[Bbanggubneun Typewriter] Joseon Yangbans Also Did Real Estate 'Yeongkkeul'... Detailed Joseon Real Estate Records

"At thirty years old, I feel pathetic for not being able to properly buy even one house. Moreover, if I get scammed by brokers like jipjureup, I won't be able to handle such matters in the future. It's always like this because I make rash decisions without careful calculation."

This is a passage from the diary of a scholar named Yu Manju (兪晩柱), who in July 1784 borrowed a huge sum of 2,000 nyang to look for a house in Myeongdong, Hanyang. Having repeatedly failed the civil service exam and still unemployed past thirty, he borrowed 2,000 nyang from gyeonggang merchants?who also engaged in usury?to buy a newly built tiled-roof house in Seoul on behalf of his father, the county magistrate of Iksan.

2,000 nyang was an enormous amount at the time. It was said to be enough for an eight-member extended family to live for 25 years, roughly equivalent to over 2 billion won today. Even with such a large sum, tiled-roof houses in Hanyang sold immediately once listed. He had tried to contract six other good properties in Hanyang besides Myeongdong but was repeatedly pushed back with waiting numbers, eventually buying a house at a price higher than the market value.

Sisikolkol Joseon Real Estate Chronicles is composed of such candid stories of Joseon scholars’ real estate "all-in" efforts. It shows how, from the founding of Joseon in 1392 until its fall, scholars not only studied for civil service exams but also fiercely scouted properties in Hanyang to find a house. The commonly known image of scholars disdainful of money and preaching integrity is nowhere to be found.

The author reveals how scholars’ attitudes toward real estate changed after Joseon's founding through their diaries and various records. Joseon was originally established as a reaction against the endless large landholdings and real estate speculation by the powerful families of Goryeo. The state issued the Gwajeon Law, burning all land deeds of the powerful families and basing its system on the concept of land transparency. However, rapid population growth and the emergence of a monetary economy after the founding shattered this concept.

Especially after the widespread circulation of the currency called yeopjeon, known as Sangpyeong Tongbo, scholars began to treat real estate as if it were their life. Moving into the 19th century, the Joseon court, burdened by corruption and modernization costs, issued large amounts of currency, effectively conducting a Joseon version of quantitative easing. This caused severe inflation, leading not only scholars but also commoners to focus more on real estate investment.

In the 1890s, during the late Joseon period, house prices soared more than 20 times in just a decade, showing very unstable trends and reaching the peak of 19th-century all-in investments. Afterward, through the turmoil of the Japanese colonial period, liberation, and the Korean War, house prices bottomed out but rose again with Korea’s industrialization to the present day.

The author points out that the failure to resolve housing issues over 500 years of the Joseon dynasty stemmed from scholars’ greed and indifference to housing difficulties, which prevented them from remaining purely virtuous in the face of Hanyang real estate. The lesson is that if the overheated real estate market dominated only by competition and greed continues, the state cannot be sustained, and all social classes will bear the damage equally. This book is recommended for readers interested in the realistic economic and real estate aspects of the Joseon era, often overshadowed by political and military history.

Sisikolkol Joseon Real Estate Chronicles｜Written by Park Youngseo｜Deulnyeok｜360 pages｜18,000 won