The Government's family policy, reflected in penal administration(刑政) during the early half period of the Joseon dynasty - Examination of how spousal abuse were punished -

Kyoung Park

In this article, how the authorities exacted punished upon violent actions committed between people engaged in spousal relationship in the 15th century is examined, in order to determine through what kind of processes the Joseon government would have tried to establish the Confucian order of family inside the Joseon society. 『Dae-Myeongryul(大明律)』, which the Joseon government consulted and utilized in its penal administration, was as we all know based upon a Confucian set of values. We can see that from articles that are meant to address occasions of spousal abuse. In the authorities' dealing with such cases, female offenders were punished even by the fact alone that they resorted to the act of violence, and were punished even harsher than persons involved in other ordinary cases of violence. Yet male offenders were only punished when the female was left with injuries like losing a tooth or a having a broken finger (in other words, when the female was left with 'Jeolsang'/折傷-type damages), or left with injuries even more serious. And added to that, only received weaker punishments. In the meantime, the articles which contained these instructions also contained instructions regarding the range of offenses which would be punished only with the victim's own filing a complaint(親告罪), and instructions regarding the issue of divorce. And those instructions were implemented discriminatively, depending upon the gender of the offender. We can say that the articles which addressed the spousal violence issue at the time were based upon a familial relationship which granted the husband with a superior status. The Joseon government applied laws inside 『Dae-Myeongryul』 to cases in which spousal violence led to the demise of one of them, and tried to establish a 'husband-based' order inside the family. And present or former governmental officials, who were in love with females other than their wives, happened to use violence against their wives, and in those occasions, they were punished not on the charge of committing violence, but on the charge of hurting the ideal spousal relationship laid out by the Confucian teachings. Not the condition of the victim, and not the articles inside 『Dae-Myeongryul』, but the cause of establishing a rightful spousal relationship, was considered as top priority by the government. And entering the latter half period of the 15th century, instead of providing the female victims with legal means to file a lawsuit or seek a divorce which would enable them to escape from the violent and oppressive situation, the government kept merely emphasizing the 'wife's obligation to the husband'. The characteristics of the 15th century Joseon government's familial policy can be summed up in two things. First, the kings and high ranking officials, who were in the position to determine the policy direction of the Joseon government, used 『Dae-Myeongryul』 as the main legal basis for penal administration, yet did not consider it as an unflexible, absolute standard for exacting punishment, and only used it as a device for establishing Confucian familial order. Second, in exacting punishment on cases of violent actions between the husband and wife, the cause of establishing a spousal relationship, based upon Confucian values and teachings, was considered more important than tending to the needs and interest of the victims.

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REFERENCES (34)
열림/닫힘 버튼
* 2021년 이후 발행 논문의 참고문헌은 현재 구축 중입니다.

[other] / 經國大典

[other] / 大明律講解

[other] / 大明律附例

[other] / 大明律直解

[other] / 大明律集說附例

[other] / 三峯集

[other] / 朝鮮王朝實錄

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이 논문은 한국연구재단의 지원을 받아 작성되었습니다.

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