朝鮮 燕山朝의 書籍文化에 관한 考察

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the book culture during the King Yeonsan era in relation to his temperament, academic activities and tyranny. King Yeonsan succeeded to the throne from his father, King Seongjong, who maintain the political stability and academic maturity during his reign. As King Yeonsan, lacking in qualities and learning required for a king, was never committed to the cultivation of virtues by discussing the Confucian classics and history with royal scholars. By causing the Muo and Kapja calamities of savants to kill and exile many scholars, he repressed the academic activities. King Yeonsan, abolishing educational institutions and using them as banquet halls, ignored the importance of education and neglected raising the best brains. He also suppressed the freedom of speech and banned the use of Hangul, the Korean alphabet, which led to the erosion of academic tradition established during the reign of King Seongjong. Under his unprecedented tyrannical rule, scholarly culture became very stagnant or rather moved backward. For these reasons, the compilation and publication of books were generally in a slump, however, King Yeonsan’s inclination toward poetry and prose was reflected. In conclusion, the academic inclination and the political competence of the ruler of a nation greatly affected the book culture of the age.