Kaesong Merchants

… Although its royal status was lost, Kaesong flourished as a commercial town during the Yi dynasty. The merchants who carried it out were called Kaesong merchants or Songdo merchants, and many of them were retainers of the old dynasty who had been persecuted by the Yi dynasty, and it is said that they sought a livelihood through commerce, the most despised form of business in the Yi dynasty's class structure. Kaesong merchants had their own credit system and excelled in business techniques, such as inventing Kaesong bookkeeping, which is similar to today's double-entry bookkeeping, and they expanded their peddling activities throughout the country. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "Kaesong Merchants" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　王城の面目は消失したが，李朝時代の開城は商業の町として発展をとげた。その担い手は開城商人または松都商人と呼ばれたが，彼らの多くは李王朝に迫害された旧王朝の遺臣であり，李朝の階級構造の中で最も卑しまれた商業に生計の道を求めたといわれる。開城商人は固有の信用機構を持ち，また今日の複式簿記に似た開城簿記を考案するなど商術に優れ，全国に行商活動を展開した。…

※「開城商人」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報