조선에서는 德과 禮가 정치의 근본이었고, 법과 형벌은 정치의 보조수단으로 간주되었다. 조선후기 正祖 때도 백성의 도덕적 각성을 위한 윤리 교과서, 교훈서들이 활발히 간행되었다. 당시 널리 보급된 교훈서 『五倫行實圖』의 수많은 효자⋅충신⋅열녀들은 지배층의 도덕적 지향과 목표를 보여준다. 한편 국왕과 刑曹의 형사재판을 수록한 『審理錄』과 『秋官志』에는 그들이 부도덕하고 비윤리적이라고 평가한 행위들이 수록되었다. 범죄사건과 재판 기록을 통해 우리는, 도덕과 부도덕의 경계 앞에 선 인간 군상들과 그들의 욕망을, 그 어떤 자료들보다 생동감 있게 잘 살펴볼 수 있다. 정약용의 『欽欽新書』도 비슷한 기능을 갖는다. 조선후기 성 관련 범죄의 처벌 규정과 판례를 분석한 이 글에서는, 성범죄의 성립 요건과 처벌 규정을 담은 『大典後續錄』, 『受敎輯錄』, 『續大典』 등 법조문을 먼저 살펴본다. 법조문에 담지 못한 다양한 사건과 재판 기록들은 『심리록』⋅『추관지』와 『흠흠신서』를 통해서 분석한다. 성 관련 범죄의 처벌 규정을 살펴보고 재판 운영방식을 분석하는 것은, 당시 법 제정과 운영에 간여했던 지배층, 즉 국왕과 관료들의 내면 심리와 모순된 자의식을 엿보기 위해서다. 영조 때부터 ‘차미(옷깃)를 당기거나 밥상을 마주 대하는[挽裳飯對]’ 수준의 행위를 간통죄 성립의 중요한 요건으로 간주하여 국왕 수교로 성문화했다. 그렇다면 이것은 상대방이 원하지 않을 경우, 강간 이수죄 성립 요건으로도 인정될 수 있었을 것이다. 당시 여성들은 옷깃을 잡아당기는 정도의 매우 사소한 행위만으로도 자살했다. ‘만상반대’ 행위가 심각한 간통행위로 간주되었기에, 여성들은 이것이 화간이 아닌 강간임을 하소연하고 자신의 억울함을 표명하기 위해 최후 수단으로 자살을 선택한 것이다. 하지만 명백한 간통죄 성립 요건도 반대로 강간 이수죄 성립의 요건은 되지 못했다. 조선후기 남녀가 간통과 강간에 대한 차등적 인식 체계 속에서 살았다면, 오늘날 우리는 간통죄를 폐지하고 강간죄에 이목이 집중되는 세계에 살고 있다. 和姦과 强奸에 대한 오늘날의 명확한 판단 기준은 무엇일까? 우리는 강간죄를 특수한 성관계가 아닌, 심각한 폭력으로 이해할 인식론적 근거를 갖고 있을까? 간통과 강간의 구별에 민감했던 조선후기 위정자들의 성 인식과 그런 인식의 위력에 직면해 투항하거나 싸웠던 여성들의 체험은, 우리들의 성 인식의 좌표를 되묻고 있다.
King Jeongjo’s (正祖) reign (1776-1800) in the 18th century during the latter half of the dynasty likewise saw the active publication, first, of diverse ethics textbooks and didactic books (敎訓書) for the people’s moral awakening. The countless filial children (孝子), loyal ministers (忠臣), and virtuous women (烈女) featured in Oryun Haengsildo (五倫行實圖) demonstrate well the ruling classes’ moral orientation and goals. Meanwhile, the Simnirok (審理錄) and the Chugwanji (秋官志), which include the results of criminal trials conducted by the king and the Board of Punishments (刑曹), enumerate a large number of acts evaluated as ‘immoral’ and ‘unethical’ by the ruling classes. A collection of judicial precedents by Confucian Jeong Yag-yong (丁若鏞, 1762-1836), the Heumheum Sinseo (欽欽新書, New Book on Criminal Law), too, performs similar functions. Analyzing punitive regulations and judicial precedents regarding sex crimes from the latter half of the Joseon Dynasty, this study first examines the relevant legal provisions in the Daejeon Husongnok (大典後續錄), Sugyo Jimnok (受敎輯錄), and Sokdaejeon (續大典), which all include the basic requirements and punitive regulations regarding the establishment of sex crimes. In addition, various cases and trial records not addressed in provisions are analyzed through texts such as the Simnirok, Chugwanji and the Heumheum Sinseo. I examine punitive regulations on sex crimes and analyze the ways in which these regulations were applied to trials because I wish to glimpse, through trials, at the mentality and self-awareness of the ruling classes who were involved in either the legislation or the direct enforcement of such laws. As discussed in detail in the main body of this study, at the time, the king and officials acknowledged acts on the level of ‘[a man] tugging at the hem [of the skirt of a woman other] or sitting across each other [i. e., eating together] at a table (挽裳飯對, mansang bandae)’ as an important requirement for the establishment of the crime of adultery. If so, then when the women involved had not consented to such acts, those acts should have been acknowledged as the requirements for the establishment of the crime of already committed rape (强奸 已遂罪) as well. In this era, women all too easily committed suicide due to insignificant acts on the level of being tugged at their hems by men. In other words, because the act of ‘tugging at the hem or sitting across each other at a table’ was considered to constitute serious adultery, women took their own lives in order to plead in advance their own innocence and sense of the injustice of the circumstances. In the case of adultery, the legislators and law enforcers of Joseon at the time created diverse royal edicts and punished acts on the level of ‘tugging at the hem or sitting across each other at a table’ as the sex crime of adultery. In contrast, as for rape, these figures only clung to provisions in the Daminglü (大明律, Great Ming Code), presenting the interpretation that there was no relevant provision and desisting from strictly punishing the perpetrators. This paper examines problems and inadequacies in the interpretation and implementation of legal provisions surrounding sex crimes in order to glimpse at the contradictory sexual mores and legal judgments of the subjects who legislated such laws. This, above all, can be seen as better reflecting the intimate sexual desires and aspirations of the ruling classes centering on the monarch at the time. If men and women during the latter half of the Joseon Dynasty lived under a cognitive system that was seriously differential toward the crimes of adultery and rape, then, today, South Koreans conversely live in a world where the crime of adultery has been abolished and public attention is directed at the crime of rape. We have also experienced as an important issue whether or not sexual relations by force can be established as rape. What are the clear judgment criteria for consensual sex and rape today? Do we have the epistemological grounds to understand rape not as a special form of sexual relations but as serious violence? The gender awareness of late Joseon administrators, who were sensitive to the distinction between adultery and rape, and the experiences of women who, faced with the strong power of such an awareness, either capitulated or fought back, prompt us to rethink the coordinates of our own gender awareness.