A Korean Scholar's Rude Awakening in Qing China by Pak Che-ga;Choi Byonghyon;Kye Seung B.;Atkinson Timothy V.;

Author:Pak, Che-ga;Choi, Byonghyon;Kye, Seung B.;Atkinson, Timothy V.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Hawai'i
Published: 2019-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

On Building the Wealth of Our Nation

One who excels at producing wealth never misses the right moment when it is granted by heaven or fails to grasp the favors of the earth or forfeits an opportunity to work. When one has to spend one or two months on work that could be finished in a day with the proper tools, the moment granted by heaven has been lost. When yields are small but expenses great, because one has failed to plow or sow properly, the favors of the earth have been lost. When the number of the idle increases every day because merchants fail to trade, the capacity for work has been lost. All three losses have come about because we have failed to learn from China.

In ancient times, Silla, which consisted only of Kyŏngsang province, resisted Koguryŏ to the north while conquering Paekche to the west. When Tang arrived with one hundred thousand soldiers, Silla found the months that the soldiers remained within its borders growing into years. Under duress, Silla’s fate would have been in jeopardy should a single impropriety have occurred while the Tang forces were being entertained, or if the fodder for the horses or the soldiers’ provisions had run out. Silla coped with this situation and in the end managed to achieve a success beyond expectation.

Now our country consists of eight provinces the size of Kyŏngsang, and even in normal times the salaries that are handed out do not exceed one bushel per person. Yet the state coffers are exhausted by a single visit from an imperial envoy. We have had peace for more than one hundred years, and I recall no rulers who engaged in military expeditions or royal inspection tours during that time, nor have I seen extravagant or luxurious pursuits on the part of the people. And yet the country’s poverty has increased. Why is this? I can explain some of the reasons.

On land where others know to plant three rows of grain, we plant two. This reduces the productivity of one thousand square li of farmland to that of just over six hundred square li. Where others harvest fifty to sixty bushels of grain per day through their knowledge of farming, we get only twenty. This again reduces productivity so that six hundred square li of farmland turns into a mere two hundred square li. And where others sow two-thirds of an ounce (five p’un) of seed grain, we sow twice that amount, losing a quantity of seed grain for the following year for no reason.

Going further, by failing to develop better ways to make use of ships, carts, livestock, houses, and other things, we achieve only a small fraction of the potential wealth that could be gained countrywide. If we try to calculate the cumulative productivity losses over the period of a century, the amount is unmeasurable. When the potential yield of a thousand-square-li territory is reduced to little more than what was produced on one hundred square li,171 it is no surprise that Silla, with just one hundred square li, could outperform us.

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