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360 book VI make a report and submit it to their magistrate to bring about the solution of the matter, but I am not sure that this system will work as it is expected to.” The ten-household watch system, as far as I know, is the one that Wang Yangming used when he toured southern Jiangxi Province for inspection. During a time of peace the strict enforcement of this system may not be necessary. CHAPTER : JUSTICE IN LEVYING CORVÉE SERVICES I Fair and Impartial Administration of Corvée Services [Puyŏkgyun] Is One of the Seven Important Duties of a Magistrate. Since Unfair Corvée Services Should Not Be Imposed, Not One Degree of Injustice in the Scale Should Be Allowed in Levying Such Taxes. In olden days the land tax, which was one-ninth [of the harvest], was collected on the basis of land production, and corvée services called pu [Ch. fu] were levied on the basis of household production. The former originated from the land, and the latter from the man, and they were dealt with separately without intermixing. During the Han and Wei dynasties, however, taxes that combined both land and household taxes were legislated. This happened because a scholar named Mei Ze, who was obsessed with that law, misinterpreted the chapter “The Tribute of Yü” [“Yügong”] in the Classic of History [Shangshu], confusing corvée services with the land tax, which resulted in the intermingling of the two taxes. Since that time people have become ignorant of what corvée services really stand for. According to the law of nine taxes in Rites of Zhou, the wealth or poverty of the common people must be taken into consideration, so everything, including their cattle and vehicles, should be accounted for. During the late Lu dynasty the government tried to levy corvée services on land, which prompted Confucius to criticize it (Spring and Autumn, “Neiwai zhuan”). People in later ages were so used to this type of taxes that they hardly suspected them. In our country the 127. A scholar of the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420). His major work was a book called History of Ancient Book of Documents (Guwen shangshu chuan), which was popular not only in China but also in Korea. However, section 25 in his book later turned out to be a forgery. Tasan in his book Critical Commentaries on Mei’s Work (Messi sŏp’yŏng) discussed the section concerning Mei’s forgery. 128. “The Tribute of Yü” (“Yügong”) is a chapter in the Classic of History. It is about the achievement of King Yü, who regulated the floods that had devastated China in his time. This chapter included the records of the relationship between the land and land taxes. Tasan, in his Old Precepts in the Book of Documents (Sangsŏ kohun), contended that the land taxes and the taxes levied on individual households were confused because of misreading of the ancient text. According to Tasan, taxes on houses, forests, salt farms, gardens, and commercial businesses were originally designed to alleviate the tax burden of the farmers. Tasan found the ground for his theory in “The Tribute of Yü.” Taxation 361 land tax was originally light. However, since the time of the middle age corvée services have been levied on land, which finally became established as a custom. Thus all kinds of taxes, including the uniform land tax [taedong], the tax for corv ée services (originally 3 tu of rice per kyŏl; now collected in cash), the rice tax for the military [samsumi], the rice tax called moryangmi (in Hwanghae Province this tax is collected separately, and it was originally for the Ming army led by Mao Wenlong ), and the rice tax called ch’igyemi (which is for the magistrate’s personal expenditures), are now levied on lands, and the government surely knows this. Furthermore, numerous imposts, like the rice tax for a district’s agent in Seoul, the rice tax for a district’s provincial agent, the tribute tax paid in rice (it was originally collected from grain-loan repayments, but now it is attached to the land tax), the rice tax for expenses for delivering official documents , the rice tax for travel expenses for newly appointed magistrates, and the rice tax for travel expenses for departing magistrates, are also levied on land. When the magistrate shows insensitivity in this matter, his subordinates just follow him; thus the miscellaneous imposts, such as the...

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