(1) Factionalized Government

In the 16th century, the Sarim scholars became officials of the central government and confronted the old scholars who were in positions of power in the government. The two factions participated in the administration of the government under King Songjong with different political views but did not often confront each other.
Immediately after Prince Yonsan came to the throne, confusion ensued in politics. The existing and new factions engaged in a political struggle which has come to be known as "Sahwa," the bloody purge of scholars. When Yonsan was dethroned and Chungjong became King, the new Sarim forces attempted to administer to the government a Confucian idealism centered around the scholar Cho Kwang-jo.
However, their policies of reform failed as a result of opposition by the old faction. This drove the government into a state of confusion. Later, the political scene worsened, as conflicts within the queen's family increased in severity.
Under the reign of King Sonjo, the new Sarim forces led the nation's activities and Sarim politics began. There were, however, political differences among the Sarims and factionalism arose. They carried out a particular form of governing by restraining the growth of any one particular faction and taking turns in possessing power. This factionalism which began in early Choson became more complicated as they entered the late Choson Dynasty. Later factionalism grew even worse and had negative ramifications on social and economic life. These factional strifes were not corrected even after the country experienced the great suffering of the Waeran and Horan. Rather, factionalism grew in intensity creating not only political confusion but divisions in society as well.

(2) The T'angp'yong Policy and Restoration of Choson

The many years of continuous factionalism in politics brought about all sorts of negative effects. There were deep concerns expressed over such ramifications and during the reign of King Sonjo, Yi I cautioned against the evils of factionalism.
In the 18th century, Yongjo and Chongjo promoted the T'angp'yongch'aek, a pacifying policy, in order to check factionalism. They called the representatives of each faction together, advised them to get along, promoted people without making distinctions on the basis of faction, erected the T'angp'yong monument at the entrance of Songgyun'gwan and even taught students. This policy, enforced with a strong will, eliminated factionalism by refusing to take sides with any one faction and thus achieved the restoration of Choson.
Yongjo closed 300 Sowons, enforced the Kyunyok law (balancing law) in order to do away with evils within the military and restored the Sinmun'go system in order to carry out politics reflective of the wishes of the people. In addition, many precious books were published and distributed.
King Chongjo also promoted King Yongjo's policy of strengthening royal authority. He especially made efforts to achieve cultural restoration. He established the Kyujang-gak (palace library) and nurtured it as an institution of the crown for the study of the arts, sciences and national policies. He also ordered the compilation of a code of law called Taejon t'ongp'yon, a pictorial text of the military arts, the Kyujangchonun, a book on phonetics, Chungbo munhonpigo (encyclopedia Koreana), the Ch'ungwan-ji, and the T'akch'i-ji as national undertakings. The newly organized Royal guards (Changyong yong) also strengthened the military base of the royal authority.

(3) Reorganization of the Tax System

The law-abiding people of Choson bore the three duties of paying farm taxes, public imposts and corvees. Around the period of the Waeran, tax collecting was a disorderly operation which increased the difficulties of the people and thus worsened with the Waeran and the Horan.
Only by restructuring its system of taxation could the people live in stability and the government increase its revenue. Restructuring of the taxation system began after the two wars and was all but completed by the 18th century.
Land tax was imposed on farmlands. During the two wars, much of the land was desolated and government records of landholdings burnt. Land-surveys and the rearranging of land registers increased the acreage of arable land. However, the amount of land used as palace farms and other royal land which was not taxed increased, and the burden of tax-paying people also increased. Thus, the government instituted and enforced laws which lowered tax rates in order to lighten the people's tax burden and which required fair imposition of taxes.
There were also problems in operating the system of paying imposts on certain farm goods particular to various localities. From the beginning of the nation, the system of paying imposts was enforced but the system caused great suffering among the farmers. Thus, the government ordered the payment of taxes not in goods but in rice and the amount to be paid would be determined by the law governing that region. This was known as the Taedong Law.
The Taedong Law was exemplarily enforced in Kyonggi-do through the proposal of Yi Won-ik under the reign of Prince Kwang'hae and it became a uniform law which was enforced in all the provinces except for the P'yong'an and Hamgyong provinces until the reign of King Sukjong.
Military service was enforced through a system of universal conscription and all peo ple were expected to serve. However, from the time of King Chungjong, the military service system was changed so that people would not have to directly bear the burden of service instead, persons with the financial resources could offer the government cloth for military service. The government drafted soldiers without financial income from these fabrics and thus could maintain national defense. However, establishing military organizations with such a system of drafts was in reality unfeasible. There were many abuses in imposting the amount of fabric for military clothes which would have to be paid out. For example, there were occasions on which people were forced to provide military uniform clothing for soldiers who had run away or were missing.
From earlier times, there were efforts to do away with such aspects of military service. King Yongjo enforced the Kyunyok Law. This law decreased the number of Pil (a unit of measure for cloth) that would have to be paid from two pils to one, and the state received taxes from fishing, saltmaking, and ships which originally had been collected by the local office or the palace in order to fulfill its financial needs. With changes in the tax system, the burdens of the people decreased, but the abuses in collecting taxes were not completely resolved.

(4) Increase in Farm Production

An effort to reconstruct the farmland left desolated by the Waeran and the Horan wars was undertaken by the government to stabilize the people's livelihood.
Land surveys were carried out by compiling land registers, land reclamation was encouraged and the development of irrigation facilities were enforced. Handbooks for farmers were published and distributed in rural communities. The construction of dams and reservoirs increased the number to 6,000 throughout the country by the end of the 18th century. As a result of the expansion in irrigation facilities, rice paddy fields increased. The rice transplanting method which had been used by some farmers in the early stages of Choson was popularized and reduced labor power and increased production. The method of cultivating barley in rice paddies after harvest was popularized. In the area of dryfield farming, planting crops in furrows was a common way to obtain a larger harvest.
By reducing labor power through new methods of farming, the per capita of arable farmland increased greatly and land owning farmers who cultivated large acreages of land also began to increase. Some of the owners who had large pieces of land employed farm laborers to help them cultivate the land. In the 18th century, commercial products such as ginseng, tobacco, cotton, fruit, and herbs were also cultivated in order to increase the income of farm families.
To help in agricultural development, books on agriculture were published. The Kamjobo, Nongga chipsong (agricultural house collection), Sallim kyongje (forest economy), and Imwon kyongje-chi (forestry economy) are representative of farmer's handbooks which appeared during this time.
As the households in farming villages prospered, mutual aid organizations such as Kye and Ture formed in rural communities.

(5) Commercial Developments and the Circulation Organization

During the early years of Choson, except for city shops in Seoul which supplied ordered goods and enjoyed prosperity under special protection by the government, merchants remained inactive. However, in later years, a system of barter emerged and commercial activities underwent change. After the enactment of the Taedong Law, the government procured necessary goods and had them delivered. The artisans who were responsible for providing these goods were able to thus amass wealth through this system. With the appearance of commercial crops and production goods of "free" handcraftsmen in society, the private merchants who handled such goods made their advent. The city shopkeepers tried to interfere with the activities of these merchants by banning them, to no avail.
Under the reign of King Chongjo, a policy of free commercial activities eliminated restrictions against private dealers and commercial activitities of free merchants increased.
In the countryside, markets became active, regular markets appeared in each local region and in the large cities, permanent markets opened. In the markets of local regions, merchants and peddlers made their transactions. In the middle of the 18th century, about 1,000 markets opened. Following the development of these markets, roads were improved and currency was circulated in large amounts to facilitate trade. With the emergence of Kogans, a type of middleman, and facilities such as Yogak and Kaekchu, commerce and trade flourished.

Parallelling the development of domestic commerce, foreign trade also increased. From the mid-17th century, as trade activities with Qing increased, official and private trade activities were carried on in Chunggangchin and Ceman in Fenghuangcheng Manchuria. Leather, paper, cotton, and ginseng were exported and silk, drugs, hats, and stationery were imported. Trade with Japan was conducted through the Waegwan (Japanese house) with Tongnae as its center, exporting ginseng, rice, and cotton, and importing silver, copper, sulphur, and pepper.
Free merchants dealing in domestic goods accumulated huge fortunes. The "Kyonggang" merchants of Seoul, "Songsang" in Kaesong, "Yusang" in P'yong'yang, "Mansang" of Uiju, and the "Naesang" of Tongnae were particularly well known for their wealth.

(6) Changes in Handicrafts and Mining Activities

In the early stages of Choson, handicraft activities were under strong state control because of a system of exclusively government-commissioned handicraftsmen. However, the road to private enterprises in production was gradually opened. During the latter years of Choson, most handicraftsmen paid artisan taxes to the state and carried out their production activities as free merchants. They manufactured paper, ceramics, brassware, lacquerware, printing types, weapons, farm implements, and other necessities of everyday life. After the enactment of the Taedong Law, Kong'in (suppliers of goods on demand for the government), appeared and other handicraftmen produced large quantities of handicrafts through the support of wealthy capitalist merchants, who provided goods for Kong'ins.
With growing demand for silver, trade with China increased and silver mining was actively pursued. By the end of the 17th century, 70 silver mines were in operation. At this time, developments in gold mining were also made. Copper mining was developed actively for copperwares, weapons and copper coins.
However, enterprising miners and merchants, because of the heavy burdens of taxes, mobilized their capital in order to develop and gather underground resources.

(7) Changes in the Social Status System

The Choson society was a Yangban-centered society. Severe discrimination existed between the Yangbans and the ordinary people. Among the Yangbans, there were those who, as they went from generation to generation, put on airs of pretension, and there were Yangbans in the countryside who outwardly maintained their social status in spite of economic bankruptcy. Among some farmers, there were those who, either through distinguished service in war or providing assistance to the national economy during times of difficulty, were granted Yangban status in recognition of their patriotism. As a result of increased royal or landlord owned farmlands, farmers who lost their land were forced to become either hired farm laborers or day workers.
Among slaves, who were recipients of the most contemptible treatment in society, there were increasing numbers who were given the status of common people in gratitude for their military exploits. Because an increase in draftable soldiers and tax payers meant increases in national revenue, the state tolerated the rise of slaves to the status of common people. Thus, by 1801, except for a minority, a total of 66,000 public slaves were liberated to become law-abiding citizens of the state.
Technical workers, illegitimate sons of Yangbans, and local officials in government were referred to as the middle class and were recipients of discrimination. Following the changes in the social and economic situation in the latter period of Choson, these persons made efforts to elevate their social status.
The Yangban-centered status system was affected, and movement between each social stratum was evident but was inadequate to overturn the historical trends. Thus, the structure of Yangban domination continued as before.