Family and Household Registers in Silla: Evidence from the Silla Village Register

This study analyzes the concepts of ka (家, family) and ho (戶, household) in Silla society using population data from the Silla Village Register (Silla chonrak munseo, 新羅村落文書). In Silla, the family (ka, 家) functioned as a natural social unit formed through kinship and marriage, whereas the household (ho, 戶) was an administrative unit constructed by the state for taxation and fiscal management. Household registers and genealogies both record information on individuals and families, but they differ fundamentally in authorship and purpose. Genealogies, compiled by descendants, reflect a family-centered understanding of social relations, while household registers were state-produced fiscal documents designed to record and control demographic changes within specific localities, including births, deaths, and migration. The Silla Village Register(新羅村落文書), the only extant ledger-type document from the Silla period, contains detailed population data such as total population figures, age-based population categories, demographic change, and population mobility. The document demonstrates that the Silla state organized households as units of taxation, identified taxable populations, compiled household registers, and administered them through systematic documentary practices. In this process, natural families were incorporated as fiscal units, and their social stratification was institutionalized through the household ranking system (hodeungje, 戶等制). This study argues that the Silla household registration system was not an abstract administrative construct detached from social reality, but rather a system grounded in the structure of natural family units.