18세기 말 정부의 ‘정감록 참위설’ 인식과 대응책 = The Joseon government’s monitoring of the “Jeonggam-rok prophecy,” - Its Reactions and Counteractions to it, at the end of the 18th century -

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The “Jeonggam-rok prophecy” of the late Joseon period was a product of people’s imagination and hope for a new social order. The Jeonggam-rok text criticized the ruling order of the time, and prayed for the fall of the Joseon dynasty, so the Joseon government had to monitor it, and try to oppress it to the best of its ability.
During the reign of King Jeongjo, the king and the government considered Jeonggam-rok as heresy, and figured that such heresy was born because ‘Righteous studies’ were never fully nurtured and realized. They believed that direct oppression and elimination would never be sufficient to make heresy go away, and argued that reestablishing a firm Confucian order would be the only way to go. As a result, as the government continued to deal with the Jeonggam-rok text and the prophecy inside it, increasingly emphasized was no other than the virtue of ‘ideological enlightenment.’ Sentences declared for Jeonggam-rok-related offenders vividly reflected the government’s such intention. The overall goal of such rulings was to set an example for the rest of the society. Leaders whose guilts was confirmed were used as examples that would send signals to potential offenders in the future, by eventually going through steps of being charged, making confession, being judged and then executed for their crimes, while the other minor offenders were offered intentional mercy by being mildly exiled or simply released, or even spared from arrest itself in the first place. And after a scandal or controversy was dealt with the king or the government would issue a proclamation or statement, to confirm the legitimate nature of punishments the offenders received, and make sure that the population would accept the official ideological stance of the government at face-value. In other words, the government’s dealing with the Jeonggam-rok offenders was designed for the king to use it in his efforts of ruling people not only as a ‘king(leader)’ but also as a ‘master(teacher),’ and make the people more obedient to the ruling authority of the government.
This type of response formalized during King Jeongjo’s reign to deal with Jeonggam-rok became a standard procedure to deal with heresy in general, and was later employed in the government’s dealing with Christianity as well. Yet what worked under Jeongjo’s supervision did not work that well in later periods, as it was in fact a solution which was only sustained by Jeongjo’s own personal ability and authority. Aiming to reestablish Confucian authority and force the public to accept the king’s instructions was no longer a valid approach to heresy, especially in the time when the society itself was rapidly changing. That was why Christian beliefs continued to penetrate the Joseon society in the 19th century even when the government was oppressing it hard. We can see that from a series of revolts, including the Hong Gyeong-rae insurrection, which were based upon the Jeonggam-rok text and also broke out in the 19th century. Simply speaking, Ideological approach to heresy was no longer working.

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