Hyangyak
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The ''hyangyak'' () was a contractual arrangement that allowed for a degree of
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
in the
history of Korea The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825. The earl ...
and
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.


In Korea

During the rule of Jungjong (1506–1544), the contract was enforced by the local level officials. Specific details were circulated in text and operated as an informal
common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
. The ''hyangyak'' became the core of Korea's social law and the vehicle of a degree of local autonomy for its villages. It was a stepping stone for the
Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
in implementing government at the local level. Local ''
yangban The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats wh ...
'', or Korean
scholar-officials The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...
were lifted in importance because of the role that they played. The implementation of the ''hyangyak'' opened the way for schools and shrines and tied the ''yangban'' to the community as instrumental in strengthening the government at all levels.


In Vietnam

Throughout Vietnam thousands of villages had their own independent legal codes known as the ''Hương ước'' (鄉約) that governed the social relations within the village community, thousands of written regulations existed and the central administration often recognised them. The origins of these village conventions is unknown, according to jurist Lê Đức Tiết they may date back as far as the
Trưng sisters The Trưng sisters ( (), 𠄩婆徵, literally "Two Ladies
amed Amed or AMED may refer to: *Amed (Bali), a town in Bali, Indonesia *Amedisys Home Health and Hospice Care, a home health and hospice care company in the US, NASDAQ abbreviation AMED * Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development *Amed Ber, a t ...
Trưng", 14 – c. 43) were Luoyue military leaders who ruled for three years after Trung sisters' rebellion, commanding a rebellion of Luoyue tribes and other tribes in ...
period but were unwritten until the
Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: triều Trần, chữ Hán: ikt:朝ikt:陳, 朝wikt:陳, 陳), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a List ...
period. Doctor of Oriental Studies Nguyễn Văn Vịnh divides these conventions into two categories "pre-written conventions" (''tiền hương ước'') and "officially written conventions" (''hương ước thành văn chính thức''). The ''Hương ước'' contained rules about various legal practices like land management, marriage, labour relations, arbitration of disputes, as well as local customs such as family relations, village relations, ghosts,
ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
, sacrifice, mourning, and longing. During the colonial period both the government-general of French Indochina and the
government of the Nguyễn dynasty The government of the Nguyễn dynasty, officially the Southern Court (; chữ Hán: 南朝) historicaly referred to as the Huế Court (; chữ Hán: 朝廷化), centred around the Emperor of Vietnam, Emperor (皇帝, ''Hoàng Đế'') as the A ...
attempted reform these rules and regulations in their favour. To expand their power into Vietnamese hamlets and villages the French administration issued models for the villages to follow, but many Vietnamese villages still functioned independent of the French and Nguyễn administrations. The French reformed Vietnamese marriage and funeral laws in order to weaken the influence of the ''Hương ước''. In 1954 the ''Hương ước'' system was abolished in
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
as a part of its land reforms. The system was seen as "a remnant of a backward feudal system" by the North Vietnamese government and was replaced with a
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
cooperative production model and a new social structure based on the system of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. During the 1980s in the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
during the ''
Đổi Mới (; ) is the name given to the economic reforms process of Vietnam since late 1986 with the goal of creating a " socialist-oriented market economy". The term itself is a general term with wide use in the Vietnamese language meaning "innovate" ...
'' reforms the ''Hương ước'' were re-recognised and re-evaluated in an attempt to restore the village customs. Today the ''Hương ước'' is no longer as culturally relevant as it was before, but heavily procedural under the supervision of the district-level People's Committee.


References

{{Reflist


Sources

* Key P. Yang; Gregory Henderson: ''An Outline History of Korean Confucianism: Part II: The Schools of Yi Confucianism''. In: ''The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2. (Feb., 1959), pp. 259-276.'' Retrieved on August 3, 2005
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Government of Joseon Local government Ancient Chinese institutions Ancient Korean institutions Political history of Vietnam