A History of Korea (44 page)

Astronomy and meteorology, which were highly advanced particularly in the period of Sejong, were closely related to agriculture. In addition, especially because of the widespread belief that government decisions, good or bad, affected astronomical phenomena, astronomy was of great importance. In 1441 Chos
ŏ
n scientists, notably Yi Ch’
ŏ
n and Chang Y
ŏ
ng-sil, invented a rain gauge, the pluviometer, which preceded by almost 200 years Gastelli’s invention of a similar instrument in Europe in 1639. Sejong distributed copies of the pluviometer to Seoul and the rest of the country to record precipitation. Famed scientist and
astronomer Chang Y
ŏ
ng-sil specialized in sundials and water clocks, and other scientists refined the Chinese and Arabic sciences of the calendar. Important progress in astronomy led to the development, in 1444, of Korea’s indigenous calendar, the
Ch’ilch
ŏ
ngsan,
or Calculations of the Motions of the Seven Celestial Determinants, based on new calculations defining the geographical location of Korea, which differed in longitude from that of China.
Chos
ŏ
n wangjo sillok
detailed abnormal natural occurrences, including solar and lunar eclipses, earthquakes, halos of the sun and moon, and the observation of comets, reflecting the Chos
ŏ
n people’s interest in astronomy and atmospheric phenomena.

In medical science, No Chung-nye and others, in 1433, compiled the 85-volume
Hyangyak chips
ŏ
ng pang,
which included 959 entries on disease diagnoses, 10,706 prescriptions, and 1,477 items on acupuncture therapy. Inheriting a tradition that began in the Kory
ŏ
period, this work firmly established an independent Korean medical science based on the Korean experience. In 1445 a medical encyclopedia titled
Ŭ
ibang yuchw’i,
or Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions, was published by No Chung-nye and others in 365 volumes. No comparable medical work existed anywhere in the world at the time.

In the fifteenth century a variety of books on military science appeared, and new types of artillery were produced by military technicians. In 1450 a two-volume work on the military history of Korea and China, titled
Tongguk py
ŏ
nggam,
or Military Exemplar of the Eastern Kingdom, was published. The next year another book on tactics,
Chinp
ŏ
p,
or Battle Formation, was published to explain how to drill troops and take assault positions. This was later revised in 1492 to become
Py
ŏ
ngjang tos
ŏ
l,
or Descriptions of Officers and Men. Techniques for casting and using cannons were described in a publication entitled
Ch’ongt’ong t
ŭ
ngnok,
or Records on Gunpowder Weaponry, that appeared in 1448. In 1451 a new weapon, the
hwach’a,
or launching vehicle, was invented that used gunpowder ignited by fuse wicks to fire 200 arrows at one time. As a rocket launcher, it had a range of 1,000 meters.

Accompanying all the scholarly works produced in this period was a tremendous amount of activity in the field of printing, including the development of improved movable metal type. Most printing was previously done with metal type invented in the thirteenth century in the preceding Kory
ŏ
dynasty, but the new movable metal type, in the Chos
ŏ
n kingdom, was cast in great quantities and widely used in the publication of state-sponsored books including Confucian classics and historical works. In 1403 a type-casting foundry was established and copper printing type, called
kyemi
type (after the designation for the
cyclical year of 1403), was cast.
⁵
Typography was developed and improved by the repeated casting of new fonts. At first beeswax was used to fasten the type on a plate; Sejong improved this inconvenient method by assembling the type into squares on a plate. This new system doubled the efficiency of printing. After 1437 copper was replaced by lead for metal type. Sejong ordered the casting of two new types of
ky
ŏ
ngja
and
kabin
in 1420 and 1434, respectively. The
kabin
type has been rated as the best type, as it consisted of exquisitely wrought Chinese characters and was cast in large quantities (more than 200,000 types) to make printing more efficient. Chos
ŏ
n’s advanced art of printing greatly influenced neighboring countries, including China and Japan. Clearly the early Chos
ŏ
n period was a golden age in terms of scientific and technological developments.

Buddhism was no longer a source of literary and artistic inspiration in the Chos
ŏ
n dynasty, and although Chinese models influenced the literature, art, and music of the period, all three exhibited a distinct Korean style. In its preface the compilers of
Tongmun s
ŏ
n,
or An Anthology of Korean Literature, stressed that the Chinese literature of Koreans was strictly Korean and was not the literature of the Song, Yuan, Han, or Tang. Korean scholar-officials cultivated and developed their skills in the arts of Confucian culture—poetry, painting, and calligraphy. Poetry was considered the most important of these arts, and men who lacked poetic ability could not pass the civil service examinations.

In 1478 the high-ranking scholar-officials S
ŏ
K
ŏ
-j
ŏ
ng and No Sa-sin, at the king’s command, compiled the 133-volume
Tongmun s
ŏ
n,
a collection of poetry and prose written by Koreans in Chinese in the period from the Three Kingdoms to the early Chos
ŏ
n dynasty. In 1517 the 23-volume
Sok tongmun s
ŏ
n,
or the Succeeding Anthology of Korean Literature, appeared, containing the writings from the post-
Tongmun s
ŏ
n
period. At the same time the so-called
p’aes
ŏ
l munhak,
or literature of tales and anecdotes, was popular among the yangban literati. Works of this genre include S
ŏ
K
ŏ
-j
ŏ
ng’s
P’irw
ŏ
n chapki,
or An Author’s Miscellany; S
ŏ
ng Hy
ŏ
n’s
Yongjae ch’onghwa,
or Assorted Writings of Yongjae; and O Suk-kw
ŏ
n’s
P’aegwan chapki,
or The Storyteller’s Miscellany. This genre developed into “novels,” or fictional tales; an example is Kim Si-s
ŭ
p’s
K
ŭ
mo sinhwa,
or New Stories of the Golden Turtle.

Portrait and landscape paintings were done mainly by government artists, who painted them at the request of members of royalty and the yangban literati. Landscapes of the period portrayed idealized settings not found in the natural
world. This style of painting was influenced by China and later changed to the new mode of portraying real scenery as seen by the painters themselves. The most highly praised early Chos
ŏ
n painter was An Ky
ŏ
n whose famous landscape
Mong yu tow
ŏ
n to,
or Painting of a Dream of Strolling in a Peach Garden, painted in 1447, has been recognized as a supreme masterpiece. It is said to have been an artistic representation of a dream of Prince Anp’y
ŏ
ng, the third son of King Sejong. Another renowned painter of that period, Ch’oe Ky
ŏ
ng, was particularly skilled in painting portraits. In the sixteenth century Yi Sang-jwa, who had been born a slave, was selected as a government artist because of his outstanding talent. The yangban literati took an interest in painting for their pleasure; this genre, known as
muninhwa,
or literati paintings, was characterized by India ink and brush drawings. A master of these paintings was Kang H
ŭ
i-an in the reign of King Sejong.

Unlike painting, training in calligraphy was an essential adjunct of education for the yangban, and a number of calligraphic masters emerged among the yangban literati. The ornamental writing of Chinese characters in calligraphy was considered an art in itself. Since the late Kory
ŏ
period, the songxue style of Chinese Zhao Mengfu continued to be popular, and its acknowledged master was Prince Anp’y
ŏ
ng; excluded from succession to the throne, he took pleasure in artistic pursuits and produced graceful calligraphic works. Yang Sa-
ŏ
n and Han Ho were also famous calligraphers of the sixteenth century.

In the early Chos
ŏ
n period the royal family and the yangban literati led a relatively simple life. As the royal court used ceramic instead of gold and silver vessels, pieces called
punch’
ŏ
ng,
or powder blue-green, were produced in great quantities. The period of Kory
ŏ
celadon came to an end with the disappearance of the Kory
ŏ
government’s kilns which had produced these articles. Beginning in the late Kory
ŏ
period, as jade green color disapperared, Kory
ŏ
celadon was gradually transformed into punch’
ŏ
ng porcelain. These punch’
ŏ
ng pieces lacked the refined beauty of the Kory
ŏ
celadon but were attractive and calming, with designs that were usually of flowers and fish. These punch’
ŏ
ng porcelains were a transitional stage that led to the famous
paekcha,
or white porcelains. This Chos
ŏ
n ceramic ware, made by painting a clear glaze over ceramic made of white clay, first emerged during the Kory
ŏ
era along with ch’
ŏ
ngja, but it came into its own only during the Chos
ŏ
n period. Paekcha most often was pure white in color, but sometimes green or a milky color was added to the clay to lend it a pale hue. If the Kory
ŏ
ch’
ŏ
ngja could be seen as the embodiment of the era’s aristocratic culture and luxuries, then paekcha was a fitting
expression of the tastes of Chos
ŏ
n’s yangban literati. This less refined porcelain of the Chos
ŏ
n dynasty greatly influenced the development of Japanese artistic appreciation since the late sixteenth century and is still far more artistic than the porcelains found anywhere else in East Asia.

In a Confucian state that stressed ritual, music was naturally a vital component of statecraft. Music always accompanied various national ceremonies, and the Chos
ŏ
n dynasty established the
Changakw
ŏ
n
, or Office of Music, which took charge of music at the court. In the reign of King Sejong, additional musical instruments were introduced into the realm and musical texts were arranged. The man who contributed most to these efforts was Pak Y
ŏ
n. Sejong also composed several pieces of music. In 1493 a nine-volume publication on musicology, titled
Akhak kwoeb
ŏ
m,
or Canon of Music, was compiled by S
ŏ
ng Hy
ŏ
n and Yu Chagwang. This work classified music into three categories:
aak,
or ceremonial music;
tangak,
or Chinese music; and
hyangak,
or native music. With the enhanced musical standard, dance also developed, which was characterized by dignity and elegance.

By the early sixteenth century, serious problems began to surface throughout Chos
ŏ
society. A keen desire for reform spread and, particularly in circles of political power, challenged the dominance of the “
hun’gu,
or meritorious elite, a political faction composed of merit subjects and their descendants. This elite faction held the reins of power, occupying high government posts and possessing abundant farmlands and slaves. Their dominant position was largely the result of special meritorious awards bestowed for services under kings Sejo and S
ŏ
ngjong. Taking advantage of their position and power, many members of this faction expanded their landholdings, thereby reducing government tax receipts and impoverishing peasant farmers. The deepening misery of the peasantry led to rampant brigandage throughout the country. The best-known brigand leader was Im Kk
ŏ
k-ch
ŏ
ng; a righteous outlaw, he rose up against greedy officials, seized government granaries, and provided relief to the hungry in Ky
ŏ
nggi and Hwanghae provinces for three years, from 1559 to 1562. Although he was caught and executed in 1562, his cavalry and revolutionary ideas captured the admiration of the populace and inspired the writing of the popular novel
Hong Kil-tong ch
ŏ
n,
or Tale of Hong Kil-tong.

The rule of the meritorious elite was challenged by the so-called
sarim,
or Neo-Confucian literati, a group of newly rising yangban scholars based in the countryside. The hun’gu faction brought the sarim faction under control by a series of
sahwa,
or literati purges. Ultimately, however, the sarim survived and were victorious as a result of its continual manpower supply.

As the Chikch
ŏ
np
ŏ
p was abolished in the mid-sixteenth century and yangban bureaucrats were paid only in salaries, they expanded their personal land-holdings and secured them through purchases, seizures, and reclamation. Finally, many of them, especially the meritorious elite who had already been awarded a great deal of merit-subject land, came to possess large agricultural estates.

The expansion of landholdings by yangban bureaucrats even further impoverished the peasantry. Many tenant farmers had to pay not only a tenancy rent to landowners but a land tax to the state. In the sixteenth century the tribute tax was mostly responsible for depressing the income of peasant farmers. Beginning with the reign of Y
ŏ
nsan’gun (1494–1506), not only was the tribute tax a heavy burden, but the process by which it was paid was still more onerous. The peasants also had to deliver tribute goods that were not produced in their native districts or else pay one or two years’ tributes in a lump sum in advance. Moreover, the
pangnap,
or indirect payment system, developed, in which
s
ŏ
ri,
or petty clerks, of government offices, in collusion with merchants, delivered tribute items to the state and then collected an overly high cost for them, further adding to the peasants’ plight. As increasing numbers of peasants could not meet their tax obligations and abandoned their land, tax collection was enforced on their kinsmen or neighbors. Finally, the heavy burden of the tribute tax was lifted by the enforcement of the
Taedongp
ŏ
p,
or Uniform Land Tax Law, which allowed tax to be paid in rice. Carried out first in 1608 and finally enforced throughout the country in 1709, the Taedongp
ŏ
p virtually abolished the institution of the tribute tax.