Kim Yuk
Gim Yuk or Kim Yuk (Hangul: 김육; Hanja: 金堉; 1580 – September 1658) was a Korean Neo-Confucian scholar, politician and writer of the Korean Joseon Dynasty. His nickname was Jamgok (잠곡, 潛谷), Hoejeongdang (회정당, 晦靜堂), a courtesy name was Baekhu (백후, 伯厚), and his posthumous name was Munjeong (문정, 文貞). He came from the Cheongpung Kim clan (Hangul: 청풍 김씨, Hanja: 淸風金氏). Gim Yuk served as prime minister of the Joseon dynasty in 1651 and 1654 through 1658. He was Grandfather of Queen Myeongseong (명성왕후, 明聖王后) and 6G-Great-Grandfather of Queen Hyoui (효의왕후, 孝懿王后). Biography. Family history . Gim Yuk was born on July 14, 1580 at Mapo, Hanyang (modern Seoul), where his maternal grandparents lived. His Great-Great-Grandfather Gim Shik (김식, 金湜, 1482–1520), who had supported Jo Gwangjo at "Seonggyungwan" (National Confucian Academy) by criticizing then ministers in power, was sacrificed during the literati purge in the year of Gimyo (기묘사화, 己卯士禍, 1519). After the incident, his family including his father, Gim Heung-wu, were excluded from the central government. Thanks to his family background, however, Gim Yuk had an opportunity to be taught by famous scholars Seong Hon (성혼, 成渾) and Yi I (이이, 李珥 ), and had a close relationship with Kim Sang-yong (김상용, 金尙容) and Kim Sang-heon (김상헌, 金尙憲), who became the Neo-Confucian leaders and power elite after a couple of decades. In fact, Gim Yuk's mother was the granddaughter of a brother of the above-mentioned Jo Gwangjo. Early life. From childhood, Gim Yuk was called a prodigy as he learned by heart the whole Thousand-Character Classic (천자문, 千字文) at the age of five. In 1588, his grandfather, Gim Bi (김비, 金棐) was appointed as head of Gangdong-gun, Pyeongan-do, his father moved to Gangdong with family  members. There, Gim Yuk was fortunately educated by Cho Ho-ik (조호익/曺好益), who had studied under a great scholar, Yi Hwang (이황, 李滉) and currently in exile at Gangdong. At that time, Gim Yuk was a boy of literature. When he was 12 years old, he wrote some essays and biographies of famous pundits. While he was reading the "Learning for Minors" (소학, 小學). he was quite impressed by the words of Cheng Hao (程顥), "Whoever starts as a public official has an earnest mind to love the objects can help people." He bore in mind that only a  public official can help people to live well. When he was 13 years old, Gim Yuk had to undergo the Imjin war. While he moved to the countryside to seek shelters, he did not stop reading books. During the war, his father passed away at the age of 31. At the deathbed, his father told him to enhance the family grade by studying hard, and to avoid any liquors. Gim Yuk kept his promise for life. His household deteriorated significantly, and his mother also died. He had to depend on his father's sister for living. After Gim Yuk passed  the "jinsagwa" (literary licentiate examination) in 1605, which allowed him to enter the "Seonggyungwan" as his great-great-grandfather did. In 1610 as a student of "Seonggyungwan", he submitted the petition to King Gwanghae (광해군, 光海君, 1575 - 1641 r.1608 - 1623) three times to forgive and restore his resentful teacher Seong Hon and to reinstate Five Wise Men ousted in the previous literati purge. The next year, he initiated a campaign at "Seonggyungwan" to expel Jeong In-hong (정인홍, 鄭仁弘) in power from the Registry of Confucian Literati (청금록, 靑襟錄), who had criticized the great scholar Yi Hwang. On the contrary  to his wish, he was expelled from the institution. He had to move to Jamgok-ri (잠곡리, 潛谷里), Gapeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, and became a farmer to make a living. He studied harder than before in a self-exile. During that period from 1613 to 1623, Gim Yuk, denying King's pardoning, managed to get along, and experienced and witnessed the real peasant life in the countryside. Royal and public service. In 1623, a military coup by the Westerners faction succeeded to dethrone King Gwanghae. And a new King Injo (인조, 仁祖. 1595 - 1649 r.1623 - 1649) was enthroned. In consequence , the public officials ousted by the previous government returned to the newly organized administration. Gim Yuk in seclusion was the first among them. He was appointed to a post in the royal law enforcement organ (의금부, 義禁府). But he was not satisfied with it. In 1624, Gim Yuk passed Gwageo, the literary civil service examination, receiving officially the highest marks. Now, he started his official career both at Hanyang and in the country. During the rebellion by Yi Gwal (이괄, 李适) in 1624, he escorted King Injo to Gongju. After the incident, Gim Yuk served at Eumseong-gun, Chungcheong province  and various ministries in the capital city. When he left Eumseong, its inhabitants were thankful to his good governance and erected a commemorative monument. In January 1627 when Late Jin (later Qing dynasty) mounted up a military pressure (정묘호란, 丁卯胡亂) on the northern territory of Joseon, Gim Yuk asserted to put the first priority to alleviate the residents' burden by suspending the resident registration law. In 1632, Gim Yuk was in charge of the funeral service of Queen Mother Inmok (인목대비, 仁穆大妃). Diplomatic missions. During his public career, Gim Yuk was assigned to the diplomatic mission to visit Beijing, capital  city of the Ming dynasty three times. In the winter of 1636, he visited Beijing to pay a seasonal courtesy call (성절사, 聖節使). In Beijing, he heard of the outbreak of the Byeongja invasion of the Qing Army (병자호란, 丙子胡亂) and the humiliating surrender of King Injo. He was allegedly crying day and night in Beijing. Upon arrival from Beijing, he recorded the diplomatic envoy's diary called "Jocheon Ilgi" (조천일기, 朝天日記), in which he described the civilized foreign country as well as the corruption of the Ming bureaucrats and confusing atmosphere of the Ming society. In the winter of  1643 when Crown Prince Sohyeon was taken as a hostage to Shenyang (瀋陽), Gim Yuk was assigned to be held responsible for taking care of the crown prince (원손보양관, 元孫輔養官) at the Qing court. When he returned to Joseon, he tried to get rid of evil practices to care for the diplomatic missions in the northern territory. Reformist policy-maker. In 1638, he was appointed as the governor of Chungcheong province. After he surveyed the fiscal base of the province and ongoing taxation results, Gim Yuk was convinced the necessity of implementing "Daedongbeop" (대동법, 大同法) in his jurisdiction. "Daedongbeop", which  had been enforced in Gyeonggi province since 1608, was purported to replace the taxation in kind like indigenous products to the unitary taxation of rice in a certain amount as explained below. His public career was represented by reform-oriented policy making. Right after the Jeongmyo invasion by the Late Jin (Qing) army in 1627, Gim Yuk was an advocate to support inhabitants of Pyeongan province and Hwanghae province, which were devastated by the war, to make a living. He proposed to separate the labor work levied on the inhabitants of Pyeongan province and Hwanghae province into ordinary farming and  service in the army (병농분리, 兵農分離). He also asserted to cultivate military farms (둔전, 屯田) in the idle land to prepare for another war with enemy to the north. Nationwide implementation of the said "Daedongbeop" was Gim Yuk's consistent efforts throughout his career. Once he said, "Colleagues around me laugh at me because what I speak of is only "Daedongbeop" from the beginning to the end." It was his firm belief based on the real world that "Daedongbeop" would stabilize the living of common people and ensure the fiscal soundness. Apart from "Daedongbeop", Gim Yuk took it into consideration  that: Accordingly, Gim Yuk thought it imperative to stabilize the living of common people by curtailing taxation, and to prevent the alienation of public sentiment. He forwarded his thoughts to other public officials as well as King Injo and King Hyojong (효종, 孝宗, 1619 - 1659 r.1619 - 1659). Section::::"Daedongbeop" as unitary taxation. While he served in the administration, Gim Yuk advocated "Daedongbeop" to be implemented nationwide. As a matter of fact, "Daedongbeop" was test-implemented at the suggestion of Hahn Baek-gyeom (한백겸, 韓百謙) in the name of "Daegong Sumibeop" (대공수미법, 貸貢收米法) in Gyeonggi province. The policy proposal was endorsed by  then Prime Minister Lee Won-ik (이원익, 李元翼) and came into force in September 1608 by setting up "Seonhyecheong" (선혜청, 宣惠廳) at Hanyang. Judging from his personal experiences as a peasant at Jamgok-ri and a front-line public official at Eumseong, Chungcheong province, Gim Yuk had got a firm belief that "Daedongbeop" was the best solution to alleviate the burden of peasants and to prevent corruptive practices of local government officials and merchant-middlemen (방납인, 防納人). A half of fiscal revenues had to be supplemented by indigenous products (공물, 貢物) of the region. Its purport seemed to benefit common  people in the country. The problem was the intentional exploitation by the local government officials and merchant-middlemen. Occasionally, they demanded in collusion regional products which were hardly available owing to flood, drought or harmful insects, or even refused the direct provision of farmers on account of defects or quality of goods. So Gim Yuk's countermeasures included the unitary taxation of 12 "mal" (말, 斗) per "gyeol" (결, 結). It may be interpreted as 5 "mal" by the modern measurement over eight thousand "pyeong" or 26,450 square meter. It's reasonable for a tax payer. While he served as  Governor of Chungcheong province, Gim Yuk realized that it was urgently necessary to replace the indigenous products contribution system (공납제, 貢納制) with "Daedongbeop" which called for proportionate sharing of rice produced at the farm land. However, factional interests were divided on the issue of "Daedongbeop". If "Daedongbeop" was implemented nationwide, it was largely to the benefit of farmers and common people. On the contrary, Confucian scholars and wealthy gentlemen in the country could find few benefits from the new system. Local government officials would lose the source of fringe benefits. That's why "Daedongbeop" failed to be continuously implemented beyond  Gyeonggi province. Opponents argued that its nationwide implementation would cause the decrease of fiscal revenues. Gim Yuk tried to persuade King Hyojong to adopt "Daedongbeop". At last in 1651, King Hyojong endorsed "Daedongbeop" in Chungcheong province. Unavoidably, Gim Yuk was departed from the mainstream bureaucrats represented by Kim Jip (김집, 金集) and Song Si-yeol (송시열, 宋時烈), and caused the separation of anti-Gim Sandang (산당, 山黨, meaning 'the Mountain Party') and pro-Gim Handang (한당, 漢黨, meaning 'the Han River Party'). Gim Yuk was criticized as stubborn to the extreme. Even at his deathbed, he was wishing that "Daedongbeop  should be expanded to Jeolla province, which was finally completed in 1657 by his successor Seo Pil-won (서필원, 徐必遠), Governor of Jeolla province. Other pragmatic policies. In addition to Daedongbeop", Gim Yuk stressed on the use of currency or coin. Until then, only rice and cotton cloth were traded in exchange for merchandise. He asserted the circulation of coins would be conducive not only to distribution of goods but also to securing fiscal revenues. In 1651, "Sangpyeong Tongbo" (상평통보, 常平通寶) was first circulated in the metropolitan area and the Northwestern territory. In this regard, he suggested the government to  permit the private persons to develop silver mines across the country. Gim Yuk was eager to make his thoughts on economy and pragmatic ideas to be realized in real life, for example: Assessment and legacy. Gim Yuk was the best reformist-statesman of the Joseon dynasty. Regardless of the mainstream Neo-Confucianism, he paid attention to how to stabilize the living of common people. It was possible because Gim Yuk had an advantage of the descendant of a famous Gimyo martyr, and he was open-minded to pragmatism rather than philosophically oriented. He knew the limitation of a human being . As a matter of fact, he was taught by Neo-Confucianist Seong Hon and belonged to the Westerners faction (서인, 西人). But he managed to make a transition bridge to the Silhak school (실학파, 實學派) in the next century. Assessment. Sometimes, he was called a Wang Anshi (왕안석, 王安石) of Joseon by his critics and opponents. Truly, Gim Yuk was an unprecedented statesman of far-sighted view and action in that: Gim Yuk's thoughts and policies are assessed to have a big influence on the "Silhak" movement in the 18th century. Legacy. Thanks to Gim Yuk's reform, the  impoverished state revived and fiscal revenues increased. However, the power elite groups were indulged in factional strife-based disputes on the Confucian courtesy issues over royal funeral services. As the mainstream Neo-Confucianist Song Si-yeol took power, such pragmatic policy ideas as proposed by Ryu Seong-ryong and Gim Yuk were excluded in governing the nation. In the age of King Yeongjo and King Jeongjo, it seemed the Joseon dynasty and people enjoyed a renaissance. When King Jeongjo died abruptly in 1800, the maternal relatives of royal family meddled in the policy-making and administration continuously, the Joseon dynasty  came near to demise. For the sake of policy-making like "Daedongbeop", Gim Yuk sought cooperation from power elite groups regardless of their fractional belonging. Although he belonged to the Westerners faction, he was taught by Cho Ho-ik from the Southerners faction, and close relationship with other politicians like Kim Se-ryeom, Cho Gyeong, etc. from the Southerners faction.