Abstract

My PhD dissertation explores the themes regarding the changes occurred to the importation of books in neo-confucianism(性理書) from China, and to republication and distributions of them in Joseon of the 15th and 16th centuries. I undertake an analysis from the selection process to the actual importation of the books as a way to understand neo-confucianism in Joseon. In doing so, I would focus on the personnel, whether public or private, who were in charge of the administration of the importation, because it is evident that their personal prereference for a particular theory of neo-confucianism influenced the selection process for the importation.
Among the chapters, Chapter 2 looks into the systems of republication and distribution of the books been imported from China in the early Joseon dynasty, regardless who was responsible for the whole process. Chapter 3 analyzes the contents of the imported books in order to find out which school of thought in neo-confucianism the people in Joseon preferred, and also to figure out the level of their understanding of neo-confucian thought.
Chapter 4 examines the young progressive intellectuals, so-called Sarim. Sarim members had similar social background and shared political ideals. It is interesting to see the way in which they grasped the Chinese origin neo-confucianism(性理學), then began an interpretation of the textbooks differently from the Chinese, and themselves wrote books in neo-confucianism. I also concentrate on the changes occurred to the publishing methods in the 15th and 16th centuries. In Chapter 5, I analyse the diaries written by Lee Mungeun (Mukje diary, 󰡔默齋日記󰡕) and You Hichun (Miam diary, 󰡔眉巖日記󰡕), who were also Sarim members, to search for the details of publishing and distributing processes.
My detailed analysis undertaken in these chapters ensures that the book selection process, republication and distribution, and the close involvement of Sarim with these operations brought certain positive effects on deepening understanding of neo-confucianism in Joseon of the 15th and 16th centuries. My findings suggest that:
first of all, the central government led the publishing process in the 15th century, but this changed in the 16th century when the young progressives came forward and became actively involved in the process. Some of Sarim members either worked as middle-ranking officials, or had no profession devoting their life studying various subjects and examining neo-confucian theories.
Moreover, the publication system of the Joseon dynasty, after having been established by the central government in the 15th century, seems to go through certain changes in the forthcoming century. Joseon had been founded by the nobles, called Sadaebu, under the theoretical base of neo-confucianism. From the very beginning of the foundation, the nobles felt an urgent need of a psychological and spiritual guidance for the newly established dynasty, which would also justify their actions with the take-over of the previous dynasty, thus actively imported neo-confucian books from Myung dynasty. The books were reprinted by the national printing & publishing houses, Gyoseokwan(校書館) & Jujaso(鑄字所), and then distributed nation-wide. The local and regional authorities had also to produce the xylographic version of books under the instruction of the central publishing house, Gyoseokwan.
However, there were more changes during the 17th year of the reign of King Sejong. Previously, the chief administrator of the regional government could only publish books when being given instructions from the central government. Now, the administrator could produce books on his own right. However, he could only do so if and when the books represented the text of neo-confucianism. Nevertheless, the locals and regions were not so much active in book publication as the central government hoped for. As a result, several regions such as Hamgyong Province(咸鏡道), P’yongan Province(平安道), Kangwon Province(江原道) still received books produced by Gyoseokwan during the reign of King Jungjong in the 16th century.
With the growth of Sarim in the 16th century, the demand for books rapidly increased, but the supply hardly met the degree of the demand. Thus, the central government during King Jungjong's reign tried to alter the distributive system to resolve the situation by establishing a sort of store, so-called Seosa(書肆), which had the functions of copying books and of exchanging the second-hand books. However, this attempt resulted in fierce debates among and the subsequent objections from the highest-ranking officials. Despite the government's hope to set up an appropriate facility that would clear a bottleneck in book distribution throughout the country, the plan was never actually materialized. I reckon the reason to be the ferocious opposition from the old conservative Sadaebu(士大夫), who were the highest ranking officials within the national government, and thus never faced any problem with obtaining books thanks to their political, social and financial privileges. Due to the failure of establishing Seosa, and the continuos lack of books in the country, some people in the cities naturally came up with an alternative idea about resolving the problems. They were the private book sellers, called cheackwhoi(冊儈). They would deal with books both been published domestically and imported directly from China.
Second of all, I reckon that almost all signifiant books written by Juja, the founder of neo-confucianism, were imported to Joseon by the 15th century. It is evident that the people in Joseon during the reign of King Taejong read and understood almost all books by Juja, which had footnotes been added by several scholars in the dynasties of Song and Won of China. Of the complete series (so-called Taejeons(大全類)) of neo-confucianism written by some of the most famous neo-confucian scholars in the Song dynasty of China, only those selected by some scholars in the Myung dynasty were imported to Joseon.
However, after being acquainted with books written in the Song period, the Joseon government, which was then in charge of book selection and publication process, began to directly import books published in the Song dynasty. This attributed to widen the understanding of neo-confucianism of the Song period among the scholars in the Joseon dynasty. When a group of scholars during the reign of King Jungjong, so-called Kymeosarim(己卯士林), were admitted to the central government as officials, a specific category of written materials, such as letters, journals, dialogues, documented questions and answers which were a signifiant form of teaching at the time, began imported into Joseon. Moreover, the books written by Jangje(張載) and So-ong(邵雍) were introduced into Joseon, which helped understand energy and mathematics among the people in Joseon. In Jungjong's 37th year of reign, books written by Jinboorang(陳傅良), Yokguyeon(陸九淵) were also imported, introducing Sagonghak(事功學) and Simhak(心學) to Joseon. The central government under the reign of Jungjong brought books in ethics and enlightenment from China, of which books, at first, went through the process of reinterpretation by several Joseon scholars, then being published. That is to say, neo-confucian books been published in the Song and Myung dynasties were reprinted by the Joseon government.
Third of all, another result of my analysis suggests that Sarim who obtained sufficient knowledges in neo-confucianism, began to write books by themselves with regard to the same subject and concerns with the Chinese neo-confucianism from the mid-16th century onwards. This to a great deal helped Sarim to establish their own school of neo-confucian thought. They developed their own theories on the basis of their understanding of the original school of neo-confucian thought in China. On the process of establishing their school of thought, Sarim published books that directly reflected their readings and understandings in Juja neo-confucianism, but also did not hesitate to express their own thoughts and opinions.
So as to explore the way in which Sarim contributed to neo-confucianism in Joseon by not copying that of the Chinese, but by adding their own thoughts, I have attempted to relate the fact that Sarim gradually began to obtain books by themselves from China, then, reprinted, published and distributed in Joseon, to their autonomous scholarly attitude. Books were presented to the high-ranking officials in the form of a gift by the central government as an appreciation of their service. And the outsiders could not enjoy the privilege. In addition, publication and distribution of books were entirely monopolized by the central government. This meant that Sarim could not get hold of sufficient books. That is why Sarim began to utilize their connections with the local authorities in terms of book publication and printing. Moreover, they often used illegitimate routes to import books from China, obtained books via the local private schools, called Seowon(書院), and asked the regional authorities, who was under obligation to produce the xylophic version of the books bestowed by the central government, for books.
The privately imported books were, at first, thoroughly checked by Sarim members who examined the contents, spellings, and all sorts of details. The painstakingly edited books by Sarim members were reprinted by the local authorities, who were often in favour of Sarim members. However, this method also had a limitation, for Sarim was not officially recognized for his role in book selection, publication, printing and distribution, but heavily relied on good will from the local administrators. As a result, it is clear that Sarim could not possess sufficient books that they needed.
Nevertheless, Sarim could import relatively a good number of books from China in the late Myung dynasty, because a private commercially-oriented book distribution network was established at the time in China. The existence of private distribution route helped flourish book distributions in and out of the country in comparison with the time when the state led the distribution. This summary highlights that the 16th century was the era during which Sarim's involvement regarding book publication and distribution became clear in comparison to the previous century. This situation around and the methods of printing and book publication by Sarim are well explained in the series of books, called Toekyejip(退溪集), written by Lee Whang, one of the most famous neo-confucians in the 16th century of Joseon.
Fourth of all, I have examined several diaries in the 16th century in order to find out the way with which printing, publication and distribution were dealt by Sairm. Among the diaries analysed, Mukje diary clearly shows the evidence that some of the locally based Sarim handled the publication of books. It seems that they sometimes needed to provide papers to the local administrator to ask for printing, but some other times were given the completed print-outs as a present. However, Sarim members were so eager to get books that they often bought them from the apprentices in the printing department of the regional government, who would also print out them for either some extra money or a favour. Through Mukje diary, we can also figure out that Lee Mungeun possessed books in 172 different subject areas, and often generously lent books to his acquaintances.
Furthermore, Miam diary tells us that books were still published by Gyoseokwan, but distributed by the local authorities in the 16th century. In accordance with this diary, books categorized by 182 subjects were being circulated at the time. Among them, books published by the local and regional authorities had 40 more subjects than those by Gyoseokwan. Therefore, I suggest with caution that the roles of the local and regional authorities with regard to book publication were substantially more significant than that of the central department, outnumbering the numbers of the subjects that the latter were dealing with, at least by the mid-16th century.
In conclusion, the relatively independent activities by Sarim in relation to book publication at the local and regional level help them excel their position as a ruling class in the Joseon society. As Sarim consistently made efforts to pursue knowledge, the appreciation and general understanding of neo-confucian thoughts in Joseon deepened, and the neo-confucian order became firmly established in the society.