An Analysis of Personnel management system during the Reign of King Jungjong in Joseon Dynasty

Abstract

이 연구는 조선 중종 연간 인사제도 중 5품 이하에게 시행되었던 고신서경을 분석한 것이다. 『조선왕조실록』을 통해 볼 때 조선시대 서경이 가장 활발했던 시기 중 하나인 중종 연간은 공신계열, 기묘사림, 사화주도세력, 김안로 일파 등 집권세력의 변화가 굉장히 다양했다. 특히 기묘사화를 전후로 하여, 사화 이전의 경우 사림파와 훈구파의 갈등 속에서 서경이 제대로 이루어지지 못해 문제가 생기기도 하였고, 기묘사화 이후에는 집권세력이 대간직을 차지하면서 반대세력을 제거하는데 서경이 이용되기도 하였다. 그리고 이 과정에서 대간이 서경을 반대했던 명분, 즉 근거는 무엇이었는지 살펴보았다. 서경은 국왕의 인사권 견제 및 관리 선발의 기준을 제시함으로써 조선 왕조 영에 긍정적 정화작용을 한다고 볼 수 있다. 그런 측면에서 중종 연간 대간들은 과연 서경의 순 기능을 인지하고 맡은 바 임무를 충실히 수행했는지, 또 중종은 여기에 어떻게 반응하고 있었는지 살펴봄으로써 조선시대 인사제도의 실상을 확인할 수 있었다.In the Joseon Dynasty era, all the policies and decisions were made mainly by king but Sahunbu and Saganwon checked the regal power for balance of power. The personnel matters were checked by the system of Gosin Seogyoung. Though the Seogyoung in the Joseon Dynasty era had started in the Korea Dynasty era, at that time, Seogyoung had been conducted on every official but in Joseon Dynasty era, it was done on officials with lower than class 5. So Daegan had seen debated with king about extension of authority of Seogyoung, and after all, the policy on officials with lower than class 5 was legislated in the 『Gyeongguk Daejeon』. Originally, Daegan had to play a role of check for stability of ruling relations but in political upheaval times, it was always used by political powers. Especially, in the times of King Jungjong, since Gimyo sahwa, the function of Daegan deteriorated, and as a result, so did that of Seogyoung. Before Gimyo sahwa, non-contributing officials and Sarim groups took Daegan and checked the ruling party. In the process, if their opinions were not accepted, they made group strikes, and as a result, Seogyoung was not done, making a controversy. After Gimyo sahwa, the group who led the sahwa, took the power and lined up Daegan and there were cases of officials who were related to Gimyo Sarim and could not pass the Seogyoung. After that, when Kim An-ro came into power, his group took Daegan and the opposite party was excluded from political world and could not pass Daegan. The problems of Seogyoung with controversies during King Jungjong’s rule, were mainly class, appointment and promotion of officials, personal matters and procedural ones. Especially, class and appointment and promotion of officials were common standards for every official. Among them, class matter caused conflicts between Daegan and King Jungjong, and most people except for officials of Sahunbu and Saganwon were hired according to King Jungjong’s insisting. Personal matters could be interrupted by subjective opinions of Daegan, with possibility of deteriorating its functions. People who were concerned by moral characters, corruption and personal history matters, were particularly linked to political reasons beyond the matters. Sometimes, officials who belonged to Sahunbu and Saganwon did not observe the procedure of Seogyoung, causing controversies. In this case, these institutions could impeach the official who violated the procedure. As seen above, Seogyoung during King Jungjong’s rule showed different aspects, depending on trend of Daegan whether it was ruling party or opposite party. And in case of Daegan’s opposition with a personal reason, it was just one justification, and there were other reasons for opposition.