How one scholar-official redesigned Korea by burning the old land records to ash

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Chŏng Tojŏn, the architect of the Chosŏn dynasty, believed that true political stability required a radical reset of property rights. By dismantling the private estates of the elite and returning land to state control, he sought to end the cycle of poverty and corruption that had crippled the previous Koryŏ kingdom.

In the waning years of the Koryŏ dynasty, Korea faced a systemic crisis of inequality. Arable land had become concentrated in the hands of a few powerful families and Buddhist temples, leaving the majority of the population as landless tenants. These farmers, despite working diligently, were forced to surrender half their yield to idle landlords, a situation that Chŏng Tojŏn described as a primary cause of social decay, vagrancy, and banditry. Chŏng argued that this imbalance between the rich and the poor was a direct result of the state losing its central authority over land distribution.

When Yi Sŏnggye, the founder of the Chosŏn dynasty, took power, he made land reform a cornerstone of his new administration. In 1390, he ordered the burning of old land records to clear the slate. Chŏng Tojŏn, a Neo-Confucian scholar-official, provided the ideological framework for this transition. He advocated for a system where all land reverted to the state, which would then grant it to the people based on careful accounting. This policy aimed to restore the equity of ancient times, ensuring that even commoners, artisans, and widows had access to land for their livelihoods.

Chŏng’s vision went beyond simple economics; he sought to establish a highly centralized bureaucracy governed by scholar-officials rather than absolute monarchs. This put him at odds with powerful princes, including Yi Pangwŏn, who favored a stronger royal authority. Chŏng’s influence was profound, as he designed the kingdom's legal, ideological, and institutional frameworks. Despite his pivotal role in the founding of Chosŏn, his political career ended in 1398 when he was killed during a violent power struggle between the princes, a conflict that ultimately shaped the future of the dynasty he helped build.

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