고려 전기 ‘상경(上京)’을 통해 본 개경의 위상 (Gae’gyeong’s Status: Examined from the People’s “Visit to the Capital(上京)” during the Goryeo dynasty’s early half period)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 서울시립대학교 서울학연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 서울학연구 / 60호 / 1 ~ 28페이지
· 저자명 : 이익주

초록

고려시대에는 지방행정 제도와 본관제를 통해 지역 간의 위계질서를 구성하였으며, 그 위계의 가장 정점에 수도 개경이 위치하였다. 개경의 이러한 우월적 지위는 사람들의 생활 속에서 어떻게 나타났을까? 고려 전기에 지방 사람들이 서울에 올라가 사는 것, 즉 상경(上京)은 자유롭게 이루어졌을까? 이 논문은 이러한 의문에 답함으로써 위계적 공간 질서 속에서 수도 개경의 위상을 밝히려는 것이다. 먼저, 고려 전기 상경의 사례를 찾아서 상경하는 사람들의 신분과 상경 목적을 조사하였으며, 고려시대의 독특한 형벌제도인 귀향형(歸鄕刑)을 통해 상경의 의미를 재음미해보았다. 귀향형이란 말 그대로 향리(鄕里) 즉, 본관으로 돌려보내는 형벌이므로 그 대상은 당연히 서울에 사는 사람이었고, 서울에서 추방하는 것이 형벌이라면 역으로 서울로 올라가는 상경은 특별한 의미를 갖는 것이라고 생각했기 때문이다.
고려 전기에 지방 사람들의 상경은 매우 제한적인 범위에서 이루어졌다. 사료에서 확인되기로는 지방 향리의 상경종사(上京從仕)가 거의 대부분이었다. 여기에는 과거를 통한 상경 출사(出仕) 이외에 기인(其人)을 거쳐 중앙 관청의 이속(吏屬)이 되는 경우, 선군(選軍)을 거쳐 경군(京軍)이 되는 경우, 그리고 승려가 상경하는 경우 등이 있었다. 이렇게 상경한 사람들은 호적을 개경으로 옮기고 ‘왕경인(王京人)’이 되었으며, 이 지위는 자손에게 세습되었다.
향리 계층 아래의 일반민들이 자유롭게 상경할 수 있었는지는 자료의 부족으로 여전히 밝히지 못하였다. 다만, 일반민의 상경 문제는 고려시대의 독특한 형벌인 귀향형을 통해 추적해보았다. 귀향형은 본관지로 유배하는 형벌이지만, 이것이 일반 유배형과 다른 의미를 갖는 이유는 왕경인의 지위를 박탈하는 데 있었다. 그랬기 때문에 관리가 아닌 사람도 왕경인이라면 귀향형의 적용 대상이 되었다. 귀향형의 적용 대상은 범법자 본인에 그치지 않고, 왕경인의 지위를 공유하고 있는 가족에까지 미침으로써 선대 또는 당대에 이룬 상경의 성과를 무효화했다는 점에서 중형에 속했다. 그렇다면 귀향의 대척점에 있는 상경은, 상경한 사람들이 왕경인으로서 특혜를 누릴 수 있었음을 의미하며, 따라서 특정 계층에게만 허용되었을 가능성이 크다고 할 수 있다.
결국 고려시대의 개경은 계서적 지방제도 및 본관제에 의해 예외적이고 초월적인 위상을 보장받았고, 신분제적 규제를 통해 지방민들의 상경을 제한함으로써 그 위상을 유지했다. 그러나 고려 후기에는 이러한 독점이 이완되고 개경의인구가 증가하였다. 그 원인은 본관제가 제대로 유지되지 못했기 때문이기도 하지만, 보다 근본적으로는 지방민들의 상경 욕구를 억제하지 못했기 때문이었다, 즉, ‘독점과 차별’을 특징으로 하는 전근대 한국의 수도성(首都性)은 지방으로부터의 상경을 억제하는 방향으로 나타났지만, 역설적으로 상경을 유인하는 결과를 초래함으로써 수도 인구가 계속해서 증가하게 되었던 것이다.

영어초록

With a local administrative system, and the “Bon’gwan” practice, the Goryeo authorities formed a hierarchy structure that would define the relationship between the capital city and other local regions. Needless to say, Gae’gyeong, the capital city of Goryeo, was at the top of that chain.
How would such superior position have been reflected in people’s lives? And were the [local] people free to visit and also establish a residence inside Gae’gyeong, in other words free to “Sang’gyeong(上京),” in the early half period of the dynasty? By answering these questions, we would be able to determine the status of Gae’gyeong, in terms of the administrative hierarchy that existed throughout the Korean peninsula at the time.
To that end, in this article, all the examples of local people ‘visiting’ the capital in this period are surveyed in details. Their social background[social class] and the reasons behind their visits are all categorized. Also examined is the Goryeo period’s unique punishment called ‘sentence to return home[歸鄕刑],’ in order to define the meaning of ‘Sang’gyeong’ from an opposite angle. It was a punishment designed to send an individual literally ‘back home,’ to one’s home town, which was referred to as “Bon’gwan.” People who were subject to such punishments were naturally the ones who were away from their hometowns, and living in the capital. The fact that deportation from the capital was considered as a punishment shed some light on how ‘joining’ the capital would have been ‘specially’ considered at the time.
In the early half period of Goryeo, only a limited range of people seem to have been allowed to visit and join the capital. According to historical records, mostly local clerks(“Hyang’ri, 鄕吏”) were the ones who came to the capital and served as governmental officials. They either applied to the competitive national examination system and successfully passed it, or enlisted themselves as Gi’in(其人), served the government and then officially became clerks(吏屬) inside governmental offices. In some cases they were mobilized as soldiers(選軍) and then officially drafted as members of the Central Army(京軍), or moved to the capital even as Buddhist priests. People who moved over to the capital also had their personal census information transferred to the capital region as well, and officially became ‘Capital residents(王京人).’ This status was even inherited to their offsprings. And as an exception, local clerks coming to the capital for ‘away studies’ would have left their census information where they were, and only resided in the capital temporarily.
Whether or not people below the “Hyang’ri” level were able to freely move over and join the capital is hard to determine due to absence of relevant data. But we can seek an indirect answer to that question by examining the aforementioned ‘sentence to return home.’ It was a punishment to send someone back to its ‘Bon’gwan,’ but was unlike any other punishments, as it was a sentence that deprived someone of its prior status as a “Capital citizen.” People living inside the capital, governmental official or not, were subjectable to this punishment.
And the punishment did not end with the offender itself. Family members who shared such status as capital citizens had to share the punishment as well. In other words, it was a punishment that nullified the achievement(earning the right to move over and join the capital) established either in the last or present generation. Considering all this, the opposite of this sentence, the privilege to join the capital, was to be enjoyed by only a limited group of people, people who belonged to a specific social class.
The Gae’gyeong capital was granted an exceptional and superior status maintained by an administrative hierarchy that engulfed the entire Korean peninsula, as well as a unique “Bon’gwan” practice that linked individuals and houses to specific regions. And the local population was under social stratification which did not allow them to freely move over and join the capital, which also maintained the exclusively dignified status of the capital. But in the latter half period of Goryeo, such situation was weakened and the size of Gae’gyeong population continued to grow, partially because the Bon’gwan system was breaking down, but more substantially because the government was no longer able to regulate the local people’s desire to join the capital. We can say that the premodern capital cities’ monopolistic and discriminative nature tended to bar local residents from joining them, but ironically such nature itself continued to invite the very people they were pushing away.

참고자료

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