This paper extends the research on the biological standard of living in the Korean peninsula back to pre-modern times. Drawing on militia rosters of the Chosŏn Dynasty from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, we tentatively conclude that the final height of Korean men during this period was 166cm and thus slightly above that of modern North Korean men (165cm). On the other hand, the average height of modern South Korean men is 172cm, 6cm more than what we tentatively estimate for pre-modern Korean men. Regression analysis of the height of pre-modern Korean men finds that un-free Koreans ("slaves") were significantly shorter by about 0.6-0.7cm than commoners, whereas the average height of recruits suffering from smallpox did not differ significantly from that of other recruits. Moreover, regional, as opposed to birth-dummy, variables account, and to a significant degree, for most of the differences in height. Whether or not this is a result of socioeconomic differences across provinces or a result of other regionally-varying factors remains an open question.
Little is known about pre-1900 East Asian accounting techniques. A double-entry method of accounting may date from the 11th century in Korea, but extant commercial ledgers are no older than 1854. However, extensive accounts of cooperative associations survive from the early 18th century. The Mun Clan Association accounts are examined to reveal their organizing principles and accuracy. The accounts demonstrate a highly accurate system that was intermediate between single-entry and double-entry accounting. While they are not from a commercial house, the accounts display sophisticated bookkeeping techniques designed to maximize rationality within a Confucian moral economy.
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