17세기 전반 조극선(趙克善)의 매매(賣買)기록과 용전(用錢)경험－조극선의 『인재일록』과 『야곡일록』 분석－ = The impact of coin currency on the purchasing and selling experiences of Cho GukSeon in early seventeenth-century Choson

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The aim of this essay is to explore personal financial practices in the middle of the Choson dynasty, as not much is known about the economics of this era. The main text that is discussed is the diary of Cho GukSeon (1595~1658), a distinguished Confucian scholar and officer, which was written between 1609 and 1635. The diary covers his daily life and contains details about his economic experiences.
Cho GukSeon chose his words carefully when recording his activities in his diary. In particular, when it came to personal economics, he distinguished between gift exchanges and financial transactions. For instance, he used different verbs for exchanging gifts with different groups of people; the words could be adapted to apply to superiors, equals, or inferiors. Also, Cho GukSeon differentiated buying and selling from trading. Details of economic activity found in the diary, whether personal or market-related, explain how economic life had changed in comparison to that of the sixteenth century (especially before the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592); personal financial dealings and exchanges were common even prior to the sixteenth century in Choson.
The Choson government’s monetary policy affected Cho GukSeon’s economic activities. He received his officer’s salary in the form of coins made from copper or tin and purchased food in shops in accordance with governmental monetary policy. The coins did not reach the position of common currency, however, so Cho GukSeon eventually had to sell his clothes and crops to obtain his daily necessities. This indicates that governmental policy merely impacted personal economic activity, which led to policy failure until the end of the seventeenth century.
Cho GukSeon experienced varying economic circumstances such as the diversification of currency types and changes in the customs of gift giving, and he recorded these phenomena in his diary with carefully chosen words.