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This essay is aimed to examine the
establishment of Jokgae and the change of clan system in the Jinsung Yi Clan of
Andong region in the period of 16C to 17C.
When there were the issues of the
Clan, Jokhoe(族會: Clan Meeting) was called to deal with them, on and off. The
evidence of them was found in the documents which dealt with the matters of
worshiping the ancestral tablets, Bulchunwe(不遷位) in 1565 or placing the tablet
of great great father in the shrine in 1595.
In 1583, this Jokhoe was
developed into Jokgae(族契: Clan Council) of the main village where the head
family resided. The documented Jokgae in 1583 was composed of Waneui(完議) and
Joamok(座目). The members in the Joamok were represented from both sides of agnate
and cognate. It included Yi Jung(李幀), the fourth generation of Jinsung Yi Clan
and his son, Chulson(哲孫), and their descendants. The concept of the Clan (族 or
族中) at that time included both sides of father and mother.
Jokgae-Waneui had
been made based on the idea of financial support for marriage or funeral events,
which means that the constitution of Jokgae was the result of the development of
Confucian community. The ideology of Jokgae was greatly influenced by the Yean
Hyangyak of Yi Hwang in Yean or ongae Dongyu. They also shared the memorial days
by recording them in the Joamok.
The financial base was essential to keep the
ideology of Jokgae. So enough rice was required to secure for it. In 『Songgan
Diary(松潤日記)』 of Yi Jung Hoe, he tried to make profits to secure enough rice by
lending rice in spring for the fall events.
Because Jokgae was operated based
on the community with the spirit of mutual help, it was different from the
Jokhoe which was organized for the purpose of memorial service for the
ancestors. Regularly or irregularly. this family had Jokhoe to carry out the
entire jobs of memorial services for the ancestors such as the operation of
shrine, standing tomb stones and hosting Hoejeon(會奠) as well as the Bulchunwe
memorial service (不遷位奉祀).
In the 16C, Jokhoe showed the aspect of
agnate-oriented organization in the structure of kinship and it seemed to take a
role in the change of moving into agnate kinship system.
After 1600, there
was another change in the Jinsung Yi Clan. It was to set up a Clan which was
composed of members with the same surname to the exclusion of the cognate side.
In 1612, Yi Jung Hoe wrote down 『Transmitted Works of Jinsung Yi Clan(眞城李氏世傳遺錄)』
and attached Waneui in the end of the book, which became a basis to comprise a
Clan of the same surname kinship.
He wrote down the lineage of his
predecessors with their achievements, the location of tombs. memorial services,
and the other Clan management works. In addition. he appealed to the Clan
members for the union and cooperation of them under the leadership of eldest
direct offsprings in the Waneui.
In the latter half of 17C, Jinsung Yi Clan
showed new aspects. In the management of GachangJaesa(可倉齋舍) and
Byulmyo(別廟:Songangun shrine), instead of eldest descendents leading system, the
Clan Council(門中會議) had a key role in dealing with the important matters and the
hired officers(有司), who were supervised by the Council. took charge of all
works. From that time, the Council and the officers managed the Clan actually.
The organization of Clan was enlarged and Jaesa became also much bigger than
ever. The mission of dealing with all matters was beyond the limitation of the
eldest descendants capability. It was in this period which there required more
systematic management structure to cope with these
mission. |
