5 - ‘Luxury and Extravagance Shall Be Punished Rigorously’

Summary

JOSEON KINGS CUSTOMARILY made their royal processions during the first or second month of the year in order to avoid the busy farming season. However, the royal procession of 1795 began a little later than usual, just before the year’s farming cycle started. Jeongjo would have paid close attention to the season, as the event was planned for his mother’s birthday banquet.

Jeongjo’s visit to Hwaseong in 1795 was perhaps the most historic event of the Joseon Dynasty, requiring massive human and material resources. The preparations had therefore begun a year earlier than the official start of the royal procession – the most important being the fundraising and the establishment of a supervising body. On the eleventh day of the twelfth month of 1794, a provisional institution ‘Jeongniso’ was established inside the building of Jangyongyeong, the Royal Guards Garrison, in order to oversee the construction of Hwaseong Fortress and the maintenance of Hyeollyungwon Tomb and Hwaseong Rural Palace.

The total budget for the royal procession was set at 100,000 nyang (approximately 2 billion won in current terms, or about 1.7 million US dollars) and was raised not from taxes but from the interest on government grain loans. Jeongjo issued strict instructions that the funds be raised in a reasonable and practical way that would not place a burden on the people and the local governments.