조선후기 儒生通文의 전달 구조

Circular letters by Confucian scholars transmitted through National Confucian Academy(Seonggyungwan), local school(hyanggyo), and private academy(seowon) are significant in that it shows the formulation process of Confucian scholars’ public opinion, represented by collective Confucian memorials(yuso) and Confucian associations(yuhoe). This paper examines the transmission process of circular letters as a structure in which public opinion of the Confucian scholars was collected. Confucian scholars of the late Joseon society established a nationwide network through local schools and private academies. This network connected National Confucian Academy, local administration system, local schools and private academies of each county, and Confucian shrine(sau) and lineage group(munjung), developing into a transmission network of nationwide circular letters. The school-centered network of Confucian scholars was combined with the local administration system which provided efficiency to the transfer structure by dividing the regions into several areas, and underneath this structure there was a combination of lineage group and Confucian shrines based on residence which expanded that network. By circulating letters through this network and organizing Confucian associations, village councils(hyanghoe), provincial associations(dohoe), and memorial associations(sohoe), the public opinion of Confucian scholars was collected. In principle, it was a structure of which an opinion proposed by a lineage group was acknowledged as a public opinion of the village through local schools and private academies, which was expanded into that of a province through circular letters and finally into a national opinion through memorials and National Confucian Academy. Conversely, the public opinion proposed by the National Confucian Academy was transmitted to the local villages through this very network of circular letters.