조선시대 과거제도는 명실상부한 인재의 등용문으로서 조선사회를 지탱해주는 주요 근간이었다. 과거는 세 번에 걸쳐 시험을 치르게 되는데 이중 맨 마지막에 치르는 시험과목이 ‘책문’이고, 이의 공식적 출제자는 국왕이었다. 따라서 책문은 당시 학문과 시대적 경향을 파악하는 객관적 자료임은 물론 공식적인 출제자인 국왕의 성향이나 당시의 상황 등을 살펴 볼 수 있는 중요한 자료이다. 이 연구에서는 「조선왕조실록」에 수록되어 있는 책문을 대상으로 연구하였다.
분석의 결과 첫째, 조선전기에는 많은 책문이 수록이 되어 있는데 조선중기이후부터는 거의 수록되어있지 않았다. 둘째, 책문에 인용된 문헌들은 주로 사서 육경이었고 이중 사서 보다는 육경이 더 많이 인용되었고 그 중에서도 「서경」이 가장 많이 인용되었다. 셋째, 책문에서의 인용인물은 주로 중국의 상고시대인 하?은?주시대의 제왕 들이 가장 많이 인용되었고 그중에서도 요임금과 순임금이 가장 많았다. 넷째, 책문은 정치, 행정, 경제, 재정, 사회, 윤리, 교육, 문화, 군사, 국방, 외교 등 국가의 거의 모든 영역에 걸쳐서 출제되었는데 그중에서도 특히 많이 출제된 영역은 정치 및 행정과 군사국방 등의 분야이었다. 다섯째, 책문의 문제 유형은 매우 종합적이고 복합적인 문제들이 출제되었다. 마지막으로 책문은 국왕이 국정현안을 해결하는데 필요한 정책대안을 모색하는 중요한 수단이었고 나아가 좋은 정책대안들은 국왕이 국가정책에 직접 반영하였다. 이상을 종합해 보면 조선시대의 책문의 문제유형이나 출제 경향 및 문제 구성 등은 단지 문제를 위한 문제, 시험의 당락을 결정짓기 위한 문제식 출제라기보다는 처방적이고 실용적 차원에서 접근하고 있어 오늘날 종합적 사고를 필요로 하는 공무원채용시험이나 논술시험 등에 시사해 주는 바가 크다고 할 수 있다.
An Imperial examination system was regarded as the important basis which was supporting the Joseon dynasty as the gateway to select fit persons for higher positions since it was introduced in the Koryo dynasty. An imperial examination was implemented over three times and the last subject was ‘Chaekmoon'(policy questions). An official examiner for Chaekmoon was a king. Therefore, Chaekmoon was a significant and objective material which could not only understand literatures and academic trends in those days but also examine a king's propensity and times who was an official examiner. That is, Chaekmoon was greatly significant as a historical material in that what a sovereign ruler agonized could be grasped in those days. The study set limit to the Chaekmoon which was included in The True Record of the Joseon Dynasty. The reason that the scope of the study was limited in The True Record of the Joseon Dynasty was because the Chaekmoon which is included in The True Record of the Joseon Dynasty was regarded as an important material in the view of history.
The findings are as follows; first, even if Chaekmoon was included in many questions in the beginning of the Joseon dynasty era, it was rarely included or included only a title and a counterplan after the middle of the Joseon dynasty era. It had something to do with a negative effect of the imperial examination system after the middle of the Joseon dynasty era. Second, literatures which were cited in Chaekmoon was the Four Books and Six Classics of Confucianism. The Four Books of Confucianism among them characterized as theoretical and normative books, while the Six Classics of Confucianism was cited a lot because they related with practical and real life. Document Classic - a political book with an ideal politics - among the Six Classics of Confucianism was cited the most. Chaekmoon dealt with practical politics, society, etc. in view of solving a nation's challenging tasks. Therefore, Document Classic could not help being cited a lot.
Third, People who were cited in Chaekmoon were emperors, prime ministers, commanders, scholars, and philosophers. The emperors in the Xia, Yin, Zhou Dynasty of Chinese ancient times were cited the most and the emperors Yo and Sun among them the most. Fourth, Chaekmoon was questions which dealt with realistic contradictions or tasks in those days. Almost all area with politics & administration, finance & economics, society & ethics, education & culture, military & national defence was examined.
Among them, the area of politics & administration and military & national defence was examined a lot. Based on the subclass, the questions which included personnel administration with talented people and people who were out of government service and the Japanese and munitions area against them were examined a lot. Fifth, the questions about Chaekmoon related to munitions, politics, or social ethics. They were very comprehensive and complex. They could be solved with comprehensive knowledge, not specific knowledge. Lastly, Chaekmoon was an important means which a king needed to solve the national tasks and to seek an alternative for policy. A king chose a good alternative for policy and reflected it for national policy.
In conclusion, through the imperial examination of gateway for officials in the Joseon dynasty and Chaekmoon(the last subject), some pedagogical suggestions are made for Chaekmoon with its questions types or examination trend compared with an employment examination for government officials or an essay test requiring comprehensive thought today.
