중종대 풍속 위기론과 징계를 통한 경계심 고양

This study analyzes disciplinary discourse during King Jungjong’s reign (1506-1544) in response to perceived social customs crisis. Following Yeonsangun’s tyrannical rule, moral collapse and judicial disorder led the ruling class to seek educational solutions through disciplinary measures. The customs crisis manifested in patricide cases, impious crimes by temple slaves, and noble women’s unauthorized palace entry. These resulted from socio-economic changes after the jikjeon land system’s collapse and Yeonsangun’s disciplinary laxity. King Jungjong and officials proposed balancing virtue and punishment based on Zhu Xi’s Confucian penal theory, emphasizing virtue-based governance supplemented by penal administration. Implementation revealed conflicts between Jo Gwang-jo’s moral trans- formation priority and Nam Gon’s punishment utilization theory. Jo emphasized moral transformation over punishment-centered politics, while Nam stressed strong punishment over human sentiment. Jungjong sought balance but maintained penal administration's necessity for correcting customs. Disciplinary measures extended individual punishment to regional warnings through “punishing one to warn a hundred” theory. Crimes against fundamental relationships prompted consideration of downgrading or abolishing entire regions’ administrative status, aiming at moral transformation beyond individuals. However, strengthening disciplinary measures produced side effects including reduced talent recruitment and restricted remonstrance channels. The disciplinary discourse ultimately failed to resolve the fundamental tension between moral transformation and penal administration, demonstrating Confucian political culture’s structural dilemma between moral ideals and governance practicalities.