A History of Korea (53 page)

On the subject of marine life, Ch
ŏ
ng Yak-ch
ŏ
n wrote
Chasan
ŏ
bo,
or Register of H
ŭ
ksan Fish, which appeared in 1815 and is seen as Korea’s oldest ichthyological work. The author wrote this while exiled on H
ŭ
ksan-do, off the southwest Ch
ŏ
lla coast. Based on his personal observations and collections, his work recorded the names, distribution, morphology, habits, and uses of 155 varieties of marine life in the waters surrounding the island. His younger brother,
Ch
ŏ
ng Yak-yong, researched numerous Chinese writings on smallpox to compile a medical work,
Magwa hoet’ong,
or Comprehensive Treatise on Smallpox, in 1778, which discussed the symptoms and treatment of this life-threatening disease. Suggesting therapeutic practices based on the physical features of mankind, Yi Che-ma, in the mid-nineteenth century, classified men into four different physical types and developed different medical treatments for each.

In 1603 Yi Kwang-j
ŏ
ng, the Chos
ŏ
n envoy to Ming China, brought a map of the world to Chos
ŏ
n, and in 1631 Ch
ŏ
ng Tu-w
ŏ
n, another Chos
ŏ
n emissary to Ming, returned home with a musket, telescope, alarm clock, and books on astronomy and Western culture that had been written by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci. Crown Prince Sohy
ŏ
n, who had been taken hostage by Qing China, became acquainted at the time with another Jesuit missionary, Adam Schall, and, in 1645, he returned to Chos
ŏ
n with a number of works on Western science, including astronomy and mathematics, and on Catholicism. After a Dutchmen named Jan Janse Weltevree was shipwrecked on Cheju-do in 1628, he took the Korean name of Pak Y
ŏ
n and lived out his life in Chos
ŏ
n; he was assigned to the Hully
ŏ
n togam and engaged in casting cannons. In 1653 Hendrick Hamel and his company of 36 Dutch sailors were shipwrecked on Cheju-do. After many attempted escapes, Hamel and seven others managed to escape to Nagasaki, Japan, in 1666. Hamel’s account of his years in captivity in Chos
ŏ
n gave the West its first direct knowledge of the “hermit kingdom,” and the book was highly popular among Europeans.

With the growing interest in Western science and technology, the study of these subjects increased in Chos
ŏ
n. Kim Sang-b
ŏ
m, with the help of Kim Yuk, studied the newly introduced calendrical science, producing a revised Korean calendar in 1653. Sirhak thinkers Yi Ik and Hong Tae-yong advanced their views on terrestrial movement within a solar system. Ch
ŏ
ng Yak-yong proposed the establishment of the Iyonggam, or Office of Science and Technology, to study Western civilization. He believed that technological progress would greatly enhance human development, and to this end he devised and assembled many machines. Researching Jean Terreng’s
Qiqi tushuo,
or Descriptions of Ingenious Devices, contained in the Chinese collection of some 5,000 volumes
Gujin tushu jicheng,
or Collection of Books Old and New, he devised pulley mechanisms that were used to build the fortifications at Hwas
ŏ
ng (present-day Suw
ŏ
n, Ky
ŏ
nggi province), and he also designed a pontoon bridge on the Han River.

Scientific and technological development in this period mainly focused on agriculture and medicine, and progress in transportation and communication,
manufacturing, and the military were largely ignored. By the early nineteenth century Western science and technology was fairly well accepted, but thereafter the influence of Western civilization stagnated because of the suppression of Catholicism that accompanied the introduction of Western culture and institutions.

In the seventeenth century a new literary trend emerged highlighting the importance of emotion rather than reason. H
ŏ
Kyun’s
Hong Kil-tong ch
ŏ
n,
written in han’gul in 1607, was the pioneer work in this new genre. This first vernacular novel, severely critical of the inequities of Chos
ŏ
n society, particularly its discrimination against illegitimate yangban offspring, was followed in 1689 by another literay work written in han’g
ŭ
l by Kim Man-jung titled
Kuunmong,
or A Nine Cloud Dream.

This new seventeenth-century trend encouraged Sirhak scholars to create works in this new literary form. Pak Chi-w
ŏ
n’s fictional writings, in which he satirized the parasitic life of the yangban literati, are good examples, including
H
ŏ
Saeng ch
ŏ
n,
or Tale of H
ŏ
Saeng;
Hojil,
or A Tiger’s Rebuke;
Yangban ch
ŏ
n,
or Tale of a Yangban; and
Min ong ch
ŏ
n,
or Tale of Elder Min. In
Yangban ch
ŏ
n
, Pak characterized members of the yangban as people who do nothing but read while subsisting on government assistance.

In this period men of chungin status and even commoners produced a variety of literary works, including poetry anthologies. In 1712 Hong Se-t’ae compiled
Haedong yuju,
or Pearls from the Real Korean Poetry, and in 1737 Ko Si-
ŏ
n supplemented this work with his
Sodae p’ungyo,
or Poems of a Peaceful People. The two anthologies contained poems written by the people of the chungin class.
P’ungyo,
or poems of the people, included poetry that represented the lower social classes. Two additional anthologies of p’ungyo,
P’ungyo soks
ŏ
n,
or Further Selection of Poems of the People, and
P’ungyo sams
ŏ
n,
or Third Selection of Poems of the People, appeared in 1797 and 1857 respectively. Kim Ch’
ŏ
n-t’aek and Kim Su-jang, both petty clerks, compiled, respectively,
Ch’
ŏ
nggu y
ŏ
ng
ŏ
n,
or Enduring Poetry of Korea, in 1728, and
Haedong kayo,
or Songs of Korea, in 1763. These works were anthologies containing Korea’s earlier
sijo,
Korean odes composed of three couplets, written by known and unknown authors of various social origins, including the yangban literati.

Since the eighteenth century, novels written in han’g
ŭ
l were widely popular among the general populace. Some of these were didactic novels, in which virtue was rewarded and evil punished, such as
Changhwa Hongny
ŏ
n ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of Changhwa and Hongny
ŏ
n;
K’ongjwi P’atchwi ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of K’ongjwi and P’atchwi;
Sim Ch’
ŏ
ng ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of Sim Ch’
ŏ
ng; and
H
ŭ
ngbu ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of H
ŭ
ngbu. Other such novels, including
Imjin nok,
or A Record of the War with Japan, and
Im Ky
ŏ
ng-
ŏ
p ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of General Im Ky
ŏ
ng-
ŏ
p, dealt with the theme of military exploits.
Ongnumong,
or The Dream of the Jade Chamber,
Sukhyang ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of Sukhyang, and
Ch’unhyang ch
ŏ
n,
or The Tale of Ch’unhyang, portrayed the theme of love between a man and a woman. The authors of these novels have not been identified. The most widely read novel among them was
Ch’unhyang ch
ŏ
n,
which involved the subjects of love and class discrimination. This popular satirical novel, which was dramatized as a quasi-opera, exposed the greed and snobbery of government officials. The rise of popular fiction and verse drew people’s attention to government abuses and encouraged their participation in social reform.

New trends also appeared in art. First, the so-called
chin’gy
ŏ
ng sansu hwa,
or realistic landscape painting, became firmly rooted among Chos
ŏ
n artists. Rather than portraying idealized scenes modeled on Chinese landscape painting, artists now depicted Korea’s own natural scenery as seen firsthand. The painter Ch
ŏ
ng S
ŏ
n pioneered this realistic landscape style. As shown in his
Inwang chesaek to,
or Painting of a Storm Rising over Inwang-san, and
K
ŭ
mgang ch
ŏ
ndo,
or Complete Drawing of K
ŭ
mgang-san, he portrayed the scenic beauty of the K
ŭ
mgang-san mountains and the outskirts of Seoul.

Following Ch
ŏ
ng S
ŏ
n, Kim Hong-do opened new paths in landscape painting and in
p’ungsok,
or genre, painting which portrayed ordinary scenes from everyday life. Kim Hong-do was also from the realism school of painting, but he concentrated on depicting scenery in a natural way, in contrast to Ch
ŏ
ng S
ŏ
n’s personal interpretation of the landscape. Kim Hong-do’s
K
ŭ
mgang-san ongch’
ŏ
n,
or Ongch’
ŏ
n of K
ŭ
mgang-san, is a typical example of his work. Ch
ŏ
ng S
ŏ
n also produced a version of this painting, and the contrast between the two is readily seen. Kim Hong-do is also rated among the most famous masters of genre painting. As demonstrated by his masterful
P’ungsok hwach’
ŏ
p,
or Genre Album, his principal themes included the typical activities in the working
lives of commoners, such as plowing, harvesting, and laboring in a smithy, as well as events including marriage and
ssir
ŭ
m,
or Korean wrestling. His most well-known works include
Muak,
or Dancer with Musicians, and
Ssir
ŭ
m.
An-other painter, Sin Yun-bok, portrayed mainly the mores of the townspeople, with an emphasis on women’s activities. The best examples of his work include
Miin to,
or Picture of a Beauty, and
P’ungsok hwach’
ŏ
p,
or Genre Album. The popularity of genre painting represented the resistance of artists to yangban society.

During the reigns of Kings Y
ŏ
ngjo and Ch
ŏ
ngjo, monarchical authority was strengthened and the political scene generally remained stable. Although Hong Kuk-y
ŏ
ng won the confidence of Ch
ŏ
ngjo in 1776 by preserving his throne against the Py
ŏ
kp’a party of the Old Doctrine faction, wielding power for some time after, he was driven out in 1779. The era of so-called
sedo ch
ŏ
ngch’i,
or royal in-law government, began after King Sunjo (1800–1834), a ten-year-old boy, ascended the throne in 1800, at which time the royal in-law family, the Andong Kim clan, took complete control of power. Now Sunjo’s father-in-law, Kim Cho-sun, from the Sip’a faction that had sided with Ch
ŏ
ngjo, held the reins of government in 1805, and many of his close kinsmen occupied key positions in the court. When H
ŏ
njong (1834–1849), a boy of just seven years, ascended the throne in 1834, this time the P’ungyang Cho clan held real power in the government. Since the mother of H
ŏ
njong was the daughter of Cho Man-y
ŏ
ng, later the queen dowager Cho, his clan seized power in the reign of the king. Power again returned to the Andong Kim family after Ch’
ŏ
lchong (1849–1863), an 18-year-old boy, ascended the throne in 1849. As the king’s consort was the daughter of Andong Kim Mun-g
ŭ
n, his clansmen wielded predominant power.

During the period of royal in-law government, the power of the throne was purely nominal, as true power was entirely in the hands of the influential Andong Kim clan. The most influential organ of the day was the Piby
ŏ
nsa, an inner circle comprised of a small number of officials who monopolized power. Any challenge to the powerful family was not tolerated; even those in the royal household of Yi who criticized the abuses of the Andong Kim clan were exiled or charged with treason and executed.

The monopolization of power by the sedo regime left the nation in complete administrative upheaval, and the consequent suffering fell on the shoulders of the general populace, especially the impoverished peasantry. The Andong Kim oligarchs exploited the population by trafficking in the prized government positions, particularly the posts of provincial governor and county magistrate. Meanwhile, conditions in the countryside rapidly deteriorated, as the central government paid scarce attention to the people’s welfare. Those who obtained official appointments with bribes attempted to redeem their bribe money by levying excessive taxes on the peasantry, leading to the overtaxation of the peasants and the resultant decline in their living standards.

Confounding matters, a succession of natural disasters brought a rage of epidemics and famines to the state, rapidly depleting the population. But, though continuing to collect taxes, the inefficient and corrupt government provided its people with no protection against bad harvests. In these circumstances, the primary sources of government revenue, the “three administrations”—namely,
ch
ŏ
nj
ŏ
ng,
or administration of the land tax;
kunj
ŏ
ng,
or administration of the military cloth tax; and
hwan’gok,
or administration of the state granary loan— fell into total disarray.