Changes and Extinction of The Jeongpyo system in the Joseon-Korean Empire
Authors:   The Korean Society of History of Historiography, Ko Soon-Young 
Published: January 2024

This study examines the process of change and extinction of The Jeongpyo(旌表) system through laws from the Joseon Dynasty to the Korean Empire. After the establishment of Joseon, the Jeongpyo system is a reward system given to loyalist, devoted son, and virtuous women for the stability and social edification of the country according to the Confucian governance ideology. TThis system was legislated in The law of Gyeongguk Daejeon(經國大典), the first law code of Joseon, and since then, various laws, including the statute book, the Supreme Code, and the ordinance book, have included matters related to the formal system.
The legal changes in the Joseon Dynasty's The Jeongpyo system are largely divided into rewards and procedures. First, there was a change in The Bok-ho(復戶) in relation to the reward. The Bok-ho(復戶) is a reward given to on the recipients of the Charity Monument(旌表者) since the time of King Taejo, and it was an exemption from forced labor. And it was a principle that it was limited to the parties and not inherited to the descendants.
However, after the death of the recipients of the Charity Monument, The Bok-ho(復戶) was not recovered, and labor was insufficient due to the abuse of the The Bok-ho(復戶) system and the implementation of the Daedongbeop(大同法) in the 17th century. In the end, it was revised to properly mix restrictions and allowances for The Bok-ho(復戶) system given to the recipients of the Charity Monument(旌表者), so that those with or without a son would be decoded only for their wife or pride, and those without descendants would be decoded only for three years.
Second, there was a change in the timing of the first notice to the king by Yejo(禮曹), the official in charge. The law of Gyeongguk Daejeon(大典通編) requires it to be implemented at the end of each year by law, was revised to the beginning of each year at King Yeongjo's tenure dae. Then, it was changed to three years at King Jeongjo's tenure and was legislated in the newly revised Daejeon Tongpyeon.
Then, it was changed to the beginning of every year again for fear of delaying the selection of the recipients of the Charity Monument. But since then, it has changed to the beginning of three years as the number of pre-the recipients of the Charity Monumen has increased.
During the Sedo politics of the 19th century, the Jeongpyo(旌表) system was abused. Therefore, King Gojong purified the Jeongpyo system from the beginning of his enthronement. King Gojong ruled it as a sentence to petition for Jeongpyo by recklessly commenting or arguing without following regular procedures. In addition, these matters were legislated in the revised the law of Daejeon Hoetong(大典會通). In addition, the same matter was announced by law so that the Charity Monument(旌閭) and the act of raising a government post after death(贈職) could not be petitioned together. In particular, people were extremely limited from the act of pleading on banging a gong or drum(擊錚) for the purpose of petitioning for political votes in areas other than designated places where were possible.
However, since the Gabo Reform at the end of the 19th century, the government office in charge of The Jeongpyo system was transferred to the palace in charge of royal affairs, and the tradition of deliberating and Selection of the Charity Monument’ recipients under the Uijeongbu government disappeared. Moreover, after the declaration of the Korean Empire, the emperor's authority was strengthened and the authority within the palace increased, and the corruption phenomenon of the officials in charge became serious and faced a crisis. Meanwhile, in order to weaken the imperial power of the Korean Empire due to the anti-colonialization of Japanese imperialism, The Jeongpyo system was officially extinguished on March 9, 1910.