中國의 敬老 傳統과 北宋代 老人救濟 政策

Abstract

The moral obligation towards the aged people has been a long tradition in the history of China. It would be, however, a very idealistic and even utopian to think that it might be possible to realistically provide the philological concept of old age care in the period of the pre-Qin Dynasty. Since the Han dynasty, eldercare service in China has been one of the most important state policies in terms of social welfare system such as heath care and poverty aid. This traditional virtue of respect for the elderly people has been continuously inherited and evolved into the Chinese society, which is also very closely related to the development of idea of ‘孝(xiao)’ of the Confucian philosophy. My argument is that following the eldercare tradition in the pre-Song dynasty, the Song dynasty had taken political and systematical actions for the social services for senior citizens such as ‘material aid’ ‘class upgrading’ ‘tax waiving’ and ‘legal leniency’More significantly, the Song dynasty established an official organization for the aged care service and really provided the professional care system for the old. The eldercare system of the Song dynasty now becomes its social model for the post-Song dynasties in the history of China.