Korea has had a long tradition of centralized government, and the history of the system of local autonomy is relatively short. The 1995 amendment of the Local Autonomy Act made possible the election of all levels of chief executives and council members in local governments throughout the country. Accordingly, residents began to feel the need to understand the cultural environment of the region, specifically the history and traditions. Andong is well known for its strong historical and cultural traditions and holds an important position in the History of Confucianism of the Joseon Dynasty(朝鮮儒學史). As the most common educational institution of Korea during the mid- to late Joseon Dynasty, many seowon(書院) held regular memorial ceremonies honoring the sages(hyangsa, 享祀), trained the children of local officials and formed local opinions(hyangron,鄕論). The political and administrative elites in Andong in the 16-17th centuries curbed the abuse of the local leader''s authority, and shaped local opinion as part of an effort to integrate local communities, with the seowon and the local government advisory committee(hyangsadang, 鄕射堂) at the center. This is quite democratic and the origin of the local government of collective decision-making. This study will shed light on the many implications of this for modern politics and administration.

The subjects of this study are the local noble families listed in the 16-17th century journal, Yeongga-ji(The Chronicles of Andong County) and Seonseonng-Ji(The Chronicles of Seonseong). These families represented the local political and administrative elites. This study is an analysis of the political and administrative behaviors of the elites in Andong-bu(安東府) and Yean-hyeon(禮安縣) in the 16th and 17th centuries. The territory of Andong in the 16th -17th centuries was somewhat different from that of Andong today.
In particular, Andongdohobu(安東都護府), which existed when the Yeongga-ji and Seonsung-ji were published, in addition to the headquarters including the central part of Andong, was divided into 11 areas, namely Imha-hyeon(臨河縣)·Gilan-hyeon(吉安縣)·Iljik-hyeon(一直縣)·Pungsan-hyeon(豊山縣)·Gamcheon-hyeon(甘泉縣)·Naeseong-hyeon(柰城縣)·Jaesan-hyeon(才山縣)·Chunyang-hyeon(春陽縣), Socheon-bugok(小川部曲) and Gaedan-bugok (皆丹部曲) and Yean-hyeon. Yean-hyeon is currently the area of Yean(禮安), Nokjeon(祿轉), and Dosan(陶山).
This study was conducted through a literature search due to the nature of the topic. Yeongga-ji and Seonsung-ji, the local geographic journal of Andong in the Chosun Dynasty, describe the administrative organization, social economy, culture, customs and the activities of the local noble families of Andong-bu and Yean-hyeon in the 16-17thcentury. These chronicles are invaluable resources for studying the political and administrative behavior of these elites. These documents contribute to providing the rationale and the foundation of the historical approach for identifying the prototype of the local administration.

The theoretical background of this study is behavioral and elite theory. If the definition of elite is "a small group of people who are selected and talented, people who are in the leadership positions in the society or community, or social classes who produced such distinguished leaders", then the noble families listed in Yeongga-ji and Seonseong-ji in the 16-17th century can reasonably be defined as elites. These people were at the center of public opinion in the Andong area, and entered governmental posts after passing the civil service examinations and were influential politically and administratively. In addition, they assisted and restrained the local leader through the Yuhyangso(留鄕所) and supervised the local officials. They had access to the central government for the immediate details of the area through royal appeal (Yuso, 儒疏). They were responsible for conducting Hyangsarye(鄕射禮), an archery event, maintaining the social order and customs in the village. They also oversaw the drinking rite, Hyangeumjureiin(鄕飮酒禮), in order to establish local customs through Confucian rituals

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Diagram of the analysis of political and administrative behaviors of the elites in Andong in the 16th and 17th centuries
145 elite people, who were recorded in the 16∼17 Century Youngga-ji, and figures site(Inmul-Jo)(人物條) in Sinseong-ji, were classified according to their region of origin, last name, and academic schools. The result shows that there were 79 elite people from noble families in Andong-bu(安東府) with 29 last names, and 67 elites in Yean-hyeon with 14 last names. The main families who lead the Andong community in the 16th∼17th centuries were the Jinseong Lee clan, the Andong Kwon clan, the Euiseong Kim clan, the Yeongcheon Lee clan, the Andong Kim clan , the Pungsan Ryu clan, and the Bonghwa Geum clan.
Kim Sung-il(金誠一) from the Euiseong Kim clan and Kwon Ho-mun(權好文) from the Andong Kwon clan published books on manners. Lee Hwang(李滉) from the Jinseong Lee clan and Lee Deok-hong(李德弘) from the Yeongcheon Lee clan published literature on Neo-Confucianism.
According to the Yeongga-ji and Sinseong-ji, 46 people passed the civil service literary examinations and were appointed to a governmental post, and among them, 27 people became Dangsanggwan(堂上官) who had strong political influence. Among the successful candidates of the civil service examination (Munkwa 文科,), there were 31 individuals from Andong-bu and 16 from Yean-hyeon. It looks like Andong-bu had more successful candidates, however, when considering the size of the area, in fact there are more successful candidates from Yean-hyeon. In addition, the number of individuals from Yean-hyeon to pass the samasi(司馬試) examination also surpassed Andong-bu. This study found that successful candidates of Munkwa played a role as central bureaucrats, while those who passed Samasi played a more active role in the village activities.
Academic schools can be classified into the academic line of Lee Hwang, Cho Mok(趙穆), Kim Seong-il, Ryu Seong-yong(柳成龍), and Kim Eon-ki(金彦機). Lee Hwang had more human resources compared to the others. With regard to the situation of regional teacher-student relationships, Cho Mok(趙穆) and Kim Eon-ki(金彦機) formed a group in Yean-hyeon, and Kim Seong-il and Ryu Seong-yong(柳成龍) in Andong-bu. What is unique about it is that elites recorded in Yeongga-ji and Sinseong-ji in the 16th and 17th centuries noticeably inherited family studies rather than academic schools
Mediated by Lee Hwang, some elites in the 16th-17th centuries passed the national examination or through recommendation, advanced to the governmental posts. However, most of them worked hard to train the young people in the village and spent time on writing activities. Even though they belonged to the same academic school as Toegye(退溪), they established their own worldview and perspectives which provided family customs. It was found that this differentiation occurred even within the same surname, as well as between different clans.

Six out of 12 people who participated in the compilation of the local geographic chronicles were found to have participated in Righteous Army activities. This indicates that they were more familiar with the situation in the region than elites in the other areas.

Mediated by Lee Hwang, some elites in the 16th-17th centuries passed the national examination or through recommendation advanced to governmental posts. However, most of them worked hard to train the young people in the village and spent time on writing activities.
The seowon was a political and administrative space of the elites, a space for lectures (Ganghak, 講學) and studying (Jangsu, 藏修), and a place of speaking for their own interests. As the center of local culture, the seowon was a place to enlighten local customs, perform religious services for the ancient sages, curb the government authority, manage the books of the Seowon, and to publish collections of books.
By implementing Hyangsa and Hwangeumjurye, the advisory committee, hyangsadang, boosted committee morals and good manners such as Gyeongjonjang(敬尊丈) and Bongyudeok(奉有德). When faced with national crisis, it recruited the Righteous Army to protect the region.

It was found that among the elites in the Andong area, those who passed Munkwa(文科) played a role as central bureaucrats, on the other hand those who passed Samasi played a more active role in the village activities.
Elites in the Andong area in the 16th∼17th centuries who received an education at the Seowon became leading bureaucrats in the central government and local officials leading the region. As a result, they were able to dominate the political world and became the leaders in the rural society.
There was an incident that downgraded Andong-bu to Andong-hyeon, and also there was a natural disaster that flooded Andong-bu(府) caused by the collapse of embankment named as Sonje(松堤) and Pohangje(浦項堤). In the process of recovery of the name Andong-bu, it was resolved through a close network of local-born bureaucrats who advanced to the central government. This highlights the link between the central government and regional cooperation. The supervision of Pohangje and Songje embankment construction is connected to the wide range of autonomous activities of Andong regional elites.
The elites who participated in the recovery requests of Andong-hyeon to Andong-bu (Cheongbok Andong Daedohobuso 請復安東大都護府疏) are those who were involved in the central government. They were closer to the royal court than the village. It was possible to obtain government approval due to the active role of An Mong-yeol and Lee, Jeong-Hoe in Andongjeo (安東邸) in Hanyang.

The political and administrative elites in the 16th-17th centuries played a major role in the central government, by passing the national examination and advancing to the governmental posts. They also played a major role in establishing Neo-Confucian culture as the basis of the region in the Joseon dynasty.
Political and administrative elites of the 16th∼17th centuries accepted and established Neo-Confucian culture through Lee Hwang in the Joseon Dynasty. Some of the disciples of Toegye passed the national examination or through recommendation, advanced to the governmental posts. However, most of them took on the role of village teacher.
In the Hwangsadan activities, with the cooperation of Hyangim(鄕任), an office under control of local government, and the central government, Bokho was completed successfully. The elites also participated in a wide range of self-government administrative work and when faced with a national crisis, they joined the Righteous Army to protect the region.

Neo-Confucianism was established in the Andong area in 16-17th centuries. The elites from the local noble families were active in writing in those days, and this activity introduced the family to the people and made possible the frequent exchange of knowledge. Family tradition formed a culture which focused on the importance of order of rank regarding the high and the low, the nobles and the commoners. In addition, the residential area became the major factor in the marriage network. The 16h and 17th centuries were a time when philosophy of confucianism established itself in the Andong area. In this period, the elites from the local royal families were not only leading public opinion of the region but also had a major impact on the political and administrative work.
Based on the strong foundation of public opinion, the elites in the Andong area became the core of the Namin(南人) faction which competed with the Seoin(西人) faction for political power. It was closely related with the Toegye academic line.
As the elites in the 16th∼17th century in Andong accessed Yuhyangso and the Hyanggyo(鄕校), they participated in the official political and administrative activities performed by local government officers. They also had communication with Gyeongjeori(京邸吏, the person performing local government work in Seoul), and Yeongri(營吏, a local government official). As a result they could carry out political and administrative activities similar to local autonomy today.
This study, focusing on the political and administrative action described in the Yeongga-ji and Seonsung-ji in 16∼17th centuries in Andong, cannot shed light on the overall behavior of Andong regional elites of the Joseon Dynasty.
In addition, in the absence of a close review of Hyangan(鄕案), Kyoan(校案) and Wonan, and a comparative analysis with elites in other regions, the outcome of this study was further limited.
Further research into the political and administrative behaviors of elite in other regions is required to fully clarify the political administrative action of the elites in the 16th-17th centuries.