The research object of this paper is the Yeamunji(藝文志) in private history book “Headongyeoksa(海東繹史)”, “Dongkuktongji(東國通志)” and “Dongkuksipji(東國十志)” in 19th century Joseon. From the angle of compiling mode, this paper expounds the Compiling Characteristics and significance of these Yeamunjis.
Originally, Yeamunji had a certain standardized compilation mode in the traditional Chinese history books. However, compared with the traditional Yeamunji, the three Yeamunji compiled by Joseon in the 19th century showed a new look in the classification system. The results of examining the classification system of these three Yeamunji s are as follows. There is a special classification system in "Headongyeoksa’s Yeamunji", while "Dongkuktongji’s Yeamunji" and "Dongkuksipji’s Yeamunji" adopt a modified classification system. Such a classification can be seen as the general feature of Yeamunji in the 19th century Joseon private history books. Therefore, this paper defines it as a new classification system. In addition, the reason for the emergence of this new classification system can be found in the compilation of "Yuso(類書)" popular in the 17th century. In the 17th century, there were some bibliographic contents in the Yuso, which can be regarded as the rudiments of "Yeamunji" in the late Joseon Dynasty.
Another important feature is that, compared with the traditional Yeamunji , these three 19th century Joseon Yeamunji contained a large number of Chinese poems and articles.
The purpose of collecting Chinese poems and articles in Yeamunji is to enrich the content of Yeamunji. In other words, in order to enrich the narrative content of cultural history, a large number of Chinese poems and articles are included in the Yeamunji. If a Yeamunji is famous for its rich content, it means that the culture of the era it records is very prosperous. Moreover, through the collection of Chinese poems and articles, we can see that the compilers of historical books attach great importance to the consciousness of literature compilation, and they had the concept of "supplement historical materials with Chinese poems and articles(以詩文補史)".
In fact, the fact that the new system of classification and the collection of Chinese poems and articles are the result of the fact that the historiographers wanted to know the history of their own country independently. Han chi-yun(韓致奫), the compiler of “Headongyeoksa”, Park joo-jong(朴周鍾), the compiler of “Dongkuktongji” and Bae Sang-hyun(裴象鉉) the compiler of “Dongkuksipji”. All three of them hoped to narrate the cultural history of their country through the compilation of Yeamunji, and clarify that their culture had a long history and rich content. They tried to re understand and re evaluate the cultural history of Joseon. However, although they all had their own consciousness of historical compilation, and they all pursued independence in their respective historical narration, they still had limitations in getting rid of China's cultural relic system. Due to the far-reaching relationship between Joseon culture and history and Chinese cultural relics, Joseon’s Yeamunji also included Chinese books. Although they recorded Chinese books as an independent project, they ended up juxtaposing them with Joseon books. As a result, the Yeamunji in Joseon had become a historical record of cultural exchange. Even so, in the 19th century, in the history books compiled by the Joseon private, Yeamunji had become an important record of Joseon’s culture history.