17세기 조선의 대기근과 노비의 삶 = The Great Famine and the Life of Nobi in 17th Century Joseon

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Premodern life was unstable due to frequent natural disasters, and 17th-century Joseon likewise suffered recurrent famines and epidemics amid the climatic disturbances of the Little Ice Age. In this context, this study reconstructs the lives of nobi during the late 17th-century Great Famines using household registers, diaries, and old documents, asking whether they were in fact the most vulnerable group and what survival strategies they adopted.
Contrary to common assumptions, sources from various regions show that the degree of damage from famine did not differ greatly between commoners and nobi, largely because many out-resident nobi owned land or even other nobi and led daily lives similar to neighboring peasants. Even household (live-in) nobi, who were subject to tighter control, could depend on their masters’ protection and thus were not necessarily worse off than commoners, while famine became a time of both flight and return, with some runaways going back to their former masters in order to survive.
Because nobi were allowed to own private property, those who possessed land or other assets could dispose of them to avoid starvation, while wealthier nobi exploited the state’s fiscal distress or their masters’ financial difficulties to secure emancipation. Thus, the Great Famine was a time of death and bankruptcy for many, but it also became an opportunity for social advancement for some.