Rituals and Confucian academies in Korea: practical applications of the Liji
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1This paper sets out to identify strategies and constellations in which Korean scholars, during the Chosŏn period (1392–1910), used and relied on the Record of Rites or Liji 禮記. This study is mainly focused on Confucian academies (Chin. shuyuan, Kor. sŏwŏn 書院) and how Korean literati on their grounds studied and used the ritual classic. As privately established Confucian educational institutions, the academies were, on the one hand, bound by tradition and canon, and as such followed, to a certain degree, the general patterns of Liji reception in the Korean environment. However, on the other hand, as closed communities, the academies offered the freedom to experiment within this tradition. Confucian academies since their very beginning were established in an attempt to create an ideal institution of Confucian education and as a contrast to the state-controlled school system. Economically independent and self-governing, academies strove to put ideals into practice –something that was, outside of their world, difficult to accomplish. The community of the academies, in this sense, was an effort to form a collective exclusively driven and governed by the Learning of the Way (Chin. daoxue, Kor. tohak 道學).1 Academies thus form an interesting testing ground to anatomise how Korean literati transferred, adapted, altered, or ignored existing understandings of the Liji.
2As a ground clearing work for such an analysis, this paper begins with a survey regarding the physical presence of the Liji, as well as other ritual texts, in the academies. How were volumes of the Liji, if at all, stored, acquired, produced, commentated, and made available to students in the academies? Once the answers to this question are given, the study will move along and inquire into the usage of the ritual text. What was the place of the Liji within the academic curriculum of the academies and how was it actually used during lectures? And lastly, it will clarify how the rituals of the academies were influenced by the Liji and other ritual texts.
The Liji in Korea and the Rise of Confucian Academies
3Firstly, it is important to take a look at earlier perceptions of the Liji in Korea because they were not without influence on the later use of the classic within the academies. Secondly, as Korean literati sought to emulate a pure Cheng-Zhu Daoxue in their teachings, a short investigation into the history of the White Deer Grotto Academy (Bailudong shuyuan 白鹿洞書院) of Song times will be required. Indeed, this institution acted as a blueprint for the developing Korean academies. However, despite the best efforts to create precise Korean copies of the White Deer Grotto Academy by Korean scholars, concrete descriptions detailing the educational process in Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 (1130–1200) academy were not available in Korea. Therefore, founders and headmasters of Korean academies had to introduce their own conceptions and structures, which were often informed by practices already established on the Korean peninsula.
4As part of the Five Classics (Chin. wujing, Kor. ogyŏng 五經), the Liji always played a role in intellectual discourses of the Chosŏn dynasty. It was featured, as Martina Deuchler has shown, as a ritual guide in the Confucianisation of Korean society.2 Yet the Liji was also always regarded with some doubts due to the opaque history of its arrangement. Besides, it was often derided as a mere explanation to the Etiquette and Rites (Yili 儀禮), an idea put forward by Zhu Xi.3 Zhu Xi’s understanding of the Liji, as well as his promotion and rearrangement of two of its chapters, the Great Learning (Daxue 大學) and the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong 中庸) to be part of the Four Books (Sishu 四書), was very significant for many Korean Confucian literati, who were close adherents to the Cheng-Zhu school. An evaluation of the Liji, following Zhu Xi’s understanding of it, can be found in one of the earliest works of the Chosŏn period written on the ritual text by the scholar Kwŏn Kŭn 權近 (1352–1409). In the preface to his Superficial Views on the Record of Rites (Yegi ch‘ŏn’gyŏllok 禮記淺見錄), Kwŏn shared his general views of the work and the goal of his own engagement with it.
愚嘗學禮於牧隱之門,先生命之曰,禮經亡於秦火,漢儒掇拾煨燼之除,隨其所得先後而錄之,故其文多失次而不全,程朱表章庸學,又整頓其錯亂之簡,而他未之及,予嘗欲以尊卑之等,吉凶之辯,與夫通言之例,分門類聚,以便私觀而未就,爾宜勉之.
I in my ignorance studied ritual in the school of Mogŭn [Yi Saek] and the master instructed: “The Classic of Rites4 was burned by Qin. The Confucians of the Han gathered what remained from the ashes and then recorded it in the order they had obtained it. Therefore, much was in disorder and the text incomplete. Cheng and Zhu took the Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning chapters and rearranged and corrected them, but did not get to the other parts. I have already tried to determine what is superior and what inferior, to distinguish what is good and what bad, to give examples to the people and to collect categories in order to shape private views, but have failed. This is where you should strive.”5
5Kwŏn Kŭn’s preface reveals a selective understanding of the Liji. His teacher Yi Saek 李穡 (1328–1396) had called upon him to assess the value of the different parts of the classic. Accordingly, Kwŏn rearranged and supplemented his comments with those of Chen Hao 陳澔 (1260–1341) and completed his work in 1404.6 A few later intellectuals also continued to focus their scholarly efforts on the Liji, e.g., Ch’oe Sŏkchŏng 崔錫鼎 (1646–1715) and his controversial Classifications of the Record of Rites (Yegi yup’yŏn 禮記類篇) of which only the two prefaces remain7 or Kim Chaero’s 金在魯 (1682–1759) Supplement Commentary on the Record of Rites (Yegi poju 禮記補註).8
6Yet their discussions of the Liji often dealt with royal rituals and directly involved the court, as well as the king himself. However, as part of the Confucian canon, the Liji was also used in educational institutions outside of the capital where the practical application of its tenets and status as “classic” met with the existing suspicion toward its arrangement and the accusation of containing spurious elements. It is therefore interesting to look at the usage of the Liji in Confucian academies, because these educational institutions often reflected the views of individual teachers in their teaching curricula. It can consequently provide an insight into the perceptions of the ritual classic in Korea.
7The first Korean academy was founded in 1542 in the southern province of Kyŏngsang. However, as an institution, Confucian academies were already known much earlier in Chosŏn as their proliferation in Ming China is mentioned and discussed in the Veritable Records of the Chosŏn Dynasty (Chosŏn wangjo sillok 朝鮮王朝實錄).9 When the number of Confucian academies on the Korean peninsula expanded from the late 15th century onwards, they became widely scattered and were exposed to various local influences. It is therefore beyond reason to assume that all of them exhibited the same institutional patterns and followed the same practices. Yet, claiming adherence to similar models, Korean academies still displayed surprising homogeneity concerning their ideological profile. Unlike their Ming contemporaries, which became forerunners of new intellectual trends or turned into proxy government schools,10 all Korean academies until the beginning of modern times observed the strict interpretation of Zhu Xi’s teachings. This included above all his arrangement of the Four Books (the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects [Lunyu 論語] and the Mencius [Mengzi 孟子]) and Five Classics (The Book of Odes [Shijing 詩經], the Book of Documents [Shujing 書經], the Book of change [Yijing 易經], the Record of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals [Chunqiu 春秋]). On a practical level, this resulted in the fact that the classical texts, in this order, were often the main part of the reading curricula of the academies and accordingly were included in the academy libraries.
Book Collection and Production
8The Korean scholar Yulgok 栗谷, Yi I 李珥 (1536–1584) summarised the importance of books for the study of Confucian tenets as follows:
故入道莫先於窮理,窮理莫先乎讀書,以聖賢用心之迹及善惡之可效可戒者,皆在於書故也.
In entering the Way nothing is more important than the investigation of principles to the utmost, and in the investigation of principles to the utmost nothing is more important than reading books, because traces of how sages and worthies used their minds, what we should imitate and admonish ourselves concerning the good and the bad are all contained in books.11
9The collection and storage of books were the basis of all other activities for Confucian academies. However, they also often proved to be among the most difficult tasks. Four methods existed to stock the library of an academy. The first was to purchase volumes on the book market. This was severely limited for buyers in provincial areas, where most academies were located. The second method was to print and publish books within the academy itself. Such an approach was often used to promote the writings of the patron sage of the academy and simultaneously the institution’s reputation. This method was incredibly costly and often required the participation and backing of large and wealthy descent groups –something that not every academy could muster. Only a few Korean academies had the facilities required to produce woodblocks and print books. Therefore, a third method proved quite popular –the borrowing of books between different academies. Volumes were often circulated between academies, where they were copied by hand, in exchange for volumes not available in other academies. The fourth method was the donation of books by scholars from their private collections or, even more prestigiously, from the royal court as an official acknowledgment of the academy.12
10The bestowal of royal books followed the model of the White Deer Grotto Academy which had received books from the Chinese court more than once. Most famously Zhu Xi requested, or rather demanded, several volumes for his academy from Emperor Xiaozong 孝宗 (r. 1162–1192).
然則複修此洞,蓋未足為煩.於是始議,即其故基,度為小屋二十餘間,教養生徒一二十人,節縮經營,今已了畢.但其敕額、官書,皆已燒毀散失,無復存者,不敢擅行標榜收置.輒昧萬死具奏以聞,欲望聖俯賜鑒察,追述太宗皇帝、真宗皇帝聖神遺意,特降敕命,仍舊以白鹿洞書院為額,仍詔國子監,仰摹光堯壽聖賢憲天體道性仁誠德經武緯文太上皇帝御書石經,及印版本九經疏、論語、孟子等書,給賜本洞奉守看讀.
Now, this Grotto has been restored and there is no more trouble with space. Discussions now can start here at the old foundations, where the small cabin measures around twenty bays and ten to twenty students can be educated. The time of miserly administration is over. However, the bestowed name board and official books are all burned or scattered and no longer extant, yet I do not dare to take up action to obtain them myself. Risking even ten thousand deaths, I prepare this memorial to be heard, hoping your August wisdom sees fit to consider a bestowal, which follows the sacred will of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Zhenzong who handed down an imperial edict, to continue as of old to give a name board to the White Deer Grotto Academy. And order the Directorate of Education to copy the imperial stone-engraved classics like the long-living highest ruler, who embodies in his nature the humaneness, authenticity, and virtue to govern the country with might and intellect. Then together with printed version of the Nine Classics (jiu jing 九經), the Analects, the Mencius and others bestow them to this Grotto for safekeeping and study.13
11After a few demands and responses going back and forth, Zhu Xi’s audacity and persistence paid off. In 1181 the academy obtained a set of the classics from the collection of the Directorate of Education (Guozijian 國子監) in the capital. This set had been inscribed in stone under Emperor Gaozong 高宗 (r. 1127–1129) and included the Book of change, the Book of Odes, the Book of Documents, Zuo Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals (Zuozhuan 左傳), the Analects, the Mencius, and five individual chapters of the Liji.14 These were the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Record of Learning (Xueji 學記), the Conduct of the Scholar (Ruxing 儒行), and the Explanations of the Classics (Jingjie 經解), which altogether reflected the educational focus of both institutions –the directorate in the capital, and the academy in the countryside.15
12The founder of the first Korean academy, the local magistrate Chu Sebung 周世鵬 (1495–1554), directly linked his newly founded institution to the White Deer Grotto Academy. This is obvious not only because he chose the name “White Cloud Grotto Academy” (Paegundong sowŏn 白雲洞書院) for it, but also because he makes it quite clear in his own writing.
於一邑,不得不任其責,遂竭心力,乃敢立其廟而架其院,置其田而藏其書,一依白鹿洞故事.
In this one county seat, I must assume responsibility and exert myself to the utmost. I have dared to set up this shrine and construct this academy; to supply it with paddy fields and to collect books for it; all in accord with the example of the White Deer Grotto Academy.16
13Thanks to close contact with the local elites, Chu had obtained large endowments of land to finance the academies’ activities and purchased versions of the Four Books and Five Classics, the Complete Writings of the Cheng Brothers (Er Cheng quanshu 二程全書), the Complete Writings of Master Zhu (Zhuzi quanshu 朱子全書), the Extended Meanings of the Great Learning (Daxue yanyi 大學衍義), and the Outlines and Details of the Comprehensive Mirror (Tongjian gangmu 通鑒綱目).17 Already by 1544, two years after the founding of the academy, its inventory included the Complete Record of Rites (Liji daquan 禮記大全) in sixteen volumes, an imported Chinese print of the Liji in ten volumes, as well as the Rites of the Zhou (Zhouli 周禮) in seven volumes.18 Chu Sebung’s successor as local magistrate, the well-known T’oegye 退溪, Yi Hwang 李滉 (1501–1570), carried on his endeavour. In 1549, he not only requested books, but also a royal charter for the academy from the court of King Myŏngjong 明宗 (r. 1545–1567). His request was granted and the academy was renamed “Sosu Academy” 紹修書院 a year later. It further received a large royal bequest of books including three sets of the Four Books and Five Classics, which all included versions of the Liji.19
14T’oegye had also taught his disciples in Tosan Library 陶山書堂, which after his death was transformed into Tosan Academy 陶山書院 and received a royal charter in 1575. An inventory of its book holdings compiled in 1956 shows the large number of volumes the academy accumulated till the 20th century. It included several versions of the Record of Rites and other texts concerned with ritual.20 Most interestingly, the catalogue shows the many Korean vernacular editions (ŏnhaebon 諺解本) available for the students of the academy. Such vernacular versions were an important teaching tool for giving interpretations of classical texts to the students in an easily accessible way.21 However, while the Korean vernacular editions of the Four Books (and therefore of the two former Liji chapters Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean), most of the Five Classics (the Book of Chang, the Book of Documents and the Book of Odes) and other important texts, e.g., the Elementary Learning (Xiaoxue 小學) were widely distributed, the two existing vernacular versions of the Liji were not part of most academy libraries.22 Especially the Elementary Learning contains many selected quotes from the Liji in its so-called “inner chapters” (neipian 內篇) and many ŏnhae versions of the work can be found in the academies.23 Similar library holdings can be found in academies located in south-eastern Kyŏngsang Province, the hotbed of Korean academies, and in other provinces as well. A catalogue of Musŏng Academy 武城書院 in Chŏlla, printed in 1936, displays the same vernacular editions as in Tosan Academy. It also indicates that the library of the academy owned versions of the Liji in ten volumes and the Rites of the Zhou in ten volumes.24
15Tonam Academy 遯巖書院 in Ch’ungch’ŏng province was considered a centre of ritual studies. It was founded in 1634 to honour the scholar Kim Changsaeng 金長生 (1548–1631), who was well known for his writings on ritual matters. Later the spirit tablets of his son Kim Chip 金集 (1574–1656) and his disciples Song Chun’gil 宋浚吉 (1606–1672) and Song Siyŏl 宋時烈 (1607–1689), who had used their political power and reputation to gain a royal charter for the academy in 1660, were added to its shrine for sacrifices. When the academy was built around Kim Changsaeng’s own Yangsŏng Hall 養性堂, the name chosen for the new lecture hall was Ŭngdo Hall 凝道堂, a reference to a passage from the Doctrine of the Mean.25 Such allusions to classical texts were quite common for the names of the academies or specific buildings and halls. Geomantic explanations for the auspiciousness of the landscape around Tonam Academy, and often other academies as well, were also drawn from classical texts, including the Liji.26 Tonam Academy was well known for its extensive holding of wooden printing blocks stored on academy grounds. In the 18th century, it was especially famous for its prints of Kim Changsaeng’s Essentials of Funerary Rites (Sangnye piyo 喪禮備要). However, the list of stored plates included in the records of the academy shows that, besides the Complete Writings of Sagye (Sagye chŏnsŏ 沙溪全書) and the Exposition of Family Rites (Karye chimnam 家禮輯覽), both compiled by Kim Changsaeng, no plates connected to the Liji were held in the academy.27 This supports the idea that academies mostly used their printing facilities to disseminate the writings of patron worthies in order to enhance their reputation and status.
16This was similar in Oksan Academy 玉山書院 located in the south-eastern part of Kyŏngsan province, which was also heavily involved in the production of books. Although it chiefly disseminated the works of Yi Ŏnjŏk 李彦迪 (1491–1553), who was worshipped in the shrine of the academy, it sometimes also printed volumes for the local government located in the nearby city of Kyŏngju or other academies. Furthermore, the academy borrowed books from families involved with the administration of the academy.28 Over time, Oksan Academy accumulated an impressive inventory of books, the most prized of which were the Royal book donations versions (naesabon 內賜本), presented to the academy by the royal court in 1577. They included two sets of the Four Books and Five Classics, the ninety-five volumes of the Complete Works of Master Zhu, one hundred and forty volumes of the Conversations of Master Zhu Arranged Topically (Zhuzi yulei 朱子語類), and four volumes of the Record of Outstanding Confucians (Yusŏnnok 儒先錄). Beside Oksan Academy, other academies that also received such valuable donations of the Five Classics from the court include Namgye Academy 南溪書院, P’iram Academy 筆巖書院, Tongnak Academy 東洛書院, Ŭiam Academy 義巖書院, Todong Academy 道東書院, and the above-mentioned Tosan Academy.29 A closer look at the inventory of Todong Academy reveals that it was also gifted a version of the Spring and Autumn Annals. The library records of this academy also show that, while the larger part of the academy’s book holdings were literary collections (munjip 文集) of Korean scholars, the books that were most often borrowed by students were the Four Books and Five Classics.30
17Can a more general pattern of the Liji presence in the academies book collections be derived from such selective references? In spite of a few obstacles, through a survey of extant collections, old academy book catalogues, and various other sources (records of purchase, donations, rental lists, surveys of book matrices kept in the academies, records of printing, etc.) a general picture emerges. The predominant form of the classic within the libraries was Hu Guang’s 胡廣 (1369–1418) Complete Record of Rites (often referred to as Liji jishuo daquan 禮記集說大全) edition. This version is listed in most collections. Several academies also only kept Chen Hao’s version of the Liji. Interestingly, only the inventory of P’iram Academy held the Explanations to the Record of Rites (Liji jishuo 禮記集說) with the commentary by Song scholar, Wei Shi 衛湜 (n.d.).31 What raises questions about the status of the ritual classic is the almost complete absence of any Korean commentaries. In comparison, the second ritual classic, the Etiquette and Rites, shows very similar patterns in its appearance. In the catalogues a large number of Etiquette and Rites editions can be found, mostly Zhu Xi’s Comprehensive Explanations of the Text and Commentaries of the Etiquette and Rites (Yili jingzhuan tongjie 儀禮經傳通解) and the Supplement to Comprehensive Explanations of the Text and Commentaries of the Etiquette and Rites (Yili jingzhuan tongjie xu 儀禮經典通解續) by Huang Gan 黄幹 (1152–1221), but there is no secondary Korean literature related to this text.32 This picture contrasts with the general idea of academy communities being motivated and ruled by ritual. However, a glance at the volumes of the Family rites (Jiali 家禮) stored in academy collections can correct this view. The large presence of the Family rites in the collections of academies itself is already a remarkable feature, but one should put special emphasis on the high number of Family rites commentaries and explanations available in the academies and the fact that they were mostly composed by Korean authors. Stored texts include the Exposition of Family Rites, the Examination of the Family Rites (Karye kojŭng 家禮考證), the Augmented Explanation of the Family Rites (Karye chŭnghae 家禮增解), the Vernacular Explanation of the Family Rites (Karye ŏnhae 家禮諺解), and also Qiu Jun’s 邱浚 (1421-1495) Ceremonial Usage of Master Wengong’s [i.e. Zhu Xi’s] Family Rites (Wengong jiali yijie 文公家禮儀節). Even more frequent are Korean ritual compendia focused on the four rituals, or one of them in particular. These were also often published in the academies, e.g., the Questions and Answers on the Four Rituals (Sarye mundap 四禮問答), the Explanations to the Four Rituals Compendia (Sarye ch’ansŏl 四禮纂說), Collected Essentials of the Four Rituals (Sarye chibyo 四禮輯要), and the Essentials of Funerary Rites.
18Generally speaking, it is sensible to assume that it was possible for students and teachers in most academies to gain access to the Liji. This surely changed at the end of the 17th century when a growing number of new academies started to focus less on educational matters than on ritual worship of associated worthies in their shrines.33 Academies with an educational focus, however, either stored the Liji within their own library or were able to borrow it from other academies or even private collections. Furthermore, the presence of the Four Books and the Five Classics was a basic requirement for the operation of lectures in any academy, as access to them was as a main attraction for students seeking success in the civil service examinations. After all, academies needed students to continue and legitimise their own existence.
Study and lecture
19First contact for students with the Liji as well as other ritual works already took place during early childhood education. Basic educational primers like the Thousand Character Classic (Qianziwen 千字文) or the native Korean First Primer for Young Children (Tongmong sŏnsŭp 童蒙先習) both incorporated quotations from or allusions to passages of the Record of Rites and the Etiquette and Rites. For the academies, more concerned with a later stage of education, the claimed adherence to Song Dynasty models and Zhu Xi proved problematic. Besides Zhu Xi’s relatively abstract White Deer Grotto Academy Articles for Learning (Bailudong shuyuan jieshi 白鹿洞書院提示) and quite a few proceedings of lectures in the academy or other institutions,34 no concrete lecture or reading curriculum existed for the White Deer Grotto Academy.35 Therefore, Korean scholars had to establish a proper curriculum from Zhu Xi’s other writings, e.g., his Reading Methods (Dushufa 讀書法), as well as their personal experience and preference.
20An insight into how Korean scholars designed their reading curricula can be gained from the study of the regulations drawn up for their academies. These normative texts defined the purpose of the academy and often explained the concrete steps on how to attain it. Such regulations were usually set up by a famous scholar for a particular academy and later used in other academies with slight variations. One such set of regulations that became widespread in the south-eastern area of the peninsula were T’oegye, Yi Hwang’s study regulations written in 1559 for Isan Academy 伊山書院. In their first point, they state that:
諸生讀書,以四書五經爲本原,小學、家禮爲門戶.遵國家作養之方,守聖賢親切之訓,知萬善本具於我,信古道可踐於今,皆務爲躬行心得明體適用之學.其諸史子集,文章科擧之業,亦不可不爲之旁務博通.[⋯] 常自激昂,莫令墜墮.自餘邪誕妖異淫僻之書,竝不得入院近眼,以亂道惑志.
For all students, the Four Books and the Five Classics should be studied as the fundamental basis, while the Elementary Learning and the Family rites should be studied as the entrance door. While observing the state policy of nurturing talent, they should uphold the meticulous teachings of the sages and worthies. Aware that we are endowed with all the goodness, we firmly believe that the ancient Way can be realised today. [Therefore,] everyone should do his utmost to comprehend in his mind and heart the essence and usefulness of the learning. While it is necessary to study various histories, philosophies, collective writings, literary works, and prose and poems and also to prepare for the civil service examinations, these should be studied for secondary importance. […] One should constantly exert oneself lest one becomes indolent. Books that are depraved, insidious, or licentious are not allowed into the academy lest one’s pursuit of the Way may be disturbed and one’s determination may be confused.36
21Another academy tradition that is often juxtaposed with T’oegye’s is that of Yulgok, Yi I, whose reading curriculum can be found in his treatise Essential Principles for Expelling Youthful Ignorance (Kyŏngmong yogyŏl 擊蒙要訣).37 Yulgok also focused on the Four Books and Five Classics, but added a few other titles to his list of required reading, e.g., the Reflections on Things at Hand (Jinsilu 近思錄), Zhen Dexiu’s 真德秀 (1178-1235) Classic of the Mind (Xinjing 心經), the Complete Writings of the Cheng Brothers, the Complete Works of Master Zhu and the Conversations of Master Zhu Arranged Topically, which, as mentioned above, was important for its statements about the Liji.38
22Standing in Yulgok’s tradition was Yun Ponggu 尹鳳九 (1683–1767). Yun’s reading curriculum for Nogang Academy 老江書院 mostly followed the sequence laid out by Yulgok, but added some other texts. His lecture plan gives some insights into how the books were actually supposed to be read during the lectures, which included guidance by a headmaster or chief lecturer in the academy.
所講冊子,依程朱成法,以小學四書,次第開講,以及五經,而間以家禮、心經、近思、節要、輯要等書.爲宜見講冊子,必自首卷首章始之,而未畢之前,不可以他書錯雜.每講訖,卽定後次所講之限,絶勿貪多.
For the books during the lectures, follow the method of the Cheng Brothers and Zhu Xi. Use the Elementary Learning and the Four Books in sequence for the lectures. Then continue on to the Five Classics, but in between use books like the Family rites, the Classic of the Mind, the Reflections on Things at Hand, The Abbreviated Essence of Master Zhu Xi’s Letters ([Chujasŏ] chŏryo 朱子書節要),39 the Collected Essentials of Learning to Be a Sage ([Sŏnghak] chibyo 聖學輯要)40 etc. For the correct reading of the lecture books, one must start from the first line of the first volume and must not mix in other books before one is finished. At the end of every lecture, the amount of the next lecture must be promptly decided. Do not be greedy.41
23The use of the Family rites is again of interest here. While the Liji was available to academies as part of the Five Classics, the editions of the Family rites stored in the academies suggest that it was the most important ritual guide for Korean scholars. Not only was it succinct enough to help promote Confucian rituals in local society, but it also did not carry any of the problematic background of the Liji, and was still understood as a comprehensive collection of the most important ritual principles. The following is also a view shared by Yun Ponggu.
儀禮周公所制,而禮之全書也.禮記則雜出於漢儒記聖人之論禮,朱子謂儀禮經也,禮記解也者是也.若不讀儀禮而先讀禮記,禮記許多說,果附着在何地. […] 惟朱子家禮之書,酌古通今,簡而不略,詳而不繁,正好先此而知四禮之綱領節目,然後進乎禮記.
The Etiquette and Rites was created by the Duke of Zhou and is the complete book on ritual. The Liji got mixed together out of the sage’s discourses on ritual by the Confucians of the Han. Master Zhu called the Etiquette and Rites the classic and the Liji the explanation. If one does not read the Etiquette and Rites and first reads the Liji, then there are many explanations in the Liji, but [one knows not] where they apply? […] Only Master Zhu’s Family rites deliberates the old for the present. It is brief but not neglectful, detailed but not profuse. First, know the four rituals and then advance to the Liji.42
24Yi Chae 李縡 (1680–1746), a contemporary of Yun Ponggu, went a step further. While former headmasters of Korean Confucian academies still had conceived the Four Books and Five Classics as a fixed unit in their curricula, later study regulations abandoned this tradition and broke the classics apart, showing preference for certain works. One such regulation was composed by Yi Chae for Simgok Academy 深谷書院 (in the capital area) in 1737. A ritual expert, Yi had written the ritual guide, Handbook for the Four Rituals (Sarye p’yŏllam 四禮便覽) based on Zhu Xi’s Family Rites and extensively studied the Conversations of Master Zhu Arranged Topically. In his regulations, he drew up a clear reading curriculum for the students of his academy.
讀書次第,先小學次大學,兼或問,次論語次孟子次中庸次詩經次書經次易經,而心經、近思錄、家禮諸書則或先或後,循環讀過.
In the sequence of learning, first comes the Elementary Learning, then the Great Learning, together with the Several Questions on the Great Learning (Daxue huowen 大學或問). Next come in order the Analects, the Mencius, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Book of Odes, the Book of Documents and the Book of change. The Classic of the Mind, the Reflections on Things at Hand and the Family rites can be read before or after this. The sequence is then repeated.43
25Both and the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Liji –the texts with the least number of commentaries or vernacular versions available in the academies– were taken out of the reading requirements. The exclusion of these two texts in the study regulations by itself certainly does not suggest a bias against the Liji. The regulations of Simgok Academy were also used in Ch’ungnyŏl Academy 忠烈書院, Togi Academy 道基書院 and, in a somewhat different form, in Koam Academy 考巖書院, which were all clustered around the capital. Yi Chae, after retiring from official posts, mostly taught students and held lectures at his Cold Spring Hermitage (Hanch’ŏn chŏngsa 寒泉精舍).44 The lecture plan of this retreat included parts of and the Spring and Autumn Annals. However none of the ritual works were dwelt upon, which seems to follow Yi Chae’s general convictions about the three books.45 In a letter written in 1742 to Kwŏn Sŏkkyu 權錫揆 (1689–1754), Yi briefly shared his views about the origin of the three ritual classics.
三代時禮樂,同列於六經,秦火之後,禮樂先壞,漢儒辛勤補緝,竟未成全書,所存惟三禮(周禮儀禮禮記)而已. […] 後人論六經者,多以周禮代之,論語固亦入於十三經,而周禮之說似勝矣.如何如何.近日做何工夫.似此發問,猶是好消息,千萬勤勵,無一味懦廢也.
In the time of the Three Dynasties, the Rites and Music were both part of the Six Classics 六經. During the Qin burning of the books, the Rites und Music were the first to be destroyed. The Confucians of the Han toiled hard to mend them, but in the end could never complete the entire books, so what we have now are only the three texts (the Rites of the Zhou, Etiquette and Rites, and Liji) and that is all. […] When later people spoke of the Six Classics, most of them used the Rites of the Zhou [instead of the Classic of Music (Yuejing 樂經)]. And even though the Analects also gained a secure place among the Thirteen Classics, they believed the teachings of the Rites of the Zhou to be superior. How could that be? How could it be? How to study nowadays then? To this question, the right answer is, to exert oneself a hundredfold and not to cowardly ignore one bit.46
26In this letter, it is remarkable that Yi Chae not only referred to the “complete” Rites classic that had existed before the burning of books. However, it is even more interesting that he also viewed the Etiquette and Rites as being reconstructed by Han Confucians. This characterisation was usually only ascribed to the Liji or the Rites of the Zhou. His comment is certainly reflected in the reading sequence of his academy regulations, but it also has to be read in accord with the context of his time. The end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century in Korea was marked by intense factional and political strife, often carried out through debates and controversies over ritual. Especially the complaint about those that rate the Rites of the Zhou higher than the teachings of Confucius appears rather like a charge directed toward an opposing faction than toward the ritual texts’ place within the canon. However, the conception of all three ritual classics as being fragmentary and imperfect remnants of a greater work was not often as clearly expressed as in the above statement.
27Regulatory texts of the academies have to be understood as ideal projections of educational procedures. They did not necessarily reflect the reality within the academies. Headmasters and invited lecturers of the academies often changed and, with them, the character of the institution changed as well. These factors certainly had an impact on the actual proceedings of lecture gatherings. It is, however, difficult to find actual recordings of the contents of such gatherings, especially those concerned with the Liji. One exception is a lecture given by Yang Ŭngsu 楊應秀 (1700–1767) on an important passage of the “Ceremonial Usage” (Liyun 禮運) chapter in the Liji. Yang Ŭngsu was a disciple of Yi Chae and known as a very active lecturer on the classics, who also lectured in Koam and Musŏng Academy.47
問,篇題謂大同小康之說,非夫子之言,敢問何以知其不爲夫子之言也.
曰,太古之時,風氣醇朴渾厚.後世,風氣漸開,聖人隨世迭興,順乎風氣之宜,不先天而開人,各因時而立政,故帝王之敎,自有詳畧之異,民俗亦有質文之殊,而道未嘗不同.彼大同小康之說,乃以帝王爲異道,則其不爲聖人之言,可知也,其論小康之道,又謂禮義以爲紀云云,而繼之曰,謀用是作而兵由此起,此其說尤不成道理也.舜之命契也,曰百姓不親,五品不遜,汝作司徒,敬敷五敎,此非以禮義以爲紀,以正君臣,以篤父子,以睦兄弟,以和夫婦之敎乎.若以此爲謀作兵起之由,則是五帝之道,亦未得爲大同也,且五帝之世,亦有涿鹿之戰,有苗之征,則此亦爲小康,而不可謂之大同乎,此不過不識時勢,苟爲大言者之緖論也.禮記之書,大抵多出於漢儒之傅會,有不可盡信者也,觀於此等處,可見矣.
Question: The passage called “Grand Unity, Lesser Prosperity” is not by the Master [Confucius]. May I ask how we know this is not by the Master?
Answer: In remote antiquity, the common practices were simple and unsophisticated. In later generations they gradually widened. As the sages successively appeared in the world they followed the proper practices, did not start things for men before they were outwardly necessary, but instituted governmental measures according to the time.48 Therefore the teachings of the ancient emperors and kings had large or small deviations and the customs of the people also lost in quality and were not in line with the Way. In the passage “Grand Unity, Lesser Prosperity,” emperors and kings deviating from the Way and not following the sayings of the sages, is clearly marked as the way of “Lesser Prosperity.” It is also said that the rules of propriety and of what is right were regarded as threads and so forth. Then it continues to say that “thus it is that selfish schemes and enterprises constantly came about and men took up arms.” This passage criticises not adhering to the Way. Shun appointed Xie, saying “the people have no compassion, the five relations are not respected, you, be my minister of instruction and reverently set forth the five teachings. So that the rules of propriety and what is right are not regarded as threads, that the relation between ruler and minister is correct, the relation between father and son is in generous regard, the relation between brothers is in harmony, and the relation between husband and wife in a community of sentiment.” If this is the reason for selfish schemes and men taking up arms, then the way of the Five Emperors also did not attain the “Grand Unity .” Moreover, the age of the Five Emperors also saw the Battle of Zhuolu in which the Miao people attacked. Then this is also “Lesser Prosperity” and cannot be called “Grand Unity .” This not only misunderstands the circumstances of the time, but also makes forced grand statements. The book Liji, was in the most part interpreted and embellished by the Confucians of the Han and has parts that should not be believed word for word, which if you look at this part, can be seen.49
28In his reply to the question, Yang Ŭngsu discusses the contradictions he sees in the Liyun chapter and explains the implausibility of the passage, based on the problematic background of the Liji. Interestingly, to demonstrate the irrational aspect of the narrative, he relies on the story of Sage king Shun 舜 appointing Xie 契 as minister to instruct the people of the right customs, a story which is found in the Book of Documents and, in more detail, in the Mencius. This, in essence, shows how Yang viewed the Book of Documents and the Mencius as more trustworthy than the Liji, or at least this particular passage of the Liji.
29By looking at the topics of lecture gatherings in other remaining records of the academies, a similar picture emerges. A list of lectures held in 1782 at Pyŏngsan Academy 屛山書院 in the Kyŏngsang Province shows that, out of the 45 lectures given that year, only one was dedicated to the Liji, while ten lectures were on the Great Learning, seven on the Doctrine of the Mean, six on The Abbreviated Essence of Master Zhu Xi’s Letters, six on the Book of Odes, and five on the Analects. Interestingly, there was also only one lecture on the Mencius. However, a year later, three lectures were held on the Mencius, four on the Great Learning, five on the Doctrine of the Mean, and eighteen lectures on the Analects. None were concerned with the Liji that year and none given about the Spring and Autumn Annals in either year. Some of the lectures were attended by over one hundred people, especially when they dealt with popular topics like the Great Learning.50 As a general pattern, the lectures prioritised the Four Books over the Five Classics, and the Three Classics (the Book of Odes, the Book of Documents, the Book of change) over the Liji and he Spring and Autumn Annals. This corresponds to the order of priority given to the books in Zhu Xi’s arrangement of the classics. In other words, the Liji and the Spring and Autumn Annals, as the last books in the sequence, were heavily overshadowed by the attention given to the Four Books and proportionally lagged behind the Three Classics.
30In general, the Liji was not a priority text in the study curricula of the academies and not a very popular lecture topic either. Such treatment of the text could have been connected to it being viewed as a text of problematic history. However, other factors, like didactic reasons or the reliance on the Family rites, surely have also contributed to the rare practical use of the text within the academies.51 Still, as passages of the Liji were taught to students from a young age, for example through the Elementary Learning, and the text being a part of the Five Classics, multiple references to the Liji can be found in scholarly writing and arguments of the times. There are also examples of lecturers in the academies using passages of the Liji to interpret or explain other texts to students,52 showing that the Liji was still an important part in the intellectual world of Chosŏn Korea, even though it was not always overtly treated as such.
Sacrificial Rites
31Ritual sacrifices were an important part of academy life and were deeply entangled with educational activities. When Zhu Xi instituted the sacrificial rites to Confucius and his disciples at the White Deer Grotto Academy, he modelled them after the sacrificial offerings rites (shidian 釋奠) mentioned in the Liji. The rites not only served to commemorate and honour the sages of the past, but also as a connection to local society by inviting official representatives to partake in the Spring and Autumn rites.53 While the first Korean academy heavily relied on Zhu Xi’s academy as a model, its founder Chu Sebung also introduced the new practice of worshipping locally connected worthies in the academy, instead of Confucius and the four Sages or other sages from the orthodox pantheon. In the case of the Sosu Academy, the object of worship was An Hyang 安珦 (1243–1306), often credited with being the first scholar who brought the writings of Zhu Xi to Korea. He was a native of the area where the academy was located and his affluent descendants widely supported the establishment of the academy. Most Korean academies of the 16th and early 17th century chose distinguished Korean scholars, some also Zhu Xi and Confucius, as the object of their sacrifices. However, with the wide proliferation of academies from the latter half of the 17th century, less well-known scholars became venerated in the shrines of the academies. More frequently, sacrifices were offered to figures that were locally important for their descent groups.54 This development was often decried as being a corruption of the original academy system, as it did not contribute to the spread of Confucian customs among students or the population, but only served to preserve the power and wealth of already influential local families. Another criticism raised in a memorial by Pak Tosang 朴道翔 (1728–?) in 1797 gives insight into the ritual practices of the academies.
其二曰,書院之弊.國朝典禮,初無書院定制。蓋順興白雲洞書院,爲書院創設之首,而事在《五禮儀》已成之後.《五禮儀》本不及書院祀享之禮,《大典通編》中,亦無指一定式.雖以嶺以南言之,一邑之內,或設六七書院,已不能無弊,俎豆之數,初無酌定.然而牲用剛鬣飯用二簋,槪視文廟廡享之禮,而春秋必用篚幣.雖以文廟釋菜言之,只於五聖位用幣,十哲以下,未有獻幣之禮。凡八路院享八百餘處,春秋脯幣會減,厥數夥然.此等處,宜所節損.禮曰:‘庶羞不越牲’.牲用剛鬣,則雖用牛脯,必曰鹿脯,槪亦不越牲之義也.今院享牲用剛鬣,而輒殺數牛,以爲供士之需,可謂輕重倒置.此後院享,勿許宰牛.
Second, the evil of Confucian academies: among the ritual customs of our time, at first there was no practice of academies. Then, when the White Cloud Grotto Academy was founded, the state rights were already established. However, they did not reference rites for the academies and there were no stipulations in the Comprehensive National Code (大典通編 Taejŏn t’ongp’yŏn) either. Although in the Yŏngnam area [Kyŏngsang Province], six or seven academies were built in one county, which already could not be stopped, there were no deliberations for their rites. As sacrifice a pig and two baskets (Chin. gui/Kor. kwe 簋) of rice were used, and, just like in the rituals of the Confucius Shrine 文廟 in Spring and Autumn rites, silk was offered. Although the ritual of the Confucius Shrine is called sŏkch’ae 釋菜, silk is only offered in front of the spirit tablets of the five sages, not for the ten disciples nor below. Now in the eight provinces, there are more than eight hundred academies in which the Spring and Autumn rites are held and dried meats and silk are offered. This must be reduced. The Liji states: “The various provisions (at a feast) did not go beyond the sacrificial victims killed.” A pig was sacrificed and although dried beef or venison was also used, it did not go past this. Now the academies, while sacrificing a pig, also kill several cows for their scholars. This shall be prohibited.55
32From the point of view of ritual hierarchy in the kingdom, Confucian academies deviated in ritual practice from their place. The extent of sacrifices for the rituals in the different institutions of the state had been decided on the basis of the “The meaning of sacrifice” (Jiyi 祭義) and “The single victim at the border sacrifice” (Jiaotesheng 郊特牲) chapters of the Liji.56 However, the above memorial and other criticisms suggest that academies often used more resources for their rituals, which they misappropriated from the local community.57
33As the rituals of the academies developed along individual lines and their particular community, most academies began to produce records of their elaborate systems, the so-called ceremonial process records (holgi 笏記). Rituals in the academies were not only held for the large Spring and Autumn rites, but also as minor routines held before or after lectures. Such rituals were often accompanied by ceremonial readings or the chanting of passages meant to produce the right atmosphere and behaviour among the participants. One particularly widespread text, which was sometimes hung as a constant reminder in the lecture halls of the academies, was the Nine Deportments (Jiurong 九容) from the “The jade-bead pendants of the royal cap” (Yuzao 玉藻) chapter in the Liji, used for example in Sŏksil Academy 石室書院 (close to the capital) and Wŏlbong Academy 月峯書院 near Gwangju.
君子之容舒遲,見所尊者齊遫。足容重,手容恭,目容端,口容止,聲容靜,頭容直,氣容肅,立容德,色容莊,坐如尸,燕居告溫溫.
[The carriage of a man of rank was easy, but somewhat slow; grave and reserved when he saw any one whom he wished to honour.] He did not move his feet lightly, nor his hands irreverently. His eyes looked straightforward, and his mouth was kept quiet and composed. No sound from him broke the stillness, and his head was carried upright. His breath came without panting or stoppage, and his standing gave (the beholder) an impression of virtue. His looks were grave, and he sat like a impersonator of the dead. [When at leisure and at ease, and in conversation, he looked mild and bland].58
34Besides being used as reference for the rituals itself, the Liji was also sometimes used to support arguments during ritual debates or controversies. A major argument erupted in 1620 between the descendants of Kim Sŏngil 金誠一 (1538–1593) and Yu Sŏngnyong 柳成龍 (1542–1607), both disciples of T’oegye, Yi Hwang, about the order of the spirit tablets of Kim and Yu in Yŏgang Academy 廬江書院 (later renamed Ho’gye Academy 虎溪書院), which was located close to the city of Andong, in Northern Kyŏngsang Province.59 During the dispute, both sides used the Liji to advance their arguments, but they also extensively relied on the ritual writings of their masters as well as the Family rites.60 As already mentioned above, the Family rites had become the most important ritual guide for Korean Confucians. Many scholars continued to produce ritual works based on the Family rites in order to simplify or recontextualise its concepts for the Korean readership. Yu Chunggyo 柳重敎 (1832–1893) summarised this development in the following way.
凡禮文當以朱子家禮爲正經.而文略禮闕處.參用沙溪先生喪禮備要,陶庵先生四禮便覽行之.
In general, the ritual texts of the time used Master Zhu’s Family rites as standard classic, while for versions reduced in text and simplified in rituals, they looked to Master Sagye’s [Kim Changsaeng] Essentials of Mourning Rites and Master Toam’s [Yi Chae] Easy Guide to the Four Rites.61
35The continuous production of new texts concerned with ritual during the Chosŏn period, like the Essentials of Funerary Rites or Handbook for the Four Rituals, suggests a certain need to constantly adapt to or, rather, to keep up with the ritual practice of the times. As iteration breeds change, the emergence of ritual works can also be viewed as attempts to synthesise the manifold of existing ritual practices. Confucian academies, spread over the whole Korean peninsula, were surely no stranger to such diverse ritual realities.
Fig. 1.

A page of the Sangnye piyo showing images of funeral rites and bibliographic information displaying Tonam Academy as the place of printing
Source: private collection Vladimir Glomb, Prague
Fig. 2.

Another page of the Sangnye piyo showing images of funeral rites
Source: private collection Vladimir Glomb, Prague
Conclusion
36A few ideas or suggestions concerning the usage of the Liji in Confucian academies in Korea can be derived from the small inquiry above. Firstly, by looking at the libraries and printing facilities of Confucian academies in Korea, it has become clear that, even though the Liji was either physically present or available by other means, such as borrowing or circulation of hand-written copies, only a few commentaries or vernacular versions were stored or produced in the academies. This also holds for the Etiquette and Rites. The ritual text with the largest number of volumes, and most commentaries, in the academies was the Family rites. Secondly, as part of the Five Classics, the Liji was included in most reading curricula, but not many lectures discussing its content were held on academy grounds. Some of the later 18th-century study regulations even excluded it together with and the Spring and Autumn Annals, while putting stronger emphasis on the Family rites. Thirdly, the rituals of Confucian academies were originally based on the “food offering rite” (Shicai 釋菜) and sacrificial offerings rites, but became more localised over time, as they adjusted to their respective audience. Ritual literature used in the academies relied on the Family rites and Korean ritual texts, which were based in essence on the Liji.
37It can also be observed that outward conceptions about the Liji among Korean scholars generally followed Zhu Xi’s understanding of the text. When discussing it, many of them often repeated or elaborated on his statements about the Liji. This attitude seems to have been shared among Korean literati and was not challenged even in the somewhat free space of the Confucian academies. However, it did not lead to an increased interest in the Etiquette and Rites, which Zhu Xi had designated as the actual classic. The focus of Korean scholars fell onto the Family rites, which started being regarded as a summary of the three ritual works. Korean ritual scholars often likewise refined their own ritual works, while maintaining adherence to the Family rites, and much less overtly to the three ritual classics. This strong emphasis on the Family rites, however, can also be explained by the fact that academies were above all educational institutions. Their book collections and educational activities preferred easier to digest anthologies and compendia, often written by Korean authors with knowledge of local needs, over the bulky classic. Intensive schooling in ritual reasoning and practice was therefore based not on the Liji itself, but rather on its partial derivatives. One of the most prominent examples of such selective usage of the Liji in Korea is the Elementary Learning, which was held in very high regard by many Korean scholars.62 Its contents were used as a basic educational material, mostly for younger students, but were also continuously studied by accomplished scholars.
38As one of the classics, the Liji had a set place in the Confucian canon and was also well known among scholars, yet its usage appears selective. Chapters or short passages were referenced in explanations of other texts or utilised in connection with rituals. The usage of the Liji in the academies seems to suggest that the text was viewed by some scholars as incomplete, and was therefore less used than the other classics in the educational context. Although scholarly debates on the value, the authenticity, or the importance of individual classics were, on an individual level, certainly present among Korean scholars, this could not change the fact that the Liji remained a respected classic. Yet its existence as part of the compulsory curriculum did not alleviate the problem of its composition and content. In a certain way, one can say that, despite its large presence in libraries and firm position in the curriculum of the academies, the Liji was the most elusive of the classics. However, selective usage of passages from Liji was widespread and accepted, mainly because the text had pervaded Confucian practice for a long time and its individual parts still had once been part of the lost Ritual Classic.
Bibliographie
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Classical Literature
Bailudong shuyuan guzhi wuzhong 白鹿洞书院古志五种 (Five Records of White Deer Grotto Academy), 1995. vols. 1–2. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
Chosŏn wangjo sillok 朝鮮王朝實錄 (Veritable Records of the Chosŏn Dynasty), available at http://sillok.history.go.kr/main/main.do.
Chukkye chi 竹溪誌 (Records of Bamboo Stream), 1544, Korea University Library 晚松 貴重書 228. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Miho chip 渼湖集 (Collected Writings of Miho), 1799, Kyujanggak #奎7028. Database of Korean Classics. available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Paeksu sŏnsaeng munjip 白水先生文集 (Collected Writings of Master Paeksu), 1928, Korea University Library 晚松 D1-A767. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Pyŏnggye sŏnsaeng chip 屛溪先生集 (Collected Writings of Master Pyŏnggye), 1802, Kyujanggak #奎6663. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Sagye chŏnsŏ 沙溪先生全書 (Complete Writings of Sagye), 1932, National Library of Korea 古3648-62-225. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Sŏngjae sŏnsaeng munjip 省齋先生文集 (Collected Works of Master Sŏngjae), 1897, Kyujanggak 古3428-103. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Sŏwŏn chi ch’ongsŏ 書院誌叢書 (Collection of Academy Records). Vol. 1–9, 1987. Seoul: Minjok munhwasa.
Toam sŏnsaeng chip 陶菴先生集 (Collected Writings of Master Toam), 1803, Kyujanggak 古 3428-27. Database of Korean Classics. available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
T’oegye sŏnsaeng munjip 退溪先生文集 (Collected Writings of Master T’oegye). 1843. Kyujanggak 古3428-482. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Tonam sŏwŏn chi 遯巖書院誌 (Records of Tonam Academy), 1995 (reprint).
Tosan sŏwŏn changsŏ mongnok 陶山書院藏書目錄 (List of Books stored in Tosan Academy),” 1956, Ŏmunhak 11: 89–101.
Yegi Ch’ŏn’gyŏllok 禮記淺見錄 (Superficial Views on the Record of Rites). 1706. Kyujanggak #奎5128-v.1-11. Seoul: Andong Kwŏn-ssi Seoul Hwasuhoe, 1982 (reprint).
Yulgok chŏnsŏ 栗谷全書 (Complete Writings of Yulgok), 1814, Sejong University Central Library #811.97-Yi I-Yul. Database of Korean Classics, available at http://db.itkc.or.kr.
Zhu Xi 朱熹, Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙, Chan Wing-Tsit (trans.), 1967, Jinsilu 近思錄 (Reflections on Things at Hand). New York: Columbia University Press.
Secondary Literature
Choe Sŏnghwan 崔誠桓, 2001/3, “Chosŏn hugi Yi Chae ŭi hangmun kwa hanch’ŏn chŏngsa munin kyoyuk 朝鮮後期 李縡의 學問과 寒泉精舍의 門人敎育 (Yi Chae’s Learning and Student education at Hanch’ŏn Study Hall in late Chosŏn),” Yŏksa kyoyuk 77: 65–98.
Ch’oe Yŏngho, December 2008, “The Private Academies (Sŏwŏn) and Neo-Confucianism in Late Chosŏn Korea,” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies 21(2):139–191.
Choi Kwangman 최광만, 2012/6, “19 segi sŏwŏn kanghak hwaldong sarye yŏn’gu. “Ho’gye kangnok” ŭl chungsim ŭro 19세기 서원 강학활동 사례 연구: ‘호계강록‘ 을 중심으로 (A case study on the seminar activity of Joseon private academy in 19th century. With a focus on the lecture records of Ho’gye Academy),” Kyoyuk sahak yŏn’gu 교육사학연구 22, 1: 109–145.
Deng Hongbo 邓洪波, 2015 (2nd revised edition), Zhongguo shuyuan shi 中国书院史 (History of Chinese Academies). Wuhan: Wuhan daxue chubanshe.
Deuchler, Martina, 1999, “Despoilers of the Way – Insulters of the Sages. Controversies over the Classics in Seventeenth-Century Korea,” in Culture and State in Late Chosŏn Korea edited by Jahyun Kim Haboush & Martina Deuchler, 91–133. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Deuchler, Martina, 2015, Under the Ancestors’ Eyes. Kinship, Status, and Locality in Premodern Korea. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Doh Minjae 都民宰, 1999, “Chosŏn chŏn’gi yehak sasang ŭi inyŏm kwa silch’ŏn 朝鮮 前期 禮學 思想의 理念과 實踐 (The Ideology and Implementation of Li-thought in Early Choson Dynasty),” Yugyo sasang munhwa yŏn’gu 12: 117–136.
Glomb, Vladimir, 2012, “Reading the Classics till Death. Yulgok Yi I and the Curriculum of Chosŏn Literati,” Studia Orientalia Slovaca 2: 315–329.
Glomb, Vladimir & Lee Eun-Jeung, 2021, “No Books to Leave, No Women to Enter Confucian Academies in Pre-Modern Korea and Their Book Collections,” in Collect and Preserve. Institutional Contexts of Epistemic Knowledge in Premodern Societies edited by Eva Canick-Kirschbaum, Jochem Kahl, and Lee Eun-Jeung, 173–197. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Hejtmanek, Milan, 2013, “The Elusive Path to Sagehood: Origins of the Confucian Academy System in Chosŏn Korea,” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies 26/2: 233–268.
10.1353/seo.2013.0016 :Jung Chaehun 정재훈, 2008, Chosŏn sidae ŭi hakp’a wa sasang 조선시대의 학파와 사상 (Schools and Thought of the Chosŏn Period. Sŏngnam: Sin’gu munhwasa.
Kalton, Michael C., 1985, “The Writings of Kwŏn Kŭn. The Context and Shape of Early Yi Dynasty Confucianism,” in The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary & Jahyun Kim Haboush, 89–123. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kelleher, M. Theresa, 1989, “Back to Basics. Chu His’s Elementary Learning (Hsiao-hsüeh),” in Neo-Confucian Education. The Formative Stage edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary & John W. Chaffee, 219-251. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kim Chŏngun 김정운, 2018/12, “18 segi Todong sŏwŏn ŭi chisik ch’egye kuch’uk kwa kongyu 18세기 도동서원의 지식체계 구축과 공유 (The Establishment and Sharing of a Knowledge System at the Todong Sŏwŏn in the 18th Century),” Han’guk sŏwŏn hakpo 韓國書院學報 7, 5–33.
Kim Haboush JaHyun, 2009, “Yun Hyu and the Search for Dominance. A Seventeenth-Century Korean Reading of the Offices of Zhou and the Rituals of Zhou,” in Statecraft and Classical Learning. The Rituals of Zhou in East Asian History edited by Benjamin Elman & Martin Kern, 309–329. Leiden: Brill.
Ko Yŏngjin] 고영진, 1995, Chosŏn chunggi yehak sasangsa 조선중기 예학사상사(A History of Ritual Thoughts in the Mid-Chosŏn Period). Seoul: Han’gilsa.
Kwŏn Sammun 권삼문, 2001/6, “Hyangsa ŭi yŏksa wa kujo” 향사의 역사와 구조 (History and Structure of Local Rituals), Yŏksa minsokhak 역사민속학 12: 41–60.
Lee Bongkyo 李俸珪, 2009/9, “Chosŏn sidae ‘Yegi’ yŏn’gu ŭi han t’ŭksaek. Chujahak chŏk kyŏnghak 조선시대 『禮記』 연구의 한 특색: 朱子學的 經學 (A Feature of the Study of Liji through Joseon Period. Neo-Confucian Study of Confucian Classics),” Han’guk munhwa 한국민족 문화 47: 49–68.
Lee Byounghoon [Yi Pyŏnghun] 이병훈, 2016/2, “Kyŏngju Oksan sŏwŏn ŭi changsŏ sujip mit kwalli silt’ae rŭl t’onghae pon tosŏgwan chŏk kinŭng 경주 옥산서원의 장서 수집 및 관리 실태를 통해본 도서관적 기능 (Library Functions of Gyeongju Oksan seowon from the Point of View of the Collection of Books and Its Operating Conditions),” Han’guk minjok munhwa 한국민족 문화 58: 423–480.
Meskill, John, 1982, Academies in Ming China. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Miyazaki Ichisada and Schirokauer, Conrad (trans.), 1981, China’s Examination Hell. The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Nylan, Michael, 2001, The Five “Confucian” Classics. New Haven: Yale University Press.
10.12987/9780300130331 :Oh Young Kyun, 2013, Engraving Virtue. The Printing History of a Premodern Korean Moral Primer. Leiden: Brill.
Ok Yŏngjŏng 옥영정, 2014, “Han’guk sŏwŏn ŭi changsŏ wa ch’ulp’an munhwa 한국 서원의 장서와 출판 문화 (Library and Print Culture of Korean Academies),” in Han’guk ŭi sŏwŏn munhwa 한국의 서원 문화 (Korean Academy Culture) edited by Han’guk sŏwŏn yŏnhaphoe 한국서원연합회, 343–369. Seoul: Munsach’ŏl.
Pae Hyŏnsuk 배현숙, 2005, “Sosu sŏwŏn sujang kwa kanhaeng sŏjŏkko 紹修書院 收藏과 간행 書籍考 (A Study in the Books stored and published in Sosu Academy),” Sŏjihak yŏn’gu 書誌學 研究 31: 263–296.
Pak Chongbae 박종배, 2008/12, “Pyŏngsan sŏwŏn kyoyuk kwan’gye charyo kŏmt’o 병산서원 교육 관계 자료 검토 (A review on the records of education in Byungsan seowon in late Chosun dynasty),” Kyoyuk sahak yŏn’gu 교육사학연구 18, no. 2: 31–59.
Pak Chongbae 박종배, 2009/12, “Hakkyu rŭl t’onghaesŏ pon Chosŏn sidae sŏwŏn kanghwa 학규를 통해서 본 조선 시대 서원 강화 (Chŏson dynasty academy lecture gathering seen through study regulations),” Kyoyuk sahak yŏn’gu 교육사학연구 19, no. 2: 59–83.
Sancho, Isabelle, 2011, Principes essentiels pour éduquer les jeunes gens de Yulgok, Yi I. Traduction bilingue avec introduction et annotations. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, « Bibliothèque chinoise ».
Wu Guofu 吴国富, 2013, Bailudong Shuyuan 白鹿洞书院 (White Deer Grotto Academy). Changsha: Hunan Daxue Chubanshe.
Yi Chaejun 李在俊, 2016, Chosŏn sidae naesabon yŏn’gu 朝鮮時代 內賜本 研究 (Studies on royal book donations in the Chosŏn dynasty), PhD Dissertation: Chungang Taehakkyo.
Yim Sŏnbin 임선빈, 2018/6, “Tonam sŏwŏn ŭi kŏllip paegyŏng kwa saaek kŏmt’o 遯巖書院의 건립 배경과 賜額 검토 (Establishment Background and Royally Endowment Considerations of Donam Private Confucian Academy), Chosŏn sidae sahakpo 朝鮮時代史學報 85: 149–176.
Yun Hŭimyŏn 尹熙勉, 2005/6, “Chosŏn sidae sŏwŏn ŭi tosŏgwan kinŭng yŏn’gu 조선 시대 서원의 도서관 기능 연구 (The Function of the Library of a Seowon during the Joseon Period),” Yŏksa hakpo 역사학보 186: 1–26.
Notes de bas de page
1 A small, but important example of the implementation of Confucian ideas could be attempts to organise the academy community’s hierarchy solely based on the criteria of age and ignore social position or background. See Yulgok chŏnsŏ, vol. 33: 46a.
2 See Martina Deuchler’s contribution in this volume.
3 See Roger Darrobers’ contribution in this volume.
4 Here referred to as Lijing 禮經.
5 Chasŏ (Preface) in Yegi ch’ŏn’gyŏllok, vol. 1; see also Doh 1999, 120.
6 For more information in English on Kwŏn Kŭn, see Kalton 1985.
7 See Deuchler 1999.
8 See Lee 2009.
9 See Sejong sillok, vol. 86, 21/9/29#5 (1439) in Chosŏn wangjo sillok. This entry in particular discusses Zhu Xi’s White Deer Grotto Academy.
10 See Deng 2015 and for an English overview see Meskill 1982.
11 Translation from Glomb 2012, 316. Original text in Yulgok chŏnsŏ, vol. 27, 8a.
12 See Ok 2014. For a detailed look into the archival and librarian activities of Korean academies in English, see Glomb & Lee 2020.
13 “Qi ci Bailudong shuyuan chi’e (Request for a royal charter for the White Deer Grotto Academy),” in: Bailudong shuyuan guzhi wuzhong, vol. 1, 49.
14 Wu 2013, 126.
15 This story was conveyed to Korean literati through its inclusion in the Complete Works of Master Zhu (Zhuzi daquan 朱子大全).
16 “Chukkye chi sŏ (Introduction of the Bamboo Stream Records),” in: Chukkye chi, vol. 1, 2a. Quoted with small changes in Hejtmanek 2013, 260.
17 See Pae 2005, 268–269.
18 See “Paegundong sŏwŏn changsŏ (Stored books of the White Cloud Grotto Academy),” in: Chukkye chi, vol. 4, 7a.
19 See Yun 2005, 4.
20 See “Tosan sŏwŏn changsŏ mongnok.”
21 See Oh 2013, 156.
22 Both seem to be rather rudimentary compared to other ŏnhae editions and were either transcriptions of the original text or annotations for grammatical assistance. The The Record of Rites with Vernacular Reading (Yegi taemun ŏndu 禮記大文諺讀) following its name is rather a transcription of the Liji, that carries no large interpretive meaning, and The Complete Explanations to the Record of Rites with Kugyŏl Marking (Yegi chipsŏl taejŏn kugyŏl 禮記集說大全口訣) carries mostly grammatical annotations.
23 On the history and structure of the Elementary Learning, see Kelleher 1989, 219–251.
24 Interestingly both the Liji and the Rites of the Zhou are marked as lost in the catalogue, see “Musŏng sŏwŏn wŏnji (Record of Musŏng Academy),” in Sŏwŏn chi ch’ongsŏ, 2/142.
25 The corresponding part in the Doctrine of the Mean is 苟不至德,至道不凝焉. Translation by Legge: “Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact”. On this, see Yangsŏngdang ki 養性堂記 (Account of Yangsŏng Hall), in Sagye chŏnsŏ, vol. 5:9a–10a. See also Yim 2018, 160–171.
26 However most commonly, geographical features were compared or named after important landscapes drawn from the life of Zhu Xi, e.g., the Nine Bends of Wuyi or Mt. Lu in Jiangxi Province.
27 See Tonam sŏwŏn chi, 16.
28 See Lee 2016.
29 See Yi 2016, 128–129.
30 Most probably for examination preparation, see Kim 2018, 24.
31 Of course, many academies also stored and used the Conversations of Master Zhu Arranged Topically, which articulated the notion of the Etiquette and Rites as classic and the Liji as explanation to it, see Darrobers in this volume.
32 The situation of the third ritual classic, the Rites of the Zhou, is even more striking: the book is almost impossible to find in the academy collections. The Rites of the Zhou played an enormous role in the political discourse of Chosŏn Korea, see Kim Haboush 2009. However, seen through the data of the library collections, the Rites of the Zhou played no important role in the academy curriculum.
33 It is impossible to imagine an academy without at least some ritual literature, which would guide scholars in their daily activities. Even the small Noktong Academy 鹿洞書院, in the Chŏlla province, which possessed only a dozen books (and only four of the Five Classics) had two detailed ritual compendia, the Essentials of Funerary Rites and the Abbreviated Essentials of the Eight Rituals (P’allye chŏryo 八禮節要), see Sŏwŏn chi ch’ongsŏ, vol. 4, 3/114.
34 Most famously Zhu Xi invited Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵 (1139–1193) to lecture on Analects IV, 16. Zhu himself lectured at the White Deer Grotto Academy and left a poem called “Poem in Verse about the Jianghui at the White Deer” (Bailu jianghui cibu zhangyun 白鹿講會次卜丈韻), he also mentions lectures in letters to his friends more than once. See Bailudong shuyuan guzhi wuzhong, 131.
35 A text called “Policy examination question at the White Deer Book Hall” (Bailu shutang cewen 白鹿書堂策問) somewhat explains which texts should be excluded from reading in the lecture hall of the academy. These are notably the writings of Yang Zhu 楊朱 and Mozi 墨子 as well as Buddhist and Daoist texts, see ibid., 62.
36 Isan wŏn’gyu 伊山院規 (Isan Academy regulations), Chapchŏ 雜著 (Miscellaneous writings), in T’oegye sŏnsaeng munjip 退溪先生文集, vol. 41, 51a, translation by Ch’oe 2008, 153. Academies that incorporated the Isan regulations into their own rules, were Oksan Academy, Sŏak Academy 西岳書院, Tosan Academy and Yŏktong Academy 易東書院, all in Kyŏngsang Province.
37 Isabelle Sancho has translated this work into French as Principes essentiels pour éduquer les jeunes gens de Yulgok, Yi I, see Sancho 2011.
38 See Glomb 2012, 324. Academies usually associated with the academy tradition of Yulgok Yi I are Sohyŏn Academy 紹賢書院, Munhŏn Academy文憲書院 both now in North Korea, Tobong Academy 道峰書院 close to modern day Seoul, Tonam Academy and others.
39 The Abbreviated Essence of Master Zhu Xi’s Letters is an epistolary anthology edited by T’oegye Yi Hwang out of the Complete Works of Master Zhu.
40 A text by Yulgok Yi I, [Sŏnghak] chibyo in Korean spelling.
41 Nogang sŏwŏn kanghak kyumok (Lecture gathering regulations of Nogang Academy), Chapchŏ (Miscellaneous writings), in Pyŏnggye sŏnsaeng chip (Collected Writings of Master Pyŏnggye), vol. 34, 26b. Also see Pak 2009, 73–74.
42 So 疏 (Memorials), in Pyŏnggye sŏnsaeng chip, vol. 8, 4b–5a.
43 Simgok Sŏwŏn hakkyu 深谷書院學䂓 (Study regulations of Simgok Academy), Chapchŏ 雜著 (Miscellaneous writings), Toam sŏnsaeng chip 陶菴先生集, vol. 25, 19b. See also Pak 2009, 68.
44 Named, of course, after the Hanquan jingshe 寒泉精舍 where Zhu Xi lived and taught for some time. Hanch’ŏn was also one of Yi Chae’s pen names.
45 See Choe 2001, 87.
46 Tabyu Paek Ik 答兪伯翼 (Answer to Paek Ik), Sŏ 書 (Letters), in Toam sŏnsaeng chip 陶菴先生集, vol. 19, 39b–40a.
47 See Paeksu sŏnsaeng nyŏnp’yo 白水先生年譜 (Chronology of Master Paeksu), in Paeksu sŏnsaeng munjip 白水先生文集 (Collected Writings of Master Paeksu), Nyŏnp’yo 年譜 (Chronology), 30a.
48 This passage appears similarly in the Reflections on Things at Hand, see Zhu, Lü 1967, 114.
49 Yeun p’yŏn kangŭi 禮運篇講義 (Lecture on the Liyun chapter), Chapchŏ 雜著 (Miscellaneous Writings), in Paeksu sŏnsaeng munjip 白水先生文集, vol. 11, 1a–b. All translations of passages from the Liji are taken from James Legge’s translation (slightly modified). An alternative translation of this particular passage can be found in Nylan 2001, 196.
50 See Pak 2008, 44–47.
51 The Liji is much larger in scope than the other classics, which could have contributed to it being an unpopular lecture topic, see Miyazaki 1981, 16.
52 See Choi 2012, 121.
53 See Wu 2013, 111–113.
54 See Ch’oe 2008, 172. This development is also connected to the increasing privatisation of academies in the latter half of the Chosŏn dynasty, described in detail in Deuchler 2015, 310–313 & 358–363.
55 See Chŏngjo sillok, vol. 47, 21/7/14#1 (1797) in Chosŏn wangjo sillok. Passage from the Liji following James Legge, Wangzhi 王制 (Royal Regulations) 32.
56 See Kwŏn 2001, 56.
57 See Ch’oe 2008, 168.
58 Sŏksil sŏwŏn hakkyu 石室書院學規 (Study regulations of Sŏksil Academy), Chapchŏ 雜著 (Miscellaneous writing), in Miho Chip 渼湖集 (Collected Writings of Miho), vol. 14, 30b. Translation by James Legge. Yulgok Yi I used the same passage in the regulations for his Ŭnbyŏng chŏngsa 隱屛精舍 (Ŭnbyŏng Study Hall), which was later transformed into Sohyŏn Academy. See Jung 2008, 116.
59 See Deuchler 2015, 312 & 368–369.
60 See Ko 1995, 157–169.
61 Yussi kajŏn 柳氏家典 (Yu family tenets), Kaha Sanp’il 柯下散筆 (Scribbling under the hardwood), in Sŏngjae sŏnsaeng munjip 省齋先生文集 (Collected Works of Master Sŏngjae), vol. 45, 8b.
62 See Kelleher 1989, 225.
Auteur
-
Martin Gehlmann
Researcher in the field of East Asian educational history. Since 2014, he has been working at the Institute of Korean Studies of Freie Universität Berlin and since 2016 he is also a researcher within the framework of the project “Episteme in Motion: Transfer of Knowledge from the Ancient World to the Early Modern Period” at Freie Universität Berlin. In 2020, together with Vladimir Glomb and Eun-Jeung Lee, he edited and published the volume Confucian Academies in East Asia at Brill.
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
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