開港期 仁川港 客主에 關한 硏究

Abstract

국 영문초록 수록;The Kaekju(客主) were a powerful group of merchants who accumulated considerable capital by participating in the merchandise distribution system with the development of a monetary economy since latter half of the 18th century. Since the opening of the port they had contributed to the development of a capitalist system through engaging in foreign trade. Therefore the government of Li-dynasty (李朝), which had suffered from financial embarrassments in those days, regarded the Kaekju as a major source of taxation. And the government appreciated the Kaekju's financial capability so highly that the government appointed them as government's agents to collect taxes (收稅下請). Accordingly, in this thesis I have examined how the government controlled the Kaekju, and how the Kaekju responded to the control of government. Furthermore, in consideration of the fact that the Kaekju played the leading role in foreign trade after the opening of the port, I have also examined how the Kaekju responded to the penetration of western capitalism, especially how they managed business with foreign traders. For the purpose of study, the scope of this thesis will be confined to the activities of the Kaekju in port Incheon from the opening of the port to the China-Japan War (淸日戰爭). At first, the pattern of the government's control over the Kaekju took the shape of collecting some amount of the Kumoon (口文, a kind of commission fee) earned by the Kaekju. The government adopted two methods in collecting the Kumoon. One was that the government collected a portion of the Kumoon by appointing a Kaekju as the government's tax agent called a Wonkaekju (元客主), Dokaekju (都客主), or Dosunjuin (都船主人). The other was that the government carried out the collecting activity directly by dispatching tax officers to the provinces from Kwanbu (官府) or Goongbu (官府). However the government's control over the Kaekju was not unilateral. In return the government protected the Kaekju from improper collection of taxes (濫徵) or exploitation (橫奪) by local authorities, which occurred frequently in almost all the provinces of Chosun in those days. At the same time, the government granted each Kaekju the privilege to operate a commission business monopolistically on merchandise produced in a certain province. To collect taxes more systematically, the government changed the system of taxation to the business tax from the previous one. There were three ways in which the government collected business tax; One was that the government selected 25 taxpayers from among the Kaekju. In this case in return the government authorized each of 25 Kaekju to exercise monopolistic privilege on the merchandise from one of the 25 separate regions (官指定 25客主 列邑分掌制). Another was that the government appointed four Kaekju merchants as the head of Kaekju and assigned them to take charge of collecting business tax (頭目4人). The other was that the government appointed ten Kaekju merchants as the head of Kaekju(監董10人). While the government changed the way of collecting business tax, some Kaekju were selected by the government to be tax agents in almost all the cases. This means that there were a number of Kaekju merchants exercising a great influence among the commercial circle of Incheon who had close relation with the government by actively adjusting themselves to government policies. The Kaekju also played leading role in foreign trade after the opening of the port. The Kaekju of those days lost a large amount of money in the business of foreign trade because of differences in the system of measures and weights between the countries. So there were some activities on the Kaekju merchants' own initiative to remove such an unfair condition of mutual trade. For example, the Kaekju merchants installed the measuring instruments (秤子) of foreign countries in their company (南會), or established Pyungjaso (秤子所) run by their company. But these activities failed to get satisfactory results due to lack of government administrative support. The Kaekju merchants' effort not to lose any more and the government's interest in the matter of the system of weights and measures (斗衡) produced the result of establishing Kyoonpyunghoisa (均平會社), which was promoted by Kim, Jae Jun and his associates in January 1892. Studying the process of establishment of Kyoonpyunghoisa, we can see an aspect of the Kaekju merchants effort to secure fair trading conditions in foreign trade. In Summary, the Kaekju of port Incheon during the period of opening of the port could manage their domestic business in the stable order of commercial transaction and enjoyed monopolistic rights on the commission business (Kaekju business) by adapting themselves to the government's control over their commercial activities, which took the shape of collecting a portion of Kumoon or imposing the business tax. In particular, some of the Kaekju merchants adjusted themselves more flexibly and actively to the government's policies towards the Kaekju, and promoted their interests to the utmost by taking advantage of the government authority. In external trade, they tried to secure their proper rights in commercial activities by preparing fair trading conditions.;客主들은 18世紀 후반부터 商品貨幣經濟의 발달과 더불어 流通秩序의 핵심에서 상당한 資本力을 보유하였다. 그리고 開港 後에는 外商과의 交易活動을 통해 資本主義發達에 공헌할 수 있었던 실력있는 商人層이었다. 따라서 財政的 窮乏을 겪고 있던 政府는 이들 客主들을 커다란 稅源으로 파악하였고, 收稅下請을 위탁할 정도로 그들의 經濟的 實力을 인정하였다. 따라서 本槁에서는 이들 客主들에 대한 政府의 對策은 어떠하였으며, 이러한 정부의 統制에 대해서 客主들은 어떻게 대처해 나갔는가를 살펴보고자 한다. 또한 客主들은 開港後 外商과의 交易時 朝鮮側 담당자였다는 점을 고려하여 開港 後 外來資本主義의 浸透, 주로 外商과의 貿易活動에 대해서 어떻게 對應하였는가를 살펴보고자 한다. 여기서는 편의상 場所를 仁川港에, 時期를 仁川開港이후 淸日戰爭까지로 국한시켜 살펴보고자 한다. 客主들에 대한 政府의 統制는 客主가 取得한 口文의 일부를 政府에 分納하는 형식으로 나타났다. 정부는 客主로 부터 口文을 징수하는 방법으로, 收稅地域의 客主 중 적임자를 元客主, 都客主, 都船客主 등으로 선정하여 징수하는 방법과 官府라 官府에서 監官을 파견하여 징수하는 두 가지 방법을 채택하였다. 그러나 客主에 대한 정부의 통제는 정부만의 일방적인 것은 아니었다. 客主들은 口文分納에 대한 反對給付로 지방관청으로 부터의 濫徵이나 橫奪로 부터 보호를 받았고, 特定地域 貨物에 대한 賣買周旋의 독점권을 부여받았다. 정부는 客主에 대한 收稅를 보다 休系的으로 시행하기 위해서 口文徵收를 營業稅徵收로 바꾸었다. 정부는 영업세를 효율적으로 징수하기 위해서 官指定25客主列邑分掌制를 실시하기도 하고 頭目4人, 監董10人등을 선정하여 영업세징수를 관장토록 하였다. 이렇게 영업세징수론 위한 정부의 대책이 변화하여갈 때 몇몇 客主들은 거의 모든 경우에 공통적으로 참가하고 있다. 이는 仁川港 客主들 중에는 정부의 영업세징수를 위한 대책이 어떻게 변화되어가든 이에 적극적으로 대응하였던 비교적 官權과 밀착하여 영향력을 행사하였던 商人層이 존재하였다는 점을 의미한다. 또한 客主들은 外商과의 交易時 朝期側 담당자였다. 이들이 外商과의 交易時 問題가 되었던 것은 斗衡이 일치하지 않는 것으로 인한 朝鮮商人의 피해가 매우 컸다는 사실이었다. 따라서 商會에 各國의 秤子를 설치하거나, 商會에 秤子所를 설치하는 등 商民들의 자발적인 활동이 있었다. 그러나 이러한 활동은 정책적인 뒷받침을 받지 못했기 때문에 큰 효과를 거두지 못했다. 交易時 斗衡의 문제로 더 이상 손해를 보지 않으려는 客主들의 의도와 斗衡의 문제에 관한 정부의 관심이 1890年1月 客主 金在田등이 중심이 된 均平會杜의 설립으로 나타났다. 우리는 均平會社의 설립에서 外商과의 交易時 公平貿易의 條件을 마련하기 위해 客主들이 노력하였던 점을 긍정적으로 평가할 수 있다. 결국 開港期 仁川港의 客主들은 對內的으로는 口文徵收나 營業稅徵收로 나타나는 정부의 統制에 대해서, 안정된 商去來秩序의 보장과 賣買周旋에 대한 독점권을 반대급부로 획득하였다. 이러한 과정에서 일부 客主들은 정부의 정책변화에 적극적으로 대응하여 官權을 이용하여 그들의 이익을 최대한으로 보장받으려하는 탄력성 있는 태도를 취하였다. 그리고 對外的으로는 外商과의 交易時 公平貿易의 條件을 마련하여 자신들의 商權을 확장시켜 나가려 하였다.