This paper strives to analyze Yu Hyeong-won's plans to build an ideal state, with a special focus on his plans for the taxation and financial systems. Yu Hyeong-won identified a state in which all members of society come to have their own spaces throu...
This paper strives to analyze Yu Hyeong-won's plans to build an ideal state, with a special focus on his plans for the taxation and financial systems. Yu Hyeong-won identified a state in which all members of society come to have their own spaces through the education of good citizens (yangmin) and human resources (yangsa) as an ideal one. Yu believed that an ideal state could be built when all the institutions that make up a state, such as financial, regulatory, and organizational institutions, were properly planned and managed.
This study carries out an in-depth analysis of Yu's plans. Yu regarded himself as a planner sent to design the ideal state. Through his research, development, and promotion of his plans, Yu contributed to the development of a school of thought known as Gyeongsehak(經世學) studies on how to manage a state- that emerged as a new method for people to participate in their communities and nation. By introducing the methodology through which he planned to develop the taxation and financial systems, Yu showed how the Gyeongsehak could be applied to the proper management of the state.