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xv Translator’s Introduction A book titled Mongmin simsŏ (Admonitions on Governing the People), one of the most famous and celebrated works of the nineteenth-century Korean scholarofficial Chŏng Yagyong (better known by his pen name, Tasan), became a “mustread ” for the ruling elite toward the end of the Chosŏn period (1392–1910) and still more celebrated at the turn of the twenty-first century. In the last twenty years or so Chŏng has received recognition as one of Korea’s most creative and systematic thinkers, especially among the younger generation of scholars and intellectuals in Korea. He is now attracting more interest than T’oegye and Yulgok, traditionally regarded as Korea’s greatest names in classical and political thought. Mongmin simsŏ is so well known in Korea that its title has even been used for a best-selling novel and a subsequent television miniseries that draws on that novel. For this reason alone, an English translation is very desirable and long overdue. Furthermore, because the author of Admonitions takes both Korean and Chinese history as the main sources of his book, it will generate interest among readers of these two countries , as well as Japan, which has a similar cultural legacy. However, the main concerns and vision of the book transcend national and cultural boundaries. Chŏng Yagyong’s Admonitions on Governing the People is a poignant presentation of circumstances and issues still relevant in society today. Although it is based on the social and political scene of Korea’s late Chosŏn dynasty, the many cases of irregularity and inefficiency among local governments described by Chŏng are perennial, as is the quest of civilized states to achieve governments that might effectively manage such aberrations. The challenges leaders face in ruling a society are universal and predictable, but Chŏng’s motivations and the way in which he presents these timeless issues xvi Translator’s Introduction are nonetheless unique. Moving beyond mere description of societal problems and their management, Chŏng’s text is simultaneously an admonition and an attempt to rectify the social ills of his time and the future. Drawing deeply from the annals of history, which he believes to be a great code of conduct and moral guidance , Chŏng evaluates problems in administration and all other matters from a historical perspective. As a result, Admonitions is encyclopedic in its range and depth, providing insight not only about administrative matters but also about crucial aspects of the history and culture shared by East Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. Furthermore, the book reflects and exemplifies Practical Learning (Sirhak) in Korea and Evidential Learning (Gaozhengxue) in Qing China, the new intellectual schools, or movements, that originated as critical reactions to the ideologically rigid and restrictive Neo-Confucianism. Incorporating diverse currents from these sources into the ocean of his vast learning, Chŏng Yagyong also produced more than five hundred volumes on a variety of subjects, including treatises and commentaries on all the major Confucian classics, local administration, institutional reforms, the legal system, economics , national defense, geography, philology, education, and medicine, along with thousands of poems, epitaphs, eulogies, letters, and other literary works. Thus, if one were to read Chŏng’s oeuvre in its entirety, one would recover the whole intellectual heritage of East Asia from ancient times to the early nineteenth century. In spite of his great achievements and his status as one of Korea’s greatest scholar-reformers, Tasan is virtually unknown to general readers in China and Japan, not to mention the rest of the world. In his pioneering study Chŏng Yagyong : Korea’s Challenge to Orthodox Neo-Confucianism (1997), Mark Setton first introduced Tasan’s works to a Western audience. English-speaking readers, however , have had no direct exposure to Tasan’s work because of the lack of English translations, and secondary scholarship provides only a partial view of the importance of Tasan’s scholarship and work. CHŎNG YAGYONG: LIFE AND GENERAL BACKGROUND Chŏng Yagyong (1762–1836), often referred to by his pen name, Tasan (Tea Mountain ), was the fourth son of Chŏng Chaewŏn, a magistrate of Chinju. Residing in the upper reaches of the Han River (now Kwangju in Kyŏnggi Province) for over nine generations, his family produced high officials who rose to the Jade Hall. Because of their affiliation with the Southerners faction, which had been ousted from political 1. Jade Hall: a nickname of the Office of Special...

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