Prohibition of Personnel Solicitation in the Joseon Dynasty

 In 1474, the 14th year of King Seongjong of the Joseon Dynasty, Song Young's wife, Shin, who was a general of the private court, was taken away by gunmen. Shin was guilty of violating the state-prohibited "bunkyong ban law." The Bungyeong Ban Act was a law that prevented a high-ranking official from visiting a house for personal matters, and he could be arrested if he was found to have entered the house of Kwon Mun-se. Song Young's wife, Shin, was arrested on charges of bonsai after it was discovered that she visited Hong Seok-bo's house, a high-ranking official of the private construction department where her husband works, and his relative's brother. Originally, Bungyeong was derived from the word Bunchu-gyeong-ri, which means "to compete for interests while busy." In "Gyeongguk Daejeon," it is recorded that "Bungyeongja is a person who tries to gain government office by visiting the house of an authoritative person. In other words, in modern words, it refers to a person who asks for personnel. In the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, there are more than 300 records of discussion on the crime of bonsai from the early to the mid-Joseon Period. As such, the bonsai crime was never a minor crime. The ban on bonsai was first enacted in 1399. It was eight years after King Taejo stepped down due to the First Prince's rebellion and King Jeongjong took the throne, and Joseon was founded. The main content of the Bungyeong Ban Act was to prohibit high-ranking officials from visiting them for personal matters, and the law stipulated that they must meet at the government office and resolve them when there are circumstances. If this was violated, the Ministry of Construction arrested all those involved and sent them away for exile, and did not give them government posts again. Although close relatives between the third and fourth cousins were allowed to enter, the house of the official in charge of the judgment of the trial was not allowed to enter except for visits or condolences. During the reign of King Taejong, practical measures were also prepared to monitor the basin. The house of the military officer was monitored by the three military ministries equivalent to the present-day Ministry of National Defense, and the house of the tattoo was monitored by the Ministry of Justice, an organization that corrects the customs of officials and investigates corruption. In addition, those who visited the main minister were arrested regardless of the high or low status or the reason, and if they were arrested for bonsai, they were required to take away the government posts and send them to exile on the spot without having to report separately. He was sentenced to up to 3,000 li in exile, the second most severe punishment after the death penalty at that time. Originally, the bonsai was supposed to be punished by exile, but Shin was sentenced to the 100th sentence of the gonjang because there was no precedent for the bonsai of the official's wife. When Shin was punished, her husband Song Young also stepped down from office because he was ashamed of causing trouble. There was no unfair personnel management, and the wife of the official visited the house of a high-ranking official, her husband's direct boss, and it expanded so much. During the Joseon Dynasty, there were many cases of punishment for violating the Bungyeong Ban Act. A total of 33 people were mentioned in the Annals, and most of them were dismissed from office, exiled, demoted, or reduced to a position. In addition, not only the parties who committed the bonsai crime, but also the officials of the bonsai department were punished for neglecting their duties if the bonsai department did not know that the bonsai incident occurred. And most importantly, sinners who tried to divide themselves were punished much more heavily than those who actually asked for personnel. This was to prevent fraudulent personnel solicitation itself by treating the bonsai sinners severely. During the Joseon Dynasty, even Won-sang's house, the senior minister of the state and the top real power, was unexpectedly cracked down on the bonsai people, indicating how much Joseon tried to prevent the bonsai. In the Joseon Dynasty, when it was a bureaucratic society, serving in the government office was the only career. However, the number of government posts was only about 500 in the case of liberal arts, while 50,000 people passed the liberal arts course in the past, so the trend of seeking government posts by soliciting powerful people was inevitable. Therefore, Joseon further expanded the ban on bonsai as if it were a war with forces who wanted to obtain government posts illegally. During the reign of King Jeongjong, when the Bungyeong Prohibition Act was first promulgated, the subject of the ban was limited to major contributors, but all practitioners who could perform personnel affairs through King Yejong and King Seongjong were subject to the ban. In addition, the ban on bonsai, which was used against ministers, was also imposed on the houses of the king's relatives after 1453 when King Danjong ascended the throne. As a result, Joseon had a law prohibiting personnel solicitation without sanctuary.