Buddhist Monks and Corvée in Mid-Chosŏn Korea: Recruitment, Justification, and Governance

What did Buddhist monks do in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries? From the government’s perspective, monks were not legitimate members of society entitled to pursue Buddhist ideals but were rather evaders of public duty who were nonetheless permitted to survive on the margins. It was therefore only natural that the state mobilized them as a source of corvée labor when needed. During the Imjin War (1592-1598), Buddhist monks were recruited not only to fight against the enemy but also to perform corvée tasks such as constructing mountain fortresses, transporting war supplies, and producing grain─all within the framework of military service. This article examines how the government justified compelling Buddhist monks to serve with their own resources and argues that their exploitation was structurally embedded in a disordered military system that paradoxically relied on their labor for its maintenance.