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King Jeongjo’s View of Learning Observed in Chaekmun

김현옥 1

1대전관저고등학교

Candidate

ABSTRACT

If we should count the most academic kings throughout the Chosun Dynasty, we will choose King Sejong and King Jeongjo with few exceptions. King Jeongjo, who won such fame as a learning ruler, regarded himself as a scholar and was so confident academically that he educated young officials through the Chogyemunsin(抄啓文臣) System. Accordingly, research on King Jeongjo’s view of learning(學問觀) has been made from various aspects. In this study, however, we attempted to examine his view of learning through Chaekmun (examination questions) as a pattern of learning. His view of learning can be divided largely into two. One is his reception of Chinese studies(宋學) based on the studies of the Sung Dynasty(漢學). From the viewpoint of Wijeongbyeoksa(衛正闢邪), King Jeongjo divided learning in those days into orthodox learning and vicious learning (vulgar learning) and protected or rejected them. In his view, the orthodox learning is Chinese classics(經學) based on Neo‐Confucian studies(朱子學), and secular learning means Western studies and evidential studies in the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. As a scholastic king, however, King Jeongjo was interested also in Western studies(西學) and evidential studies(考證學) and criticized them in his own way, and admitted the achievements of Chinese studies to a considerable extent. The other is his spirit of pursuing practical sciences(實學) as shown in the substantiation of Chinese classics(經學). King Jeongjo criticized that the academic climate in those days clung to the theories of human nature and was ignorant of Chinese classics, and maintained substantial learning based on Chinese classics. He asserted that one cannot acquire knowledge of anything without studying Chinese classics, and contended that if one masters Chinese classics he may understand even the mechanisms of carriages and walls. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of geography and astronomy, which were not interests of learners in those days. In this way, he valued practicality until believing that inapplicable science is not a science. As presented above, this study examined King Jeongjo’s view of learning through his Chaekmun. We found that Chaekmun carries the ideas that he pursued and tried to share with government officials, and accordingly, it is considered a valuable material for understanding his academic tendencies.

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