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A Study of the Samsoo­Province Revolt During King Jeongjo's Era

  • The Review of Korean History
  • 2008, (90), pp.101-144
  • Publisher : The Historical Society Of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

koh song-hoon 1

1국사편찬위원회

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The Samsoo-Province (三水府) Revolt on December 1785, 9th year of King Jeongjo's era, occurred under the leadership of Woo Deok-ha (禹德夏) of Samsoo-Province. He had personal relationships with politicians such as Song Deok-sang (宋德相) and Song Hwan-eok (宋煥億) who had fallen from power in the early years of King Jeongjo's period. These overthrown politicians took the lead in the political situation in King Jeongjo's early years and were subsequently exiled to Samsoo-Province at that time, and Woo Deok-ha was of material help to them. However, Song Deok-sang and Song Hwan-eok, who had been accused of being close associates of Hong Gook-young (洪國榮), were unable to recover their political power. After the death of Song Deok-sang, Woo Deok-ha and his colleagues, potentates, exiles and intellectuals of Samsoo-Province, tried to reverse the political situation by sending a list of desired assassinations, which included some high-ranking officials such as Kimg Jong-soo (金鐘秀), to their faction in the capital. Woo Deok-ha provided accommodations and meals to Geosa (居士 a hermit), like Yu Tae-soo (柳泰守) and Yu Han-gyeong (柳漢敬), in Samsoo-Province and became intimate with them. He asked Yu Tae-soo to deliver the list to Han Ga (韓哥) of Soonan (順安). Yu Tae-soo and his company, however, were arrested in Dancheon when they were delivering the list to Han Ga and they were immediately put to trial for a felony offense. Woo Deok-ha had been executed during the hermits’s trial and the facts of the case died with him. However, it was revealed that potentates, exiles, wanderers, hermits, and intellectuals of Samsoo-Province were implicated in the case. Moreover, there was a rumor that approximately ten thousand hermits throughout the country would raise an army. With the statement of Woo Pil-mo (禹弼謨) about Mireuksindo (彌勒信徒 the followers of Maitreya Buddha), the trial entered a new phase. Lee Yong-beom (李龍範), who was one of the followers of Maitreya Buddha, had held a ceremony to greet Sinjang (神將 a heavenly General). Through this ceremony, they tried to meet a new world, the world of Maitreya Buddha. They also advocated Mireukseongin (彌勒聖人 the saint of Maitreya) and propagated the important theory of Jeongamrok (鄭鑑錄), that a man from Jeong's family would come into power. By examining this case, it has become possible to understand the way of life of hermits. They wandered everywhere and survived through begging, fortune-telling, prayer, making Buddhist invocations, peddling, etc. They also were taken up on a charge of revolt from time to time. Although the hermits were arrested before they were able to deliver the list and therefore complete their crime, their involvement carries significant meaning. First of all, more insight is given into the political situation of the early years of King Jeongjo's era, right after overthrow of Hong Gook-young, Song Deok-sang. In particular, it allows us to understand the subject of the series of political disturbances. Moreover, the hermits’s way of life was brought to light as a result of their examination on the trial records from "Chuangeupgukan (推案及鞫案) ". The aspect of how Mireuksindo had pursued a utopia, as it is called, a new world or the world of Maitreya Buddha through the ceremony of greeting Sinjang also has been disclosed. The social and cultural historical meaning of this case is as below. It shows the definite aspect of hermit's life and their role in political disturbances. And it is the first concrete example of their relation with Mireuksindo in the period after King Sookjong's era.

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