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Advocating Literature for Enlightenment:
The Construction and Revival of Chinese Literature in Korea and its Reconstruction in the Eighteenth Century
Abstract
The phrase “advocating literature for enlightenment” comes from Ouyang Xiu’s article “Xie Ci Han Shu Biao” (Memorial of Gratitude for Being Granted the Book of Han). The article states: “advocating literature for enlightenment is the prerequisite for good governance; and book writing and collection are truly comprehensive only in peaceful times.” As far as Ouyang was concerned, “advocating literature for enlightenment” is a manifestation of good governance, and “book writing and collection” an emblem of peace and prosperity. Established on the legacy of Goryeo though, the Joseon dynasty laid greater emphasis on cultural and educational affairs. It not only built an educational system which nurtured talents with revived sinology, but also localized sinology as its socio-cultural foundation and accepted it as customary norms. By virtue of this culture- and education-oriented system, the Joseon dynasty evolved a cultural modality far removed from that of Goryeo. During the reigns of Sejong (15th century), Sunjo (16th century), and Jeongjo (18th century), Korean literati had written various genres of monographs on sinology in addition to the inauguration of competent institutions as well as the introduction, printing, annotating, and editing of great classics of sinology. The resultant writings and collections were so massive that they embodied Ouyang’s thought: “book writing and collection are truly comprehensive only in peaceful times.” The cultural accomplishments during the reigns of Sejong, Sunjo, and Jeongjo on the one hand illustrated the smooth development of the education and civil service systems in the three eras, and on the other hand indicated that the three eras marked the crucial phases of the evolution of sinology-based knowledge and education in Korean history.
Therefore, this dissertation seeks to investigate the institution-induced deepening and localization of sinology-based knowledge and education in the Joseon dynasty that cultivated a national image as “venerating Confucianism.” Focusing principally upon the reigns of Sejong, Sunjo, and Jeongjo, this dissertation delves into the “operation of the cultural system,” the “society’s acceptance of Chinese literature,” and the “writings by the community of interpretation.” Specifically speaking, this dissertation first of all examines how Chinese literature became the very foundation for “venerating Confucianism” under the leadership of Sejong in the early Joseon dynasty. How did scholars who secluded themselves in remote areas promote sinology in the countryside so that the groves of academe determined the development of sinology and perpetuated the tradition of “venerating Confucianism” in the early 16th century after the turbulence in the governance structure such as the Four Literati Purges and the Jungjong Coup? Besides, in the 18th century after the Ming dynasty ended and the Qing dynasty began, how did Jeongjo, whilst being confronted with the flourishing culture of Qing, guided his contemporary literati to revive the tradition of “venerating Confucianism” in Korea’s Chinese literary studies through the compilation of Chinese books and records? This dissertation then discusses Korean sinologists by probing how they accepted original Chinese literary classics, used them to increase the profundity of Korea’s Chinese literary studies, and re-contextualized them into classic texts for enlightenment through the collective interpretation and compilation by the intelligentsia.
This dissertation employs bibliographic methods to explore the relationships between the original Chinese literary classics and the re-contextualized classic texts. It analyzes the collections of major overseas book-collecting institutions and the literary merits of these collections, insofar as to identify the exact timing and impact of the introduction of the original Chinese texts. In terms of the development and perpetuation of the culture of “venerating Confucianism,” this dissertation treats the political situations and cultural policies in different eras as the background against which Korea’s Chinese literary studies took a “contextual turn,” and thereby collates the historical context within which “venerating and promoting Confucianism” served as the cultural orientation of the early Joseon dynasty, followed by the “reverence for Zhu Xi’s theory” in the mid-Joseon dynasty and “Neo-Confucianism as the ultimate convergence” of scholars in the late Joseon dynasty.
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