Daily Life and Old Documents, Korea

그동안의 조선 시대 연구는 정치, 사회와 같은 상부구조를 대상으로 한 거대 담론이 주로 소개되었다. 그러나 최근에는 시대를 고민하며 삶을 견뎌낸 사람들의 살아 있는 이야기에 대한 궁금증이 높아지고 있다. 이러한 때, 고문서에 암호로 남아 있는 너무도 많은 사람의 사연을 읽어내는 데 주목했다.

※ 이 책은 2022년 발간한 『고문서에 담긴 조선의 일상』(심영환 외, 한국학중앙연구원 출판부)를 번역한 것입니다. ※

A treasure house of documentary heritage from the Joseon dynasty to private sources
Treasures found at Jangseogak Archives!
Expert-selected fifty-one items from Jangseogak Archives
Narratives giving a deep understanding of old documents
A moment of life and records turning into history
A new insight into the everyday life of Joseon Korea and the people

This book is a compilation of 51 articles originally published in the online newsletter of the Academy of Korean Studies, which has been running since 2009. The Jangseogak Archives of the AKS houses more than 120,000 royal books from the Joseon Dynasty, along with 170,000 private documents collected from across the country. From these materials, 51 remarkable works have been carefully selected to narrate the story of their lives and voices. The protagonists of the stories in this book are very diverse. From kings in palaces to slaves in the countryside, they all strived to make the best of their circumstances. The stories are both surprising and unexpected, capturing the struggles of governing a nation as well as the poignant moments of selling themselves. The stories of these people, captured in the documents, provide an unparalleled opportunity to look into the daily lives of the Joseon Dynasty throughout history.

지은이 소개
All eight authors of this book are researchers at the Jangseogak Archives of the Academy of Korean Studies.
Heo Wonyoung. He has studied the fields of social and economic history from the late Joseon era to the Japanese colonial period, examining family registers and land ownership systems by analyzing ancient private documents as primary sources.
Jung Suhwan. He has explored old documents and records to trace the daily life of people in villages and rural areas and analyzed major trends ranging from the society of the Joseon era to the New Village Movement (Saemaeul undong) and current rural development in Korea.
Lee Eunjin. She has studied palace documents from the late Joseon Dynasty. Recently, she has been focusing on diaries written in the private sector.
Lee Hyejung. She has collected and studied old private documents, especially those that illuminate the history and lifestyle at the time of their production. Lee’s focus is on family collections and book lists.
Lee Hyunju. She has studied the Korean literature of the Joseon Dynasty, focusing on the literature that reflects the language and daily life of the people in general and women in particular of the Joseon era.
Lee Jaeok. He has collected and studied the roster of successful candidates of state examinations. He focuses on embodying the interpersonal networks of successful examination candidates from a digital humanities perspective.
Noh Inhwan. He has collected and studied ancient documents scattered around the private sector. His work focuses on documents issued by kings, government offices, and various institutions of the Joseon Dynasty.
Shim Younghwan. He has studied historical linguistics and governance systems through ancient literature. More recently, he has been deeply interested in the relationship between the ancient languages of Korea and its neighbors

번역자 소개
You Jinsook. She majored in translation of Korean classics in Sino-Korean. Her main fields of translation include primary sources of premodern histories and secondary sources.
Lee Jakyung. She specializes in translating Korean Classic literature into English. She completed her PhD course from the Department of Translation of Korean Classics at the Academy of Korean Studies.