 아니라 발괄까지 수령이 직접 정성스럽게 처리할 것을 주문하여 모든 계층이 억울함이 없이 자신의 의사를 표시할 수 있게 하였다.
두 번째는 수령과 민의 직접 연결이었다. 민의가 직접 상달될 수 있는 통로를 제도화하여 구체적이고 실제적인 사회문제 파악에 목적을 둔 것이었다. 이를 위해 목민서에서 수령은 국왕이 순문을 실시하듯 전령을 내려 향촌 사회 모든 사람에게 폐단 및 의견을 개진하라 하였다. 이 때 언문으로 된 것도 인정하였다. 이 방법은 일반 민의 의견도 공론으로 인정하고자 한 움직임의 반영이었다. 여기서 더 나아가 항통이라는 익명의 투고함을 만들어 민들이 향촌사회에서 자행되고 있던 불법들을 직접 고발할 수 있게 하였다.
목민서는 향촌사회에서 구체적으로 실현될 수 있는 개선책에 초점을 맞추어 민과 가장 가까운 곳에서 실효성 있는 방안으로 소민보호를 시행하고자 하였다. 민정을 잘 살피고 언로를 개방하여 관과 민이 소통하여 성장하고 있던 민의 역량을 인정하고 수령권의 기반으로 삼고자 한 것이다. 수령정치의 성패가 수령과 향촌세력만의 문제가 아니라 민과 관련됨을 자각한 결과였다.

영어초록

The Chosun government's policy on hyangchon in the 18th century was to enforce the government's control to the public through an establishment of a suryong-led ruling. Suryong, as seen in suryong chilsa, was a sole delegate within a kunhyun, entrusted by the king to take full charge of governing the province. However, his ruling power was restricted to wield the entrusted authority fully. In fact, his moral credentials and administrative capacity as an individual were the decisive element in the success or failure of the reign.
Mongminso became an important resource book for the suryongs in this particular setting as it contained a list of things that mattered to them such as self-discipline, administrative guidelines on the national system, management strategies for an ideal hyangchon and so on. Hence, various versions of Mongminso were published and distributed in the 18th century.
A new ruling strategy for hyangchon, differentiated from old ones, were introduced in Mongminso, which reflected the reform the Chosun government was then carrying out. The authors of Mongminso pondered about the relation between suryong and the people and put a high priority on communication. The authors shared the same sentiment about the importance of communication and suggested wide-ranging methods of enhancing communication between the government and the public.
It was deemed necessary for suryongs to supervise the local officials called Hyang-Im and Lee-Seo in order to directly and better communicate with the people. There were two approaches to supervising them. One was to incorporate Hyang-So into an administrative organ at the suryong's command and promote a punishment-oriented policy. The other was to recognize the autonomy of Hyang-So and encourage edification rather than punishment.
There existed different opinions as to how suryongs could consolidate its power over hyangchon as aforementioned. The ultimate goal of Mongminso was, however, to improve communication between the government and the public. There were two suggestions in Mongminso as to how to achieve the effective communication. Firstly, considering the role and attitude of suryongs when it comes to dealing with lawsuits, the Mongminso presented the detailed procedure and methods to cope with the lawsuits. In particular, suryongs were requested to handle bal-kwal(verbal appeals) as well as so-ji(written appeals) with the utmost care by themselves so that all people, regardless of social class, could express their opinions without feeling they have been treated unfairly.
Secondly, it was to directly connect suryongs with the public. In other words, it intended to institutionalize a pathway that directly delivered the public opinions to the government and aimed to help suryongs understand social ills in more specific and practical terms. Suryongs were advised in Mongminso to grant an order of the same kind as a king's Soon-Moon, an interview where a king listened to people's opinions in person, so that all the people in hyangchon could articulate the problems and their opinions. The people were allowed to write appeals in Korean. This approach meant that the ordinary people’s ideas were counted as essential public opinion. Moreover, a submission box of anonymous grievances called Hyang-Tong was made available to the public, providing them opportunities to make an accusation of illegalities occurred in local society.
Focusing on the feasibility of reform, Mongminso aimed to safeguard the ordinary people in hyangchon through the employment of efficient measures as locally as possible. By looking after the people and opening up the participatory communication, Mongminso also acknowledged and intended to facilitate the growing capacity of the public on which the suryong's power could be based. All in all, Mongminso realized that the well-established local politics led by suryongs depended on not only suryong and local aristocrats but also the ordinary people of the hyangchon society.

참고자료

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