• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2015

The Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) is basically an agricultural country and therefore, the main source of her national revenue is the farmland tax. Thus the farmland tax system becomes the most important state affair. The 4th king Sejong establishes an office for a new law of the tax in 1443 and adopts the farmland tax system in 1444 which is legalized in Gyeongguk Daejeon (1469), the complete code of law of the dynasty. The law was amended in the 19th king Sukjong era. Jo Tae-gu mentioned the new system in his book Juseo Gwan-gyeon (1718) which is also included in Sok Daejeon (1744). Investigating the mathematical structures of the two systems, we show that the systems involve various aspects of mathematics and that the systems are the most precise applications of mathematics in the Joseon dynasty.