meat eating in the Joseon Dynasty

 The Joseon government pushed for a policy to curb slaughter so strong that it could be banned by establishing laws. There is a phrase like this in the "Economic Yukjeon," a law code in the early Joseon Dynasty. "Eating is the basis of the people, and the grain comes from the power of cattle, so this article established a golden sword-book, and China prohibits the sale of beef, so it is to value farming and enrich the people's livelihood." (Sejongsillok, Feb. 4, 7). In other words, even when the government office called Geumsaldogam was established, the slaughter of cows was prevented and the practice was strong. In 1411 (11th year of King Taejong's reign), Sinbaekjeong, who specializes in slaughtering cows, was kicked out of the city wall 90 ri. However, it could not make human desire to light meat disappear to this extent. In the 7th year of King Sejong's reign, Shin Baek-jeong returned to the capital and was engaged in the slaughter industry. The Ministry of Hanseong is asking to expel them to the beach and to judge that those who buy and eat dense beef should be governed by Jeoseo Yuyuyul (February 4, 7th, "Sejong Silok"). Despite these laws and administrative measures, cattle slaughter and beef consumption have never stopped. Let's look at some of the appeals of Bujehak Lee Geukgi on July 30, the 4th year of King Seongjong's reign. "There are definitely laws against slaughtering cattle, but how can all these meat die on its own, as it is often used by government houses to feed the cattle or the poor in the morning and evening at their homes in Seoul? Since these things have been repeated day by day, I am afraid that the livestock of farmers everywhere will gradually disappear." The ban on beef consumption was a law that could never be observed. Since then, there have been constant problems over the consumption of beef. The punishment was also strengthened, and the person who caught the cow "without justifiable reason" was even sentenced to the death of Jeon Ga-sa Temple (April 20, 2011 of "Arithmetic"), but it was not possible to quell the human desire to light the meat. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty have a lot of information about beef, but you can't pick it up here. However, the law existed but was not followed, and the crackdown was sometimes strengthened and then loosened. The reason is that the main class consuming beef was none other than the ruling class of Joseon. But why am I talking about beef all of a sudden? If you want to eat beef, you have to have a cattle butcher and a distribution process. Surprisingly, little is known about this point. When you think of the slaughter of cows, you will think of butcher, and when you think of butcher, you will think of Im Kkeokjeong, a butcher in Yangju created by Hong Myung-hee. Anyone who knows something more will recall the social discrimination inflicted on the butchers and the movement for equity to resolve it. This is also an important issue. But what I'm really curious about is not such a sociological issue, but the production and distribution of beef, which is who slaughtered it when and what needs it was, what price it sold through what distribution network, and how it was consumed. It's kind of a life history issue. Seoul is particularly interesting. It goes without saying that Seoul was the largest consumer of beef since it is the most densely populated city in Joseon. Who slaughtered Seoul's cows and how they were distributed? This is what this article is trying to clarify. Was the butcher in charge of that? As pointed out earlier, the butcher was ousted from downtown Seoul in the early Joseon Dynasty. Then, which class was involved in the slaughter of cattle and the distribution of beef other than the butcher? Now let's talk about this. Since there are no detailed circumstances in the early Joseon Dynasty, what this article talks about is after the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. Seoul, which has 500 cows slaughtered a day, is the largest densely populated city of the Joseon Dynasty and has the highest standard of living, so of course, the level of food and cooking is no match for other places. Since Seoul is not a production place, of course, almost all foodstuffs were supplied from areas or provinces outside of Seoul. It was the city where these foods were distributed. Along with the founding of Joseon, Sijeon was an official market established by the state to meet the needs of the state, the royal family, and Seoul citizens. Analyzing the items sold in the city hall, it is possible to infer the daily life of Seoul citizens of the time, and even Joseon people. Among them, I will deal with food, which is my interest, but I will only look at meat. Yu Bon-ye introduces the types of poetry and sales items in detail in the "City Exhibition" of Seoul's humanities geography, "Hangyeongjichik," and here comes the types of meat sold in downtown Seoul. The rest of the beef is as follows. Saengchijeon is located at the fish gate of Geonchijeon. It is located in Gwangtonggyo Bridge. Egg pancakes are also next to it. Low meat pancake - it's in several places. Raw and dried pheasants are raw and dry. The pheasant was probably caught by hunting. pheasant meat, chicken, and pork were being sold to Seoul citizens. The above is the type of meat sold in Seoul City, excluding beef. Except for pheasants, it is no different from now. However, considering that there are many meat pancakes in various places, it can be seen that pork was consumed more than pheasants and chickens. Now let's look at the beef side. Park Je-ga says this about Seoul's beef consumption in Bukhak-eui. According to statistics, 500 cows are slaughtered every day in our country. In order to use it for national memorial services or ho-gwe (comforting soldiers), 24 pubs in Seonggyungwan and five parts of Hanyang, and 300 government offices are opening meat stalls selling cattle." (Parkje, Anhoe Station, Stone Pillow, 2003 and 81 pages) I don't know if the number is small. From these figures, beef may have been the most consumed meat among various types of meat. Beef, as mentioned above, was consumed in state rituals and hogwe, and was also popular as a bribe. Of course, the end of all beef was to be cooked with food and put into the human mouth. Beef, in particular, served as a kind of seasoning for the people of Seoul. On the other hand, in the late 18th century, bars and restaurants appeared in the city of Seoul. Meat consumption in the city has increased. Come to think of it, seolleongtang and neobiani are Seoul foods. At that time, the population of Seoul was between 200,000 and 300,000 people, but considering the number of people who could consume beef, 24 butcher shops in Seoul are by no means a small number. Let's take a closer look at this butcher's shop during the Joseon Dynasty. These are Yoo Bon-ye's "Hangyeong Strategy," "Sijeon," and "Hyeonbang," which were cited earlier. Hyeonbang - a butcher who sells beef. It is called Hyeonbang because meat is sold by hanging. There are 23 places in and out of the city. All of them make Banmin earn a living by selling meat, and continue the side dishes of prenatal students with meat served as tax. Hyunbang is a butcher who specializes in selling only beef. Hyeonbang originally means hanging. It belongs to the city and is therefore an official shop licensed by the state. It is said that there are 23 places in and out of the city wall, and up to the inner side of the fortress in Seoul, it is called Seongjeosim-ri and belongs to the jurisdiction of the Hanseongbu. Therefore, it does not matter if there were 23 butcher shops in Seoul. However, Park Je-ga said there were 24 places in Bukhakui, but Yoo Bon-ye said there were 23 places, so it seems that one place has been reduced due to some circumstances. It seems that Hyun-bang existed until the end of the Joseon Dynasty. It is said that there were people who remembered during the Japanese colonial period. The following is data from the Japanese colonial era.   Now, the house that sells meat is called Suyuk Sales Office or Gwanjip, but on the previous day, it was called Darimbang. Darimbang is called Hyeonok in Chinese characters, and at that time, it was called Hyeonok because it was hung and caught. In addition, there was also a restriction on Hyeonok, so all of them had Oh Hyun-ok in Gyeongseong, which was the largest, and there were even decades ago.(Gyeongseong Eorok, 坤', ', September 1929) Hyeonbang was also written as Hyeonok, which was called Darimbang in Korean. The fact that there were a total of five prefectures in Gyeongseong means that this is probably the case in the memory of the above quote, a person from the Japanese colonial period.